Iowa State University Lyme Disease Survey

The deer or black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, can transmit Lyme Disease, a debilitating disease.

Entomologists at Iowa State University want to determine where these ticks occur in Iowa. You can help!

This survey is coordinated by Jon Oliver.

If you find any ticks on yourself while in Iowa:

• Wrap the tick in a tissue
• Put the tissue in a small ziplock bag
• Add some blades of grass so the tick does not dehydrate

Send to:

Lyme Disease Project
Department of Entomology
436 Science II
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011-3222.

Please include the following information:

• your name and address
• geographic location where you found the tick
• whether it was attached or not and to what (e.g., you? your dog?)

It does not matter if the tick is already dead. We want it anyway!

You will be sent a postcard telling you:

• What species of tick you have found.
• The life stage and sex of the tick
• Whether or not it was engorged
• The Lyme Disease Surveillanced (LDS) number

See also What Should Iowans Know About Lyme Disease?

Pictures and Movies of Deer Ticks

Pictures and movies of deer ticks can be found on Iowa State's Deer Tick Home Page.

Ixodes scapularis dissection sequence

This shows the sequence of events in dissecting the midgut from a partially engorged adult female deer tick to be tested for Borrelia burgdorferi (the Lyme Disease spirochete) by the IFA technique.

• (View entire sequence)

• Tick embedded in wax

• First incision

• Cutting continues

• Opening abdomen

• Abdomen open showing midgut

• Closeup of midgut

• Removing midgut

• Placing midgut on slide