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Ticks are external parasites, living by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. The timing of the origin of ticks is uncertain, though the oldest known tick fossils are from the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years old. Ticks are widely distributed around the world, especially in warm, humid climates.
TICK FACTS. Ticks are small, eight-legged bloodsucking parasites — arachnids, not insects — that feed on animals and sometimes people. Some ticks are infected with germs that can cause illness ...
Deer tick 3D rendering of a male and female deer tick Ixodes scapularis is the main vector of Lyme disease in North America. [ 14 ] The CDC reported over 30,000 new cases of the disease in 2016 alone, the majority of which were contracted in the summer months, which is when ticks are most likely to bite humans. [ 15 ]
The ticks that transmit Lyme disease are hard ticks. [4] Ticks often have a preferred host, but may still attach to a different host when called for. Their preferred host may change depending on the tick's stage of development (eg larval vs adult) and the host may or may not carry the transmittable pathogen. [3]
A tick bite does not automatically transfer diseases to the host. Instead, the tick must be attached to the host for a period of time, generally 6–8 hours [9] but sometimes as little as 3–6 hours, [10] before it is capable of transferring disease. The earlier the tick is removed from a host, the less likely it is to contract the illness.
The hedgehog tick is dark brown in color, but appears light grey or white when engorged. It can be identified by the humped tarsae of its first pair of legs. The adult female has a characteristic heart- or hexagon-shaped scutum; the male's scutum covers the entire body segment (idiosoma), as is typical for hard ticks. A lateral groove runs ...
Experts break down the most important tick facts to know heading into tick season. Skip to main content. 24/7 Help. For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us ...
The Ixodidae are the family of hard ticks or scale ticks, [1] one of the three families of ticks, consisting of over 700 species. They are known as 'hard ticks' because they have a scutum or hard shield, which the other major family of ticks, the 'soft ticks' ( Argasidae ), lack.