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Brown Dog Tick

The brown dog tick is uniformly red-brown in color when not engorged. The male is 1/8 inch long with eight legs and tiny pits scattered over the back. The female resembles the mail before she begins to feed. However, as she consumes blood from a host dog, she enlarges to eventually become  1/2 inch long, 1/8 inch thick and 1/4 inch wide. The legs, mouth parts and shield remain red-brown but the enlarged area becomes olive-gray.

Biology

The engorged female seeks a quiet location to lay her eggs. They have a tendency to move upward and often lay their eggs in cracks or crevices near the ceiling or roof of kennels. The female lays 1,200 to 3,000 eggs and dies soon after. The eggs hatch into six-legged larvae in 19 to 60 days. Brown dog ticks attack a dog and fill with blood in three to six days. In about six to 23 days they molt their skins and become eight-legged, reddish brown nymphs. After another attachment, they become engorged in four to nine days. Again they leave the host and molt their skins in 12 to 29 days. They are now adults, reddish-brown and very active with disturbed. Mating occurs while the adults are on the body of the host animal. The larvae move down the wall and attach to a dog as soon as possible. The entire life cycle can be completed in two months, but normally this is not possible because host acquisition by the larvious life stages is uncertain at best.

Distribution

The brown dog tick is a southern pest that can become established in homes and kennels in some northern areas. The tick is almost exclusively a parasite of dogs but it is annoying and frightening to homeowners because it is often seen on walls or furnishing if the dog is infested. They seldom feed on humans.

Control

Successful brown dog tick control requries a three step program consisting of 1) Sanitation  2) Tick control on the premises with pesticides  3) Tick control on the dogs. The infested home or kennel should be thoroughly cleaned to eliminate as many of the ticks as possible. When you have carpet as a floor covering, you need to vacuum throughly and dispose of the vaccuum cleaner bag. Pet bedding and resting areas should e given special attention. The infested dog should be treated by a veterinarian on the same day the premises are treated. The premises occupied by the pet must also be thoroughly treated to control ticks that have dropped off the dog and are residing in harborage areas. Residual sprays should be applied carefully to all potential tick harborage sites. Remember, these pests like to reside in the upper portions of structures in cracks and crevices.