Hardbacked Ticks
Ixodidae
The Ixodidae are the family of hard ticks or scale ticks, one of the three families of ticks, consisting of 750 species, as of 2025. They are known as 'hard ticks' because they have a scutum or hard shield, which the other major family of ticks, the 'soft ticks' (Argasidae), lack. They are ectoparasites of a wide range of host species, and some are vectors of pathogens that can cause human disease.
12 branches of this family, most-observed first
Dog Ticks
genusDermacentor
Ixodes
genusIxodes
Bont Ticks
genusAmblyomma
Pepper Ticks
genusRhipicephalus
Hyalomma
genusHyalomma
Haemaphysalis
genusHaemaphysalis
Bothriocroton
genusBothriocroton
Archaeocroton
genusArchaeocroton
Robertsicus
genusRobertsicus
Rhipicentor
genusRhipicentor
Africaniella
genusAfricaniella
Margaropus
genusMargaropus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Ixodidae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 51673.