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Background Information on the Biology of Ticks

Larisa Vredevoe, Ph.D, Deparment of Entomology, University of California, Davis

Hard ticks have three distinct life stages. Larvae which emerge from the egg have six legs. After obtaining a blood meal from a vertebrate host, they molt to the nymphal stage and acquire eight legs. Nymphs feed and molt to the next and final stage - the adult, which also has eight legs. After feeding once more, the adult female hard ticks lay one batch of thousands of eggs and then die. Only one blood meal is taken during each of the three life stages. The time to completion of the entire life cycle may vary from less than a year in tropical regions to over three years in cold climates, where certain stages may enter diapause until hosts are again available. Many hard ticks can go for several months without feeding if not unduly duressed by environmental conditions.

 

Hard ticks have a variety of life histories with respect to optimizing their chance of contact with an appropriate host to ensure survival. Some ticks feed on only one host throughout all three life stages. These ticks are called one host ticks. This type of tick remains on one host during the larval and nymphal stages, until they become adults, and females drop off the host after feeding to lay their batch of eggs. Other ticks feed on two hosts during their lives and are called two host ticks. This type of tick feeds and remains on the first host during the larval and nymphal life stages, and then drops off and attaches to a different host as an adult for its final blood meal. The adult female then drops off after feeding to lay eggs. Finally, many ticks feed on three hosts, one during each life stage, and are appropriately named three host ticks. These ticks drop off and reattach to a new host during each life stage, until finally the adult females lay their batch of eggs. In each case, the fed adult stage is terminal, that is, after laying one batch of eggs the female dies, and after the male has reproduced, he dies as well.

The life stages of soft ticks are not readily distinguishable. The first life stage to come out of the egg, a six legged larva, takes a blood meal from a host, and molts to the first nymphal stage. Unlike hard ticks, many soft ticks go through multiple nymphal stages, gradually increasing in size until the final molt to the adult stage. Some soft ticks pass through up to seven nymphal molts before they become adults. Soft ticks feed several times during each life stage, and females lay multiple small batches of eggs between blood meals during their lives. The time to completion of the entire life cycle is generally much longer than that of hard ticks, lasting over several years. Additionally, many soft ticks have an uncanny resistance to starvation, and can survive for many years without a blood meal (Furman and Loomis 1984).

The mouthparts of soft ticks are are not readily visible from above. There are three visible components: the two outside jointed parts are the highly mobile palps; between these are paired chelicerae, which protect the center rod-shaped structure, the hypostome. The palps move laterally while the tick is feeding and do not enter the skin of the host. The rough hypostome has many beak-like projections on it. This is the structure which plunges into the host's skin while feeding. The backward directed projections prevent easy removal of the attached tick.

Some soft ticks seek hosts by questing on low-lying vegetation, but the vast majority are nest parasites, residing in sheltered environments such as burrows, caves, or nests. Certain biochemicals such as carbon dioxide as well as heat and movement serve as stimuli for host seeking behavior. Soft ticks feed for short periods of time on their hosts, varying from several minutes to days, depending on such factors as life stage, host type, and species of tick. The feeding behavior of many soft ticks can be compared to that of fleas or bedbugs, as once established, they reside in the nest of the host, feeding rapidly when the host returns and disturbs the contents. The outside surface, or cuticle, of soft ticks expands, but does not grow to accommodate the large volume of blood ingested, which may be anywhere from 5-10 times their unfed body weight (Sonenshine 1991).