A. Deer Tick Larvae

Larvae on United States
one cent (penny) to demonstrate extreme small size

Larvae at high power - note six legs as opposed to eight for
nymph and adults. Larvae rarely carry Lyme disease
organisms and it would be EXTREMELY rare to get Lyme disease from the bite of a deer tick larvae

B. Deer Tick Nymphs - unengorged (left), engorged (right)

Note the long mouth parts vs short mouth parts on the Dog tick. Nymphs are small and can carry the Lyme disease organism. The back plate (scutum) is dark solid brown as opposed to the dog tick (see below)

C. Dog Ticks (Dermacentor variabilis)

Adult Female

Dog ticks do not carry Lyme disease. They are easily identified by the creamy (tan) colored lines and color on the back plate (scutum)

Fully engorged female dog tick - this picture does not show scutum (it is there, just running perpendicular to the plane of the penny - see picture on the right).

Same tick as on the left but oriented to see scutum

Adult Male

D. Fully Engorged Lone Star Ticks (Amblyomma americanum) (adult-top, nymph-bottom left & right)

The white dot on the scutum is evident and identifies this tick as a loneStar tick, which can also carry Lyme disease organism, but according to the CDC and NY State Health Dept is thought not to transmit the disease to humans. Also note the long mouth parts. In all engorged ticks the scutum does not expand and is a good place to start for identification.

Borrelia Picture (courtesy of Dr Jeff Nelson)

Borrelia burgdorferi growing in culture. Clumping of spirochetes is thought to be an affinity of the organisms for close contact or to control their microenviroment

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Contact Information for Laboratory for the Diagnosis of Tick Borne Diseases:

Technical Service (631) 444-7965
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Mel Evans, B.S., MT (ASCP), Section Supervisor (631) 444-2195
Kenneth O'Sullivan, M.S., MT (ASCP) Supervisor/Associate Technical Director (631) 444-2373
Marc Golightly, Ph.D., SI(ASCP) Director/Head (631) 444-2240

mgolightly@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

This page maintained and updated by Marc Golightly,Ph.D. Last updated May 22, 2007
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