Ixodes scapularis

Ixodes scapularis
Adult female deer tick
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Ixodida
Family:	Ixodidae
Genus:	Ixodes
Species:	I. scapularis
Binomial name
Ixodes scapularis Say, 1821
Synonyms[1]
Ixodes dammini Spielman et al., 1979 Ixodes fuscous Say, 1821 Ixodes fuscus Neumann, 1911 Ixodes ozarkus Cooley, 1944 Ixodes reduvius Neumann, 1899 Ixodes ricinus subsp. scapularis Nuttall & Warburton, 1911 Ixodes ricinus var. scapularis Nuttall & Warburton, 1911 Ixodes (Ixodes) scapularis Neumann, 1911

Ixodes scapularis is commonly known as the deer tick or black-legged tick (although some people reserve the latter term for Ixodes pacificus, which is found on the west coast of the US), and in some parts of the US as the bear tick.^[2] It was also named Ixodes dammini until it was shown to be the same species in 1993.^[3] It is a hard-bodied tick found in the eastern and northern Midwest of the United States as well as in southeastern Canada. It is a vector for several diseases of animals, including humans (Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, Powassan virus disease, etc.) and is known as the deer tick owing to its habit of parasitizing the white-tailed deer. It is also known to parasitize mice,^[4] lizards,^[5] migratory birds,^[6] etc. especially while the tick is in the larval or nymphal stage.