---
title: "American Dog Tick"
description: "Dermacentor variabilis — Insecten en spinnen. 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 tularensis)."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/american-dog-tick
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# American Dog Tick

> Dermacentor variabilis — Insecten en spinnen. 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 tularensis).

- Scientific name: *Dermacentor variabilis*
- Category: `insects` (Insecten en spinnen)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos), `grassland` (Weiden en velden)
- iNaturalist observations: 33492
- Wikidata: [Q4297977](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4297977)
- iNaturalist taxon: [52155](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/52155)

## Names

- en: American Dog Tick
- de: Amerikanische Hundezecke
- es: Garrapata americana de perro
- fr: Tique américaine du chien

## Countries with the most observations

US (23095), CA (4470), MX (6)

## Summary

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 tularensis). It is one of the best-known hard ticks. Diseases are spread when it sucks blood from the host. It may take several days for the host to experience symptoms.
Though D. variabilis may be exposed to Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, these ticks are not competent vectors for the transmission of this disease. The primary vectors for B. burgdorferi are…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermacentor_variabilis

## Photo

![American Dog Tick](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/american-dog-tick/medium.jpg)

Photo: Eric Vehe · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/123950622

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/american-dog-tick?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).