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Tick Species in Germany: Castor Bean, Ornate Dog Tick & Co.

TickSpot Guide · Updated October 2026

In short: Several tick species occur in Germany, but according to the Robert Koch Institute one of them accounts for the vast majority of bites on people: the castor bean tick. The others are rare, prefer animals — or, like the immigrant Hyalomma tick, are striking but numerically marginal.

The species at a glance

Species Appearance Where Transmits, among others Bites people
Castor bean tick
Ixodes ricinus		 Small; females with a reddish-brown body and dark shield; nymphs 1–2 mm Most common species; woods, woodland edges, meadows Borrelia, TBE virus, Anaplasma Yes — most bites
Ornate dog tick
Dermacentor reticulatus		 Pale, marbled dorsal shield; a few millimetres, up to gooseberry size when engorged Increasing, but rather rare overall; damp deciduous woods, floodplains Babesia (dogs), TBE virus, Rickettsia Rarely
Hedgehog tick
Ixodes hexagonus		 Similar to the castor bean tick, easily confused Mainly on hedgehogs, also foxes and other canids Considered a vector of Borrelia and TBE virus Not reliably quantified
Brown dog tick
Rhipicephalus sanguineus		 Reddish to yellowish brown, up to 5 mm Southern Europe; brought in with dogs, can multiply indoors In dogs: Ehrlichia canis, Babesia Yes
Hyalomma
H. marginatum, H. rufipes		 1–2 cm, brown-and-yellow striped legs Very rare, arrives with migratory birds Can carry Crimean-Congo virus — not detected in Germany so far Yes, actively pursues its host
Pigeon tick
Argas reflexus		 Soft tick without a dorsal shield, oval, 4–10 mm Pigeon nesting sites on buildings, lofts No transmission to humans known so far Yes, when pigeons are absent

The table reflects what the authorities say about each species — reliable identification is a job for specialists. For dealing with a tick on your body, the species makes no difference anyway; more on that at the end.

Castor bean tick (Ixodes ricinus) — the standard case

Appearance: Adult females have a reddish-brown body with a dark shield at the front. As a larva the castor bean tick has six legs, as a nymph and as an adult eight. Unfed nymphs are only one to two millimetres across, which makes them easy to mistake for a mole or a freckle — how to tell the difference is in "Tick or Mole?" Drawings of anatomy, size and colour are in "What do ticks look like?".

Range: According to the Robert Koch Institute, the most common tick species in Germany. If you find a tick on yourself, this is very likely the one. Germany's Federal Environment Agency (UBA) describes it as active all year round, mainly in spring and autumn, in woods, at woodland edges and in meadows. Development from egg to adult takes about two to three years.

Diseases: The RKI names the castor bean tick as a host of Borrelia (Lyme disease), the TBE virus and Anaplasma. The European health agency ECDC also lists, among others, the pathogen behind tularaemia, Rickettsia and Babesia. It is the species most tick guides — ours included — are about.

Ornate dog tick (Dermacentor reticulatus) — the patterned one

Appearance: Easy to recognise by its pale, marbled dorsal shield, which is not uniformly dark as in the castor bean tick. According to the UBA it is only a few millimetres long unfed and can reach the size of a gooseberry when engorged.

Range: The UBA says it has been appearing more often in Germany in recent years but is rather rare overall. It prefers damp deciduous woods and floodplains and mainly infests dogs, foxes and ruminants. It rarely bites people: by the RKI's figures, the ornate dog tick and the even rarer Haemaphysalis concinna together account for about one to two per cent of tick bites.

Diseases: According to the RKI it transmits Babesia — including Babesia canis, the cause of canine babesiosis ("dog malaria") —, the TBE virus and Rickettsia. That makes it the most relevant species for dog owners; see "Can Ticks Transmit Diseases to Dogs and Cats?"

A close relative is Haemaphysalis concinna. According to the RKI it is very rare across Germany but has stable populations near the Polish border. It is considered a vector of the TBE virus, the tularaemia pathogen and Rickettsia; transmission in Germany has not been described so far.

Hedgehog tick (Ixodes hexagonus) — the nest dweller

Appearance: So similar to the castor bean tick that the ECDC explicitly points out the risk of confusing the two.

Range: According to ZOWIAC, a wildlife research project run by Senckenberg and Goethe University Frankfurt, the hedgehog is its main host; foxes and other canids are affected too. You are most likely to meet it if there is a hedgehog in your garden or your dog likes to rummage through hedges. We found no reliable source quantifying how often it bites people.

