Deer Tick Vs Wood Tick: Curious Insect Difference Facts For Kids!

Ticks are tiny creatures that are often mistaken for small spiders.

Contrary to popular belief, ticks are not really insects. They are scientifically classified as arachnids, i.e., related to spiders, scorpions, and mites.

Ticks are very small in size, smaller than spiders but look like them due to a similar physical form. They have four pairs of legs and they lack antennae. Ticks are also called mini, real-life versions of a vampire because they require a blood meal to stay alive.

There are three families of ticks, including over 700 species of hard ticks and 200 of soft ticks.

Some species, like the black-legged tick, survive only by feeding on the blood of a white-tailed deer, and in times of desperation, they will even bite mice, birds, small stray animals, and humans and suck on their blood. Neither male nor female ticks have wings.

They mostly find a host and latch on to it by crawling near the surface of their skin.

Certain tick species also prefer taking dogs as their hosts, like the American dog tick and dark brown dog tick in particular.

Dogs make easy targets because they are often found playing in grass fields and grounds, which makes it easier for ticks to stick to their bodies. They stick their teeth to the host's skin and stay attached for days in order to aid the feeding stage.

There are two other kinds of ticks, both male and female, the deer tick, also known as the black-legged tick, and the wood tick, about which you will be learning further in this article.

How can you differentiate a deer tick from a wood tick?

When you see the days start getting longer, know that the tick season has arrived! While the American dog tick and black-legged tick exist in abundance, especially in the U.S., there are two species of ticks that have a significant presence in the U.S. and are known to have the potential to spread different diseases.

There are certain observable differences between deer ticks and wood ticks.

Deer ticks, which are often called black-legged ticks, are among the rock hard species of tick, which are recognized by their long, black legs, orange body color, and black-colored scutum. The adult black-legged ticks are generally very tiny, around half or two-thirds the size of a regular tick, and hence can be easily overlooked.

Baby ticks however are smaller, and white in color.

That is the reason why most of the time, they do not get noticed while attaching themselves to the body of their host. On the other hand, a wood tick is actually not the name of a particular species of the tick but rather a generic umbrella name that could apply to multiple varieties of ticks.

It is commonly used to describe the American dog tick, which has a dark brown body.

Adult male American dog ticks display a mottled gray pattern, while the adult female has an off-whitish-colored scutum. Wood ticks are larger in size than deer ticks which is why they are comparatively easier to spot and notice.

Apart from this difference, their bites also have different effects. Deer ticks are the most feared species because they tag along with the bacteria which is known to cause Lyme disease, both the adult male and adult female.

Deer ticks are the primary carriers in this case.

They spread Lyme disease by feeding on already infected hosts, which among a range of creatures includes mice and deer. They have also been known to transmit other diseases like relapsing fever, anaplasmosis, etc.

A wood tick's bite transmits pathogens that can cause tularemia, and the most severe form of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. These are not known to transmit Lyme disease.

One point of commonality between both these is that they are both three-host ticks. This means that the adult ticks, both male and female of these species will have already fed at least twice before seeking out humans as their hosts. This makes humans the most 'at risk' of being infected by these aforementioned deadly diseases.

Are deer ticks and wood ticks related?

Deer ticks and wood ticks are related in the sense that both of them are ticks. They are also a part of the wider class of arachnids, making them relatives of spiders. However, apart from that, they are not really similar in terms of character attributes or even physical appearance.

Deer ticks, also known as black-legged tick, and have a reddish-orange colored body with a black shield, are mostly found in adult females, and are tiny in size. Wood ticks, or dog ticks, have a reddish-brown color, and the female has a white shield and is around twice the size of deer ticks.

Both of these have eight legs, resembling that of spiders. The black-legged tick is usually found in overgrown natural areas like grounds with grass, plants, and logs.

Other ticks like the lone star tick can also be found in such surroundings with resembling attributes and characteristics.

The lone star tick is as dangerous as black-legged ticks. However, a bite from the adult female lone star tick can sometimes be lethal.

Wood ticks occur mostly in areas without tree cover and dog kennels. Their host trail is also distinguished, with the only exception being small animals, pets, and humans. Wood ticks are also known after the illness they spread, Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Apart from that, they do not have any prevalent evidence of a relationship.

How long does a deer tick have to be on you to get Lyme?

Lyme disease spreads through deer ticks. The deer tick, also known as the black-legged tick, carries mostly two out of the four species of bacteria which cause this illness. It is one of the most common diseases spread through ticks.

Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii are the two bacteria that cause the majority of Lyme disease in the U.S., while Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii do that in Europe and Asia.

A person is most likely to get infected with this disease, and others spread through ticks if they live in areas that have grass in abundance or are woody. However, not every tick bite causes Lyme disease; only rarely is this the case.

The longer the tick sticks to a person's skin, the more the chances are of that person catching this disease.

A tick has to be attached to the skin for at least 36-48 hours to be able to transmit the Lyme infection. The risk of transmission is very unlikely if the tick is attached for a lesser amount of time than that.

However, the risk still remains quite high because black-legged ticks are very small in size and hence difficult to detect, which is why they remain stuck on the skin for a long time enough to transmit the infection.

One of the reasons why this infection is much more dangerous than any other disease caused by tick bites is because other ticks like dog ticks are larger in size.

What percentage of deer ticks carry Lyme disease?

Lyme-causing bacteria is not carried by all black-legged ticks. Only a small percentage of them are infected with the bacteria which causes this sickness, and that too depends on the type of environment they are found in.

Most adult deer ticks that are found in woods, low-growing grasslands, and gardens can be carrying the disease-causing bacteria with them.

Depending on the location, between around 1% to more than 50% of ticks convey the Lyme causing bacteria in their lifetime, which affects animals and humans alike.

They are most active during the spring season, with both male and female ticks at their peak. They stick through and feed on the host's blood, and during that transmission, they end up sending the Lyme-carrying bacteria inside the host's body.

Most adults and animals are able to recover from the infection, but they do not become resilient or immune against the bacteria, and hence, the infection hits the same host again and again.