Dermacentor albipictus

Winter tick
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Subclass: Acari
Order: Ixodida
Family: Ixodidae
Genus: Dermacentor
Species: D. albipictus
Binomial name
Dermacentor albipictus
(Packard, 1869)

Dermacentor albipictus, the winter tick, is a species of hard tick that is an external parasite of moose (Alces alces) in North America. Heavy infestations of up to 75,000 [1] ticks have been seen on single moose, and can lead to the death of the animal.[2]

There is evidence that the winter tick may be responsible for a steep decline in the Eastern moose population throughout the southern half of their range.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "What's a Ghost Moose? How Ticks Are Killing an Iconic Animal". National Geographic News. 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  2. ↑ Samuel, Bill. White as a Ghost: Winter Ticks & Moose. Federation of Alberta Naturalists. ISBN 978-0969613466.
  3. ↑ Hari Sreenivasan (2014-04-07). "What’s devastating the wild moose population in New England?". PBS Newshour. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
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