27 Ticks: Kinds of ticks
Description
This article is from the Fleas, Ticks, and Your Pet FAQ, by tittle@zmall.com (Cindy Tittle Moore) with numerous contributions by others.
27 Ticks: Kinds of ticks
There are two basic types of ticks. Soft ticks, the argasids, are
distinguished by their soft, leathery cuticle and lack of scutum. They
can be recognized easily by their subterminal mouthparts that are on
the underside of the tick. Soft ticks when engorged with blood blow up
like a balloon. Soft ticks are fast feeders, being able to tank up in
a matter of hours.
Hard ticks, the Ixodids, have a hard plate on the dorsal surface and
have terminal mouthparts. When attaching, a tick will slice open the
skin with the mouthparts and then attach itself. They also secrete a
cement that hardens and holds the tick onto the host. Hard ticks are
slow feeders, taking several days to finish their bloodmeal.
During feeding a tick may extract up to 8 ml of blood, they can take
100X their body weight in blood. Interestingly, they concentrate the
blood during feeding and will return much of the water to the host
while losing some by transpiration through the cuticle.
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