It is a serious year-round pest of cattle and will attack man. It is a known vector of tularemia and a suspected vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The basis capituli has conspicuous tooth-like dorsal projections on the posterior margin known as cornua. Genus Ixodes Ticks in the genus Ixodes are easily recognized by the position of the anal groove, which lies in front of the anus and extends from one side of the body to the other. There are 34 species of ticks in the genus Ixodes in the United States, more than in any other genus.
Male specimens have a complicated arrangement of plates on the ventral side of the abdomen.
Most species have enlarged club-like palps. The black-legged tick, Ixodes Scapularis, occurs in the eastern half of the United States. Male and female specimens are frequently found mating on deer, dogs and other large mammals in the fall and winter. This species will also feed on man and birds. Ixodes pacificus adults will bite deer, cattle and man readily.