Additional examples of hard ticks...
These photomicrographs are examples of two types of Amblyomma hard ticks.
It is best to use a good online color atlas or benchtop reference guide when attempting to identify the hard ticks.
(Refer back to page 16 for suggested pictorial atlas URLs and access to online reference guides.)
11. CDC/ J Gathany. Image# 8683. "This photograph depicts a dorsal view of a female lone star ixodid, or hard tick, Amblyomma americanum. Note the characteristic lone star marking located centrally on its dorsal surface, at the distal tip of its scutum. Note the tick’s four pairs of jointed legs, placing it, and all ticks, in the phylum, Arthropoda, and the class, Arachnida. You are also able to see the tick’s capitulum, or mouthparts, projecting from the anterior end of the tick’s body." PHIL public domain. Created 2006. https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=8683 12. CDC/ J Gathany. Image# 10880. "This 2008 photograph depicted a dorsal view of a female, Amblyomma triste tick, as it was climbing a blade of grass. A neotropical tick, A. triste is a member of the Ixodides family of hard ticks, whose dorsal abdominal surface is covered by a hard, chitinous shell known as a scutum. Marked by a reticulated symmetrical pattern, the male tick sports a scutum, which covers the entire dorsal abdominal surface. As you can plainly see in this case, the female’s scutum is much smaller, allowing for the expansion of her abdomen, which becomes engorged when ingesting her blood meal." PHIL public domain. Created 2008. https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=10880
