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Photo#182748
Lone Star Tick - Amblyomma americanum

Lone Star Tick - Amblyomma americanum
Moorestown, Burlington County, New Jersey, USA
May 15, 2008
Size: Maybe around 1.5 mm?
Another view

Nymphal lone star tick
This is definately a nymphal Amblyomma americanum tick. This species' range extends along the east coast as far north as Maine

 
Thanks
Appreciate the help

Black-legged tick
Ixodes scapularis......one Lyme carrying sucker!

 
Hmmmm...
The other Ixodes scapularis in the guide have black around the "head and shoulders" and brown on the body. These appear to be the reverse, brown around the "head and shoulders" and black on the body. This also seems rounder instead of oval.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/40503/bgimage

 
Hmmmm...
Seems to maybe match Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)

better than Deer Tick (Ixodes scapularis)

 
Black-legged/Deer Tick
Lone Star Tick is found generally Southeast....New Jersey is a bit North, but never say impossible. I have picked Deer ticks off various parts of my body in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado that were nearly black. They darken as they fill up. Also, the males seem to be rounder than females, and naturally darker. With a 50 yr history of tick pickin' in the outdoors, Black-legged Tick would be my best guess for what you've got. However, I'm never too old to learn, though!

 
Large Black Tick in NJ i.d.
I didn't take a photo, but I'd love help identifying a tick that was attached to my daugther's ear (behind) who had just been camping and swimming in the Lake Hopatcong, NJ area. It was large, flat, black. I found it last night and extracted it. It took off some skin, but nothing other than a tiny red dot is left. Today she has a fever of 99.6. I'm wondering if I should take her to a doctor. Thanks.

 
Well
I'm not really able to ID the tick from the description, nor am I a doctor. For large ticks I normally think of Dermacentor variabilis - American Dog Tick (but it could have been something else). As far as taking your daughter to a doctor, I think that I'm going to let you make that call, but I don't think that there is any harm in going - if you want a real medical opinion rather than mine.

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