5 Types of Ticks in Virginia

5 types of ticks have a verified observation record in Virginia. The most frequently recorded are Lone Star Tick, American Dog Tick and Eastern Black-legged Tick. Here is the full list, ranked by how often each is reported on iNaturalist.

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5 types of ticks have a verified observation record in Virginia. The most frequently recorded are Lone Star Tick, American Dog Tick and Eastern Black-legged Tick. Here is the full list, ranked by how often each is reported on iNaturalist.

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Verified species, source iNaturalist

5 types of ticks recorded in Virginia

5 tick species have a verified observation record in Virginia, each with at least 10 confirmed sightings. The full list, ranked by how often each is recorded, is below.

1 of the 5 shown is recorded as introduced to Virginia rather than native.

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    1

    Lone Star Tick

    Amblyomma americanum

    1,532 recordsNative
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    2

    American Dog Tick

    Dermacentor variabilis

    1,185 recordsNative
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    3

    Eastern Black-legged Tick

    Ixodes scapularis

    407 recordsNative
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    4

    Gulf Coast Tick

    Amblyomma maculatum

    64 records
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    5

    Asian Longhorned Tick

    Haemaphysalis longicornis

    17 recordsIntroduced

Plus 1 more recorded only rarely (fewer than 10 verified sightings). Counts from verified iNaturalist observations.

The Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum) is the most commonly recorded, with 1,532 verified observations, about 48% of all ticks reported in Virginia. If you spot a tick here, it is statistically most likely to be this one.

Virginia also hosts less common ticks such as Gulf Coast Tick and Asian Longhorned Tick, each recorded fewer than 100 times. These are the species worth a second look when you are out, since a sighting is more notable.

Not every one of these is originally from here. Asian Longhorned Tick is recorded by iNaturalist as introduced in Virginia rather than native, so it arrived with human help rather than on its own.