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Tick life cycles include four stages: egg, six-legged larva,
eight-legged nymph, and adult. The soft ticks may pass through two to
seven nymphal instars dependent on species and environmental
conditions. Soft ticks generally complete feeding in a short time and
the hard ticks require long feeding periods. Engorged female ticks
deposit large numbers of eggs either in one batch or several smaller
batches and, when the egg-laying function is completed, die. The eggs
hatch into small six-legged larvae (seed ticks). The seed ticks crawl
up on vegetation and, as a host animal passes, attach to an animal.
Once attached, the seed tick feeds on blood and either remains on the
animal (one-host tick) or drops off to reattach later as a nymph. The
survival rate for seed ticks, nymphs, and even adult ticks is low
because of the environment and the chance of not finding a host, but
this is offset by the great number of eggs deposited by a female and
the ability of immature and adult ticks to survive long periods
without feeding
Advice for Ticks:
Ticks are the leading carriers of
diseases to humans in the United States, second only to mosquitoes
worldwide. It is not the tick bite but the toxins or organisms in the
tick's saliva transmitted through the bite that cause disease.
Ticks are arthropods, like spiders.
There are more than 800 species of ticks throughout the world. They
are responsible for carrying such diseases as Rocky Mountain spotted
fever, Lyme disease, babesiosis (Texas fever), ehrlichiosis, and
tularemia (also transmitted via rabbits), as well as Colorado tick
fever and Powassan (a form of encephalitis).
In addition to disease transmission,
ticks can also cause tick paralysis. This condition occurs when
neurotoxins in the tick saliva make you ill; cause paralysis of the
body; and in extreme cases, can stop you from breathing in extreme
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