Spread of the Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum) into Southern Ontario

Observation by Adam Boudens:

In the fall of 2018, a female lone star tick was removed from a dog in the City of Welland (a lower-tier municipality located in the Niagara Region). The gentlemen who observed the tick did not realize the significance of his finding at the time of discovery and unfortunately did not take a picture of the tick or keep the individual for testing. I learned of the encounter through an acquaintance and was introduced to the gentlemen at a fundraising event in the fall of 2018. He was able to describe the characteristic white crown located in the centre of the ornate scutum of female ticks. At the time I didn’t think to take down the gentleman’s name, but I was able to confirm that other occurrences of lone star ticks have been reported to the Niagara Region’s Department of Public Health in 2018.