Common Names
The use of common names has led to a plethora of colloquial expressions for Ixodes holocyclus. The most generally accepted name used within Australia is simply 'Paralysis Tick'. In a global context it should be 'The Paralysis Tick of Australia'. The following table gives some of the other names used to describe various stages of Ixodes holocyclus. Many of these common names are best not used for Ixodes holocyclus because they are also used for some of the other ticks found in Australia.
| Used (& misused) common names for Ixodes holocyclus | Life Stage/Gender referred to | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Paralysis tick of Australia | All stages | The preferred common name for Ixodes holocyclus. There are other ticks around the world also causing paralysis. |
| Scrub tick | Adult female, Adult male | In Queensland, scrub tick is also used for Haemaphysalis longicornis. |
| Bush tick | Adult female, Adult male | Throughout Australia, bush tick is also used for Haemaphysalis longicornis. |
| Dog tick | Adult female, Adult male | In NSW, dog tick is more correctly used for Rhipicephalus sanguineus (the Brown Dog Tick). |
| Wattle tick | Adult female, Adult male | Wattle tick was used by pioneers in the Illawarra region of NSW to describe the tick causing paralysis, especially in sheep. |
| Common hardback tick | Adult female, Adult male | Common hardback rick term used in The Northern Herald, Sydney (Aug 1996). This expression perhaps emphasises the fact that Ixodes holocyclus is indeed a 'hard tick' and that it is also the most common tick encountered by humans and animals in the Sydney region. |
| Bottle tick or blue bottle tick | Adult female | Bottle tick describes that fact that the engorging tick becomes swollen with fluid (the host's blood). The addition of 'Blue' probably refers to bluish hue associated with the mid-sized engorged female. It also sounds like another venomous animal, the marine stinger of the same name, the 'blue bottle' or Portuguese Man o' War. |
| Shell back tick | Adult male | Shell back tick describes the tortoise-shell appearance of the large shield (scutum) which covers the entire dorsum of the adult male. |
| Grass tick | Nymph and Larva | The term grass tick is usually used to refer to the smaller stages of Ixodes holoyclus but the term delivers little useful information because any tick can be found in the grass. |
| Seed tick | Larva | The term seed tick usually is used to refer to the smallest stage of Ixodes holoyclus. |
| Shower tick | Larva | The term shower tick presumably refers to the fact that humans can become seemingly showered by hundreds of larvae at a time - this is because they have hatched from a single cluster of eggs (thousands) which have not yet been distributed by the first of three hosts. |
| Scrub itch tick | Larva | The term scrub itch tick is used in Queensland to describe the larvae of Ixodes holocyclus which often infest humans and animals in huge numbers causing a rash. Without careful inspection the presence of the tiny larval ticks may be missed until they engorge to an appreciable size. |
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