''Dermacentor'' is a genus of

tick Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks a ...

s in the family

Ixodidae The Ixodidae are the family of hard ticks or scale ticks, one of the three families of ticks, consisting of 771 species, . They are known as 'hard ticks' because they have a scutum or hard shield, which the other major family of ticks, the 'sof ...

, the hard ticks. The genus has a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...

, with native species on all continents except

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Most are found in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Hosts of ''Dermacentor'' ticks include many large and small mammals, including

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

, lagomorphs, peccaries,

porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp Spine (zoology), spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two Family (biology), families of animals: the Old World porcupines of the family Hystricidae, and the New ...

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a Suidae, pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk (proboscis). Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, South and Centr ...

desert bighorn sheep The desert bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') that is native to the deserts of the United States' intermountain west and southwestern regions, as well as northwestern Mexico. The ...

, and humans. The American dog tick (''D. variabilis'') is a member of the genus. ''Dermacentor'' species are vectors of many

pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...

s, including ''

Rickettsia rickettsii ''Rickettsia rickettsii'' is a Gram-negative, intracellular, cocco-bacillus bacterium that was first discovered in 1902. Having a reduced genome, the bacterium harvests nutrients from its host cell to carry out respiration, making it an organo ...

'', which causes the disease

Rocky Mountain spotted fever Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is a bacterial disease spread by ticks. It typically begins with a fever and headache, which is followed a few days later with the development of a rash. The rash is generally Petechial rash, made up of small s ...

, ''

Coxiella burnetii ''Coxiella burnetii'' is an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen, and is the causative agent of Q fever. The genus ''Coxiella'' is morphologically similar to '' Rickettsia'', but with a variety of physiological differences genetically cla ...

'', which causes

Q fever Q fever or query fever is a disease caused by infection with ''Coxiella burnetii'', a bacterium that affects humans and other animals. This organism is uncommon, but may be found in cattle, sheep, goats, and other domestic mammals, including ...

, ''

Anaplasma ''Anaplasma'' is a genus of gram-negative bacteria of the alphaproteobacterial order Rickettsiales, family Anaplasmataceae. ''Anaplasma'' species reside in host blood cells and lead to the disease anaplasmosis. The disease most commonly occur ...

marginale'', which causes

anaplasmosis Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne disease affecting ruminants, dogs, and horses, and is caused by ''Anaplasma'' bacteria. Anaplasmosis is an infectious but not contagious disease. Anaplasmosis can be transmitted through mechanical and biological vector ...

in cattle, ''

Francisella tularensis ''Francisella tularensis'' is a pathogenic species of Gram-negative coccobacillus, an aerobic bacterium. It is nonspore-forming, nonmotile, and the causative agent of tularemia, the pneumonic form of which is often lethal without treatment. It i ...

'', which causes

tularemia Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium '' Francisella tularensis''. Symptoms may include fever, skin ulcers, and enlarged lymph nodes. Occasionally, a form that results in pneumonia or a throat ...

, ''

Babesia caballi ''Babesia caballi'' is a species belonging to Alveolata and the family Babesiidae. In horses, it causes the babesiosis disease, called "equine babesiosis". Its length is 2.5-5 μm, while its width is 2 μm. It is usually oval-shaped. It ...

'', which causes equine piroplasmosis, and the ''

Flavivirus ''Flavivirus'', renamed ''Orthoflavivirus'' in 2023, is a genus of positive-strand RNA viruses in the family ''Flaviviridae''. The genus includes the West Nile virus, dengue virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, yellow fever virus, Zika viru ...

'' that causes Powassan encephalitis. ''Dermacentor'' ticks inject a

neurotoxin Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nervous tissue, nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insult (medical), insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function ...

that causes

tick paralysis Tick paralysis is a type of paralysis caused by specific types of ticks. Unlike tick-borne diseases caused by infectious organisms, the illness is caused by a neurotoxin produced in the tick's salivary gland. After prolonged attachment, the en ...

Species

As of 2019, about 41 species are placed in the genus: *'' Dermacentor abaensis'' Teng, 1963 *''

Dermacentor albipictus ''Dermacentor albipictus'', the winter tick, is a species of hard tick that parasitizes many different mammal species in North America. It is commonly associated with cervid species such as elk (''Cervus canadensis''), white-tailed deer (''Odocoi ...

'' Packard, 1869 – winter tick *''

Dermacentor andersoni ''Dermacentor andersoni'', commonly known as the Rocky Mountain wood tick, is a hard tick, or member of the Ixodidae family, with three life stages including larvae, nymph, and finally adult, or, more entomologically, imago. This tick is genera ...

