Tick Facts

---

There are over 850 tick species, about 100 of which are capable of transmitting diseases. In the U.S. five genera, Amblyomma (e.g. lone star tick), Dermacentor (e.g. American dog, Rocky Mountain wood, pacific coast ticks), Ixodes (e.g. black-legged, Western black-legged ticks), Ornithodoros, and Rhipicephalus (e.g. brown dog tick) transmit to humans the vast majority of diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and toxins. Multiple diseases can be contracted from a single tickbite.

Ticks are bloodsucking external parasites that feed on humans, wild and domestic mammals, birds, reptiles and others. They are totally dependent on the blood/tissue fluids of the host. The longer an infective tick feeds, the greater the chance of infection.

• Ticks are not insects. Ticks have eight legs as an adult and two body segments, whereas insects have six legs as an adult and three body segments. Ticks are arachnids, as are chiggers, spiders and mites.
• Ticks have four life stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. The egg hatches into a larva. A larva ("seed" tick) has six legs. It feeds and molts into a nymph. A nymph has eight legs and no sex differentiation. It then feeds and molts into an adult. The adult is differentiated into male or female. The female requires a blood meal in order to lay eggs.
• A hard tick seeks a blood meal at, or slightly above, ground level by climbing onto vegetation and using its forelegs to feel/grab for a host. Ticks are usually found from ground level to three feet above the ground. A tick uses carbon dioxide, scent, body heat, and other stimuli to find a host.
• To be infective (capable of acquiring and transmitting infection) the tick must be able to maintain the infection through a molt. Ticks vary in their ability to do this. For example, dog ticks can acquire the pathogen that causes Lyme disease - so they can be "infected". But, they can not maintain the infection as they molt from one stage to another. Therefore, they are not "infective".

Click on picture to go to Image Gallery

Dog ticks and black-legged ticks
compared to a pencil

Dog Ticks A. Engorged female B. Female C. Male

Black-Legged Ticks D. Larvae E. Nymphs F. Males G. Females H. Engorged female