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The Asian longhorned tick is an East Asian tick that turned up on a New Jersey sheep farm in 2017 and has since spread through much of the eastern US. Females can lay eggs without mating, so a single tick can start a population, and thousands can pile onto one animal.

Appearance

Appearance
A small, plain brown tick about 0.1 in (2–3 mm) long, with no white markings on its back. A fully fed female swells to nearly 0.4 in (10 mm).

Look-alikes

Lone star tickAmblyomma americanum

Adult female lone star ticks are larger and have a white dot on the back, and their mouthparts are long and narrow. Longhorned ticks are smaller, unmarked, and have short, angular mouthparts. Nymphs of the two look very similar without magnification.

Why they get mixed upBoth are brown ticks of the eastern US.

American dog tickDermacentor variabilis

American dog ticks have white markings on their backs. The Asian longhorned tick has none.

Why they get mixed upBoth turn up on dogs and in grassy areas.

Rabbit tickHaemaphysalis leporispalustris

Can't be told apart in photos. Under magnification, the adult Asian longhorned tick has a prominent backward-pointing spur on its mouthparts that native Haemaphysalis ticks lack.

Why they get mixed upIt's one of the few native US ticks in the same genus.

Where it lives

Typical habitats
  • Pastures
  • Grassy fields
  • Shrubs
Range
Native to East Asia, including China, Korea, and Japan, and also found in Australia and New Zealand, where it's a known livestock pest. As of April 2024 it had been found in 20 US states, from Massachusetts and New York south to Georgia and west to Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas.
Preferred conditions
Waits on grass and shrubs for a passing animal. It was probably in the eastern US for several years before it was first noticed.

Behavior

Diet
Feeds on blood from a wide range of mammals and birds. In the US it has been found on livestock, pets, wildlife, and people, but it's less attracted to people than native ticks.
Social life
Unlike most US ticks, it often shows up in large clusters, with many ticks on a single host.

Life cycle

Reproduction
Populations in the US appear to be all-female, reproducing by , which helps them establish and spread quickly. A fed female lays about 2,000–3,000 eggs.
Lifespan
Unfed ticks can survive about a year, and up to two years in humid conditions, depending on temperature and humidity.

Cautions

Cautions
In Asia its bites can spread serious diseases such as SFTS (severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome). In the US, it's not yet known whether it passes germs to people. Heavy infestations drain blood from cattle and sheep and can spread , a cattle blood disease.

Conservation

IUCN Red List
NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed

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Longhorned Tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis) — identification, habitat & look-alikes | Moeyo