'' Stiles, 1908 – Rocky Mountain wood tick *'' Dermacentor asper'' Arthur, 1960 *'' Dermacentor atrosignatus'' Neumann, 1906 *'' Dermacentor auratus'' Supino, 1897 *'' Dermacentor bellulus'' Schulze, 1933 *'' Dermacentor circumguttatus'' Neumann, 1897 *'' Dermacentor compactus'' Neumann, 1901 *'' Dermacentor confragus'' Schulze, 1933 *'' Dermacentor dispar'' Cooley, 1937 *'' Dermacentor dissimilis'' Cooley, 1947 *'' Dermacentor everestianus'' Hirst, 1926 *'' Dermacentor filippovae'' Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich, 2015 *'' Dermacentor halli'' McIntosh, 1931 *'' Dermacentor hunteri'' Bishopp, 1912 *'' Dermacentor imitans'' Warburton 1933 *'' Dermacentor kamshadalus'' Neumann, 1908Dmitry A Apanaskevich, Stephen C Barker, ''Dermacentor kamshadalus'' (Acari: Ixodidae), a Tick of Mountain Goats and Sheep in Western United States, Canada, and Russia, Is a Valid Species, ''Journal of Medical Entomology'', tjaa190, https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjaa190. *'' Dermacentor laothaiensis'' Apanaskevich et al., 2019 *'' Dermacentor latus'' Cooley, 1937 *'' Dermacentor limbooliati'' Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich, 2015 *'' Dermacentor marginatus'' Sulzer, 1776 *'' Dermacentor montanus'' Filippova & Panova, 1974 *''

Dermacentor nitens ''Dermacentor'' is a genus of ticks in the family Ixodidae, the hard ticks. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with native species on all continents except Australia. Most are found in North America. Hosts of ''Dermacentor'' ticks includ ...

'' Neumann, 1897 *'' Dermacentor niveus'' Neumann 1897 *'' Dermacentor nuttalli'' Olenev, 1928 *''

Dermacentor occidentalis ''Dermacentor occidentalis'', also known as the Pacific coast tick, is a species of wood tick in the arthropod family Ixodidae. This species is part of the coastal California biome. Host species include humans. When not engorged with blood, they ...

'' Marx, 1892 - Pacific Coast tick *'' Dermacentor panamensis'' Apanaskevich & Bermúdez, 2013 *'' Dermacentor parumapertus'' Neumann, 1901 *'' Dermacentor pasteuri'' Apanaskevich et al., 2020Dmitry Apanaskevich, Khamsing Vongphayloth, Pattraporn Jeangkhwoa, Aummarin Chaloemthanetphong, Arunee Ahantarig, Maria Apanaskevich, Paul T. Brey, Khaithong Lakeomany, Wachareeporn Trinachartvanit. 2020. Description of a new species of ''Dermacentor'' Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae) from the mountains of Laos and Thailand. ''Systematic Parasitology'', https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-020-09916-6. Last accessed 11 Jun 2020. *'' Dermacentor pavlovskyi'' Olenev 1927 *'' Dermacentor pomerantzevi'' Serdyukova, 1951 *'' Dermacentor pseudocompactus'' Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich, 2016Dmitry A. Apanaskevich and Maria A. Apanaskevich. 2016. Description of Two New Species of ''Dermacentor'' Koch, 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae) From Oriental Asia. ''Systematic Parasitology'' 2016 Feb;93(2):159-71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-015-9614-8. Epub 2016 Jan 20. *'' Dermacentor raskemensis'' Pomerantsev, 1946 *''

Dermacentor reticulatus ''Dermacentor reticulatus'', also known as the ornate cow tick, ornate dog tick, meadow tick, and marsh tick, is a species of tick from the family Ixodidae. It is the type species for the genus ''Dermacentor''. ''Dermacentor reticulatus'' is an ...

'' Fabricius, 1794 – ornate cow tick, ornate dog tick, meadow tick, marsh tick *'' Dermacentor rhinocerinus'' Denny, 1843 *'' Dermacentor silvarum'' Olenev 1931 *'' Dermacentor sinicus'' Schulze, 1932 *'' Dermacentor steini'' Schulze, 1933 *'' Dermacentor taiwanensis'' Sugimoto, 1935 *''

Dermacentor tamokensis ''Dermacentor'' is a genus of ticks in the family Ixodidae, the hard ticks. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with native species on all continents except Australia. Most are found in North America. Hosts of ''Dermacentor'' ticks includ ...

'' Apanaskevich & Apanaskevich, 2016 *'' Dermacentor ushakovae'' Filippova & Panova 1987 *''

Dermacentor variabilis ''Dermacentor variabilis'', also known as the American dog tick or wood tick, is a species of tick that is known to carry bacteria responsible for several diseases in humans, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia (''Francisella tul ...

'' Say, 1821 – wood tick, American dog tick

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2714520 Ticks Acari genera Parasitic arthropods of mammals Ixodidae Taxa named by Carl Ludwig Koch