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Ticks 101

Egg
  • Depending on temperature, humidity and other environmental factors, eggs will hatch in two weeks to several months after being laid.

Larvae (Seed Ticks)
  • Have six legs and the sexes are indistinguishable

  • Difficulty finding and attaching to a host can cause prolonged fasts.

  • A large percentage of tick larvae die of starvation.

  • Some climb onto vegetation, waiting for a small rodent to pass by.

  • Some actively seek a vertebrate host, being guided by the sent of the animal.

  • After a single blood meal, the engorged larvae usually drop to the soil and molt to the eight-legged nymph stage.

  • The larvae of one-host ticks remain on the host to molt.

Nymph
  • Have eight legs like an adult, but lacks a genital opening.

  • After molting, the nymph must wait until a suitable host comes by.

  • After feeding on a host, the nymph drops off, molts and becoming an adult.

  • Nymphs may rest for long periods before becoming adults

  • When a tick moves from host to host, it risks it’s survival to find another host.

  • Some ticks, like the cattle tick, are one-host ticks and remain on a single host during their entire life-cycle.

  • Multiple host ticks survive because of their great reproductive capacity and their ability to survive for long periods without food.

  • Hard Ticks

    • Some species live less than a year, while other species can live up to three years or more.

    • Molt one time and then become adults (1 nymphal instar)

  • Soft Ticks: May molt several times before becoming adults (Multiple nymphal instars)

Adult
  • Sex is only distinguishable as an adult.

  • Female hard ticks have a small scutum(central thorax plate) compared to males.

  • Soft ticks are distinguished by the shape of their genital openings, located between the second pair of legs.

    • Male genital openings are almost circular

    • Female genital openings are oval and definitely broader than long

  • Unlike mosquitoes, both male and female ticks are blood suckers, and both require several days of feeding before copulation.

  • Male ticks copulate with one or more females after engorgement and then dies.

  • Female ticks drop to the ground after copulation, and after a few days for the eggs to mature, lays her eggs (hundreds to thousands).

  • Female hard ticks die a few days after laying eggs, while soft ticks may lay several batches of eggs, feeding between each batch (20-50 per batch).

Four Developmental Stages of a Tick:

  • Ticks are arachnids, related to spiders, mites, and chiggers.

  • Ticks have 8 legs, except the larvae have 6.

  • Ticks feed on the blood of animals and humans.

  • An adult female drops off and lays several thousand eggs.

  • Tick larvae hatch in late spring or summer.

  • Tick nymphs emerge in spring.

  • Adults are active year-round, even in winter.

  • Some adults are active even when it’s below freezing.

The Basics:

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