28 Ticks: Lifecycle
Description
This article is from the Fleas, Ticks, and Your Pet FAQ, by tittle@zmall.com (Cindy Tittle Moore) with numerous contributions by others.
28 Ticks: Lifecycle
All ticks have four life cycle stages. Adult ticks, produce eggs. A
female tick can produce up to 20,000 eggs. Mating usually occurs on a
host, after which the female must have a blood meal in order for the
eggs to develop. Ixodid ticks are unusual in that mating does not
occur on the host. The eggs are laid in the soil or leaf litter after
the female drops off the host. These eggs hatch into a stage known as
the larva. The larva is the smallest stage and can be recognized by
having only 3 pairs of legs. These "seed ticks" are produced in great
numbers. They must find a host and take a blood meal in order to molt
to the next stage called the nymph. If the nymph can feed on a host,
it will develop into the adult tick.
Ticks vary greatly in how long this cycle takes and the number of
hosts involved. Some ticks are one host ticks; the entire cycle occurs
on that one host. Others use two hosts, some three and some of the
soft ticks are multi-host ticks.
Ticks require high humidity and moderate temperature. Juvenile ticks
usually live in the soil or at ground level. They will then climb up
onto a blade of grass or the leaf of a plant to await a potential
host. They will sense the presence of a host and begin the questing
behavior, standing up and waving their front legs. They are able to
sense a vibration, a shadow, a change in CO2 level, or temperature
change. When unsuccessful in their "quest" they become dehydrated and
will climb back down the plant to the ground to become rehydrated.
Then back up the plant, etc., until they are successful or they die.
Some ticks have been known to live for over 20 years and they can live
for a very long time without food. Their favored habitat is old
field-forest ecozone. One way to cut down the number of ticks is to
keep the area mowed.
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