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TicksThe most easily seen features of ticks are the spiracular plates which surround the external openings of their respiratory system. These plates are well developed and large. They are located just outside the bases of the third and fourth pairs of legs.
Ticks feed only on the blood of vertebrates, making them one of the least favorite visitors in our homes. Hard ticks and soft ticks are the two major groups that are pests. Hard ticks have the capitulum (where the head and mouthparts are located) exposed and easily visible from the top. The upper side of their body also bears a distinctly sclerotized shield or scutum. This structure covers most of the upper body surface in the male tick, but is restricted to a much smaller area (immediately behind the capitulum) in the female. When a female becomes completely engorged with blood, her abdomen increases to many times its normal dimensions and the scutum will then appear to be extremely small in relation to the body size. Male ticks do not become so large when engorged. In soft ticks, the body has a rather non-descript sac-like shape. The front portion of the body extends forward, above and beyond the base of the capitulum, so that the capitulum is concealed when the tick is viewed from above. Soft ticks do not have a scutum on the upper side of the body, and the exoskeleton is rather leathery in texture with a distinctly roughened surface. Ticks have four stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, nymph and adult. Mating usually occurs while adult ticks are on the body of the host animal. The female then drops to the ground and deposits her eggs. Adult female hard ticks feed only once and lay one large batch of eggs, often containing as many as 10,000 or more. Some adult female soft ticks will feed several times and lay 20 to 50 eggs after each meal, depending on such conditions as temperature and humidity. Adult ticks may require several days of feeding before they are able to reproduce.
Male hard ticks usually die soon after mating, and females die soon after laying their eggs. Adult soft ticks are generally longer-lived, and egg-laying is a periodic activity of the female.
Most ticks spend the bulk of their life on or near the ground, waiting for a suitable host animal. Since they cannot run, hop, fly or move quickly, ticks must climb onto an appropriate object such as tall grass or weeds or up onto fences and siding of buildings. Most ticks will feed on blood from a wide variety of animals, with only a few tick species feeding on but one kind of host.
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