Blacklegged Tick

The blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, also called the deer tick, is a species of hard tick found across much of the eastern half of North America, with its range shifting northward into Canada as the climate warms. Adult females measure 3 to 4 millimeters and can swell considerably while feeding, while males, at 2 to 3 millimeters, have a rigid shield that prevents them from engorging, and unlike some other tick genera it has no eyes. It is the main vector of Lyme disease in North America and also transmits the pathogens that cause babesiosis and anaplasmosis.