What are the common ticks of the Northeast?

Ticks are actually arachnids (the 8-legged class that includes spiders) and are found around the world. These are some of the common ticks in the US:

• Blacklegged tick/Deer tick (Ixodes Scapularis)
• American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis)
• Lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum)

Ticks have four stages in their life cycle - the adults are tiny, but the larva and nymphs are even smaller. For example, these are the estimated sizes at each stage:

• Eggs
• Larvae (0.7 - 0.8 m)
• Nymphs (1-2 mm)
• Adults ~6 mm)

This is a female lone star tick