While tick bites are not often painful, they can lead to infections or even chronic illnesses.If you don't know if you're dealing with a tick problem or not, you should check for features that distinguish ticks from other bugs.Some bugs look like ticks, but they need to be dealt with immediately to avoid illness or infections.If you're not sure about a professional opinion, call an Exterminator.
Step 1: Look for a round shape.
Before a tick is engorged with blood, its body is shaped like an ellipse with 2 major segments.After a tick is engorged, its head will remain small, but its body will grow round and plump.
Step 2: There are between 2 to 2 in bugs that are long.
It depends on whether the tick has recently fed on blood.A tick can be as big as a pinhead before it has drunk any blood.A tick will grow to the size of a lima bean in a few hours.
Step 3: Take a look at its exterior for a hard body.
Most ticks have a hard shell.Hard or "authentic" ticks are what people are talking about when describing ticks.There are soft ticks with a flexible exoskeleton, but they are only found in a few areas.The western United States and southwestern Canada have soft ticks.
Step 4: There is a design on its back.
Lone star ticks have a design on their bodies.A bug that does not have this design may still be a tick.A defining feature of this tick species is the pattern.
Step 5: Take a look at the bug for black legs.
Black-legged ticks have legs that are darker than their bodies.Similar to a lone star tick's black legs, this is a defining characteristic of black-legged ticks and may not be present on every tick.
Step 6: You shouldn't confuse bugs with ticks.
The tick does not have wings or antennae.It's not a tick if you have found a bug with either.If your bug has the same characteristics as a tick, research it with wings or antennae.The weevils have both wings and antennae.
Step 7: To distinguish it from insects, count the legs.
Like spider and scorpions, ticks have 8 legs.If your bug has six, it is an insect and not a tick.If your bug has less than 6 legs, it is not an insect or arachnid but a tick.
Step 8: The bugs that feed on blood do not travel in groups.
Billbugs are often mistaken for ticks because of their similar appearance.To distinguish between a tick and a billbug, watch them.Billbugs swarm in groups.Billbugs do not feed on blood.Billbugs don't hang around or on people or animals.A lot of the time, ticks do.
Step 9: Look for bugs that burrow in the skin.
There are both ticks and bed bugs.Their method of feeding animals and people is different.Bed bugs stay on the surface of the skin while ticks burrow into it.Before you remove a bug from your skin, make sure you know if it's a tick or bed bug.Without proper precautions, you can remove a tick's body.
Step 10: It's a good idea to check for mild pain around the bite.
Most tick bites are not painful.If you experience sharp pain, you have not been bitten by a tick.To determine what insect or arachnid bit you, research your other symptoms.You might experience pain immediately after a soft tick bites you.
Step 11: Look for redness on the site.
Your body's immune system can be damaged by tick bites.It may be a tick bite if the skin surrounding it looks red.Redness is a symptom of bug bites.
Step 12: You should watch for rash development in the days and weeks after your bite.
If you contract an illness from the tick bite, you may develop a rash, which is a symptom of tick bites.Call your doctor or go to an urgent care clinic if you get a rash from your tick bite.It can take months or years before a person develops symptoms of a tick-borne disease.
Step 13: There is a tick attached to your body.
The most common way to see a tick bite is to look for it in your skin.You can use a credit card or a pair of tweezers to get the bug out of your skin if you compare it to other insects.tick heads can remain in your skin if you are not careful.
Step 14: There are tick bite symptoms that need immediate medical care.
If you develop an allergic reaction to a tick bite, you may need to go to the emergency room.If you notice any of the following symptoms, immediately seek emergency medical help.