Fauna
Arachnid

Castor Bean Tick

Ixodes ricinus

Also known as Sheep Tick, European Castor Bean Tick, Wood Tick

Castor bean ticks spend most of their multi-year lives hidden in leaf litter, emerging to climb vegetation and perform questing behavior with outstretched forelegs to snag passing hosts. Larvae, nymphs, and adults each require a single prolonged blood meal from different vertebrate hosts to molt and reproduce. Their painless bites make them inconspicuous parasites capable of carrying and transmitting diverse bacterial and viral pathogens.

ParasiteBlood-feedingWoodland
Castor Bean Tick reference1 / 7
(c) George Mitchell, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by George Mitchell · cc-by
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Not EvaluatedConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXNot Evaluated — not placed on the risk ladderRed List categories, explained →
Key facts
Diet & preyMammalian blood, Avian blood, Reptilian blood
Predators
  • Ground-foraging birds
  • Shrews
  • Parasitoid wasps
ThreatsDesiccation during prolonged droughts and loss of woodland understory
HabitatsDeciduous and mixed woodlands, heathlands, pastures, and overgrown meadows
Life span2–3 years
Classification
  1. OrderIxodida
  2. FamilyIxodidae
  3. GenusIxodes
  4. SpeciesIxodes ricinus
Range & activity
Range data is not available yet.
Safe observation
Interaction riskModerate
  1. Low
  2. Moderate
  3. High
  4. Very high
Why interaction risk is moderate
Transmits Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis; check skin and gear thoroughly after outdoor activity.
Why it is dangerous
Bites can transmit Borrelia burgdorferi and tick-borne encephalitis virus, which cause severe inflammatory, cardiac, and neurological disease.
How to recognize a risky encounter
Look for a tiny, flattened arachnid with eight legs and a dark scutum that swells into a gray, oval sac after feeding.
What to do
Check skin and clothing after traversing tall grass; remove embedded ticks immediately using tweezers rather than petroleum jelly or heat.
Responsible observation
  • Preventative wear: Tuck trousers into socks and wear light-colored clothing to spot crawling ticks easily.
  • Safe removal: Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick close to the skin and pull steadily upward without twisting.
Related species
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