Dermacentor spp.

D.reticulatus male - Rainer Altenkamp, Berlin, Wikimedia Commons

Dermacentor spp. can be identified by;

• Wide palps
• Rectangular base of capitulum
• Eyes
• Ornate
• Posterior anal groove
• Festoons on the posterior margin

There are two species found in the UK and europe D.reticulatus and D.marginatus, the ornate sheep tick however this is absent from the UK. D.reticulatus is a three host tick found on meadows, pastures and forests in England and Wales. Adults will parasitse large mammals whilst larval and nymphal stages attack small mammals, insectivores and sometimes birds. The tick is known to transmitt a number of disease in man and and veterinary species. D.reticulatus is responsible for transmitting Babesia canis in dogs, B.divergens and B.ovisin cattle as well as Q fever (C.burnetii), tularemia, Brucella, Anaplasma ovis and Rickettsia conorii the cause of Boutonneuse fever. In horse D.reticulatus is responsible for the transmission of Babesia caballi and B.equi. D.marginatus