The Lone Star Tick Covers More Than Texas
November 3rd, 2009 Posted in Spiders & Other Arachnids
Did you know the Lone Star State has a provision allowing it to leave the union?
Did you know the lone star tick has a provision that allows it to suck the blood of its host?
Ok, so the two have very little in common, and this article is only about the latter, but it’s still a fun fact to know.
Lone Star Tick Description
Lone star ticks get their name from a large, silvery-white dot on the back of the females. Males usually have scattered spots or streaks along its body.
Besides the dot, they are usually brown or tan in color and have 8 legs attached to one section of their body.
Body size ranges from 1/3 inch before feeding and can get up to 1/2 inch once it becomes an engorged tick.
It takes several meals for a young tick to become a full-grown adult. Once it does, it will reproduce several times throughout their lives, leaving thousands of eggs on the ground each time.
Lone Star Tick Distribution and Habitat
Lone star ticks are found through roughly 1/4 of the country.
Despite climbing almost all of the way up the East Coast, the lone star tick ranges from parts of Virginia into the northern parts of Florida, and across the southern states into parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.
Lone star ticks, like most types of ticks, prefer wooded areas, generally picking spots of thick brush and around water, where host bodies are likely to pass through.
Ticks also do not survive long in the sun or indoors. If found indoors, the tick was probably carried in by a host, either yourself or a pet, and dropped off along the ride.
Tick eggs need a relatively high humidity, 65 percent, in order to hatch and the larvae to survive until it finds a host.
Bite Symptoms
Ticks feed by biting their hosts and drinking their blood, and if they’re successful, they can leave quite a mark.
Tick bites leave a bulls-eye shaped mark on their victim, usually appearing within a week of the bite and, in the case of the lone star tick, can get to be up to three inches in diameter.
These large marks, called STARI (Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness) are unique to the lone star tick, but the cause is unknown. It is not caused by the bacterium that causes Lyme Disease, and it hasn’t been found to cause any neurological, arthritic, or chronic symptoms.
The mark will disappear quickly after a treatment of oral antibiotics.
If you are going to be enjoying the great outdoors, which we strongly encourage you do, you should be sure to protect yourself from these parasites. To do so, use EcoSMART deet free insect repellent, the all-natural spray to help keep those pesky pests away from you while you are out enjoying yourself.
1 Comment | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers!
By Brian on Nov 7, 2009
I recently moved to Sotheastern Oklahoma and knew nothing about this tick. Thank you for the advice and info.