Ticks In Nebraska, only three ticks are known to be of economic importance. All three are carriers of human and animal diseases. The American dog tick transmits Rocky Mountain spotted fever to dogs and man, piroplasmosis to dogs, and perhaps other diseases. The brown dog tick transmits tularemia, encephalitis and other diseases. The Rocky Mountain wood tick transmits bovine anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever and tularemia.
Ticks have eight legs.
The body of unfed ticks tends to be oval, usually tapering anteriorly, and flattened. The body of the female is capable of great distention and, when blood engorged, looks like a brown bean or nut. There are four stages in the life cycle. The three common ticks in Nebraska are three-host ticks. They leave the first animal host as either a mature larvae or nymph, molt and attach to another host for completion of the next phase of their life cycle.