Diseases: Considered a vector of Lyme disease and TBE.

Brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) — the holiday souvenir

Appearance: Reddish brown to yellowish brown and up to five millimetres long, according to the UBA.

Range: Its natural range is southern Europe; it reaches Germany on infested dogs after holidays. One trait sets it apart from the native species: according to the UBA, mass infestations can occur in living spaces. More in "Can ticks survive indoors?"

Diseases: In dogs it transmits Ehrlichia canis, the cause of ehrlichiosis, and Babesia, according to the veterinary parasitology association ESCCAP. In people, its bites can cause wheals, the UBA says; many larval bites can lead to more widespread skin irritation.

Hyalomma — the large immigrant

Appearance: About twice the size of the castor bean tick according to the RKI; the UBA gives 1 to 2 centimetres. Unmistakable are the brown-and-yellow striped legs, with which it runs quickly and actively towards its host instead of waiting like the castor bean tick.

Range: The genus occurs in parts of Africa, Asia and south-eastern Europe. According to the RKI, larvae and nymphs reach Germany in spring on migratory birds and develop into adults over the summer; only Hyalomma marginatum and Hyalomma rufipes have been found so far. It is very rare: between two and about 20 specimens a year are sent to the RKI. Whether a permanent population will form is still open, according to the RKI.

Diseases: Hyalomma ticks can carry the Crimean-Congo virus, which causes the severe Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. It has not been detected in ticks in Germany so far, and it does not occur in wild or farm animals here. More common is Rickettsia aeschlimannii, a cause of tick-bite fever: the University of Hohenheim's citizen-science project found it in around 30 per cent of the ticks examined.

Context, so the numbers don't mislead: the Hohenheim project collected around 8,100 submitted ticks between February 2019 and December 2021, 202 of them Hyalomma. Those figures differ from the RKI's because it is a different reporting channel — and conspicuous ticks are far more likely to be sent in than ordinary castor bean ticks. Such submissions say nothing about how common a species really is. If you find a Hyalomma tick, the RKI asks for it to be taped to paper and posted; the address is in the RKI's tick FAQ.

Pigeon tick (Argas reflexus) — the soft tick indoors

Appearance: Unlike all the species above, a soft tick: no dorsal shield, oval, 4 to 10 millimetres long according to the UBA. Flat when hungry, noticeably swollen after a blood meal.

Range: It lives at pigeon nesting sites in lofts and on buildings and hides during the day in cracks, crevices or behind loose wallpaper. According to the UBA it gets into homes mainly when building work has cut pigeons off from their nesting sites — the ticks then look for new hosts at night.

Diseases: No transmission of pathogens to humans is known so far, the UBA says, but bites can cause allergic reactions and skin irritation. Control belongs in the hands of professional pest controllers.

What this means for you in practice

You don't need to be able to tell tick species apart in everyday life. The advice is the same for every hard tick: remove it promptly and properly and watch the bite site — the method is in "How to remove a tick properly". The species only matters in three cases: an unusually large tick with striped legs (Hyalomma — worth sending to the RKI), dogs, where the ornate dog tick matters because of babesiosis, and ticks turning up in your home again and again — then the brown dog tick or the pigeon tick is a likelier culprit than the castor bean tick.

How to spot the tiny castor bean tick nymphs in the first place — the case that practically always applies — is in "Find ticks with your phone".

Whatever the species: TickSpot makes even millimetre-sized nymphs visible — free in your browser.

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Frequently asked questions

Is a castor bean tick a tick?

Yes. The castor bean tick (Ixodes ricinus), known in German as „Holzbock“, is a tick, and according to the Robert Koch Institute the most common species in Germany. If you find a tick on yourself, it is very likely this one.

Which tick species occur in Germany?

The castor bean tick is by far the most common. Others include the ornate dog tick, the hedgehog tick, the brown dog tick, the pigeon tick and isolated immigrant Hyalomma ticks. For people, the castor bean tick is the one that matters most.

How can I tell which tick I have?

A red-brown abdomen with a dark shield points to a female castor bean tick, a pale marbled shield to an ornate dog tick, very large ticks with yellow-and-brown striped legs to Hyalomma. Drawings of anatomy and colour are in "What do ticks look like?".

Do I need to know the species to act correctly?

No. Every tick is removed the same way: as early as possible, gripped close to the skin and pulled out slowly. Then watch the spot.

Sources

Note: This article provides general information and does not replace medical or veterinary advice. Reliable species identification is only possible for specialists.

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