The lone star tick is slightly smaller than the American dog tick, but has much longer mouth parts (Fig. 3).  The female has a single white spot near the center of her back.  The males and nymphs are much smaller than the females.  All three stages–larvae, nymphs and adults–are quite active and walk fast.  The lone star tick differs from the American dog tick in that all three active stages will attach to humans.  The immature stages of the lone star tick, sometimes referred to as "seed ticks," "turkey ticks," or even "deer ticks," will even attach to ground-feeding birds and be carried to distant locations.

Lone star ticks have been collected in more than two thirds of Indiana counties, but are much more abundant in southern Indiana.  High populations can be found in parts of Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, Perry, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Gibson, Pike, Dubois, Davies, Martin, Orange, Lawrence and Monroe counties  (Fig. 4).  The distribution of the lone star tick seems to be expanding northward as a result of the strong growth of populations of the white-tailed deer in the state. 

Adult lone star ticks appear in late March.  Their numbers peak in May and June, declining in July.  Nymph appear in April, peak in May and June and can be found throughout the summer.   Larvae appear in the spring and again in the fall, but are not usually encountered in the middle of the summer.