Tick identification guide

This document provides a guide for identifying different tick species. It begins with an overview of tick taxonomy, then describes the key morphological features used to identify ticks, including their life stages, geographical distribution, hosts, life cycle, and pathogenesis. The guide highlights characteristics such as scutum pattern, festoons, capitulum length, and genital aperture location that can be used to distinguish among common tick genera like Ixodes, Dermacentor, and Amblyomma. Even engorged ticks can often still be identified by these visual features along with context clues about location and time of collection.Read less