Amblyomma americanum
Linnaeus, 1758 · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Amblyomma americanum's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation10 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility38 614 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI39 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics53 specimens↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Amblyomma americanum, also known as the lone star tick, the northeastern water tick, or the turkey tick, or the "Cricker Tick", is a type of tick indigenous to much of the eastern United States and Mexico, that bites painlessly and commonly goes unnoticed, remaining attached to its host for as long as seven days until it is fully engorged with blood. It is a member of the phylum Arthropoda, class Arachnida. The adult lone star tick is sexually dimorphic, named for a silvery-white, star-shaped spot or "lone star" present near the center of the posterior portion of the adult female shield (scutum); adult males conversely have varied white streaks or spots around the margins of their shields. A. americanum is also referred to as the turkey tick in some Midwestern U.S. states, where wild turkeys are a common host for immature ticks. It is the primary vector of Ehrlichia chaffeensis, which causes human monocytic ehrlichiosis, and Ehrlichia ewingii, which causes human and canine granulocytic ehrlichiosis. Other disease-causing bacterial agents isolated from lone star ticks include Francisella tularensis, Rickettsia amblyommii, and Coxiella burnetti.The distribution of the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) in the United States
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
No structured trait data for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Amblyomma americanum across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile1 class
Documented compounds1 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-[2-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)-3-(hydroxymethyl)-2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-6-yl]prop-2-enal | present | LOTUS |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Amblyomma americanum has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Amblyomma americanum carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 223×GoaT · Animal Chromosome Counts Database · GoaT · Animal Genome Size Database · TreeOfSex · invert
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
Record type38 614 records
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions13 of 21 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Tempe, US | 16 068 |
| Harold Winfred Manter Laboratory of Parasitologylocation not on record | 198 |
| Champaign, US | 43 |
| Ohio State University Acarology Laboratory, Columbus, OH (OSAL)location not on record | 35 |
| Edmonton, CA | 26 |
| UDlocation not on record | 12 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 11 |
| Provo, US | 10 |
| San Nicolás de los Garza, MX | 8 |
| East Lansing, US | 6 |
| Cambridge, US | 4 |
| New Haven, US | 3 |
| Mexico City, MX | 3 |
| Chicago, US | 3 |
| Essig Museum of Entomologylocation not on record | 3 |
| Lubbock, US | 2 |
| Centre for Biodiversity Genomicslocation not on record | 2 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 1 |
| Denver, US | 1 |
| Texas Memorial Museum, Texas Natural History Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Alberta Museums (UAM)location not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Amblyomma americanum was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.