Did you know that a female tick can lay up to several thousand eggs at a time? Yikes! But this enormous capacity alone is not what makes tick control so challenging. The tick life cycle adds special challenges. Understanding how ticks reproduce and the complex life cycle of ticks can help you combat the little bloodsuckers more effectively.
Why Understanding the Tick Life Cycle Matters
Ticks are more than just a nuisance. They can cause anemia in people and pets and transmit viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Tick-borne diseases include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tick-borne relapsing fever, and tularemia.
Understanding the life cycle of ticks and where they lay their eggs can help prevent a tick infestation in your yard.
How Do Ticks Reproduce?
Most ticks mate on their host animal. After a female tick feeds and is engorged with blood, she releases pheromones to attract a mate. Male ticks climb aboard the animal host to find and mate with the receptive female. Often, multiple males respond and fight for the right to mate with the female. The female tick can mate with many males, with the sperm from each competing within her reproductive tract. Once mating is complete, the female drops off the host to lay her eggs and begin the tick life cycle anew.
A single female Ixodes tick (such as the black-legged tick, which transmits Lyme disease) can lay 1,500 to 2,000 eggs. A female Dermacentor tick (including the American dog tick) may lay upwards of 4,000 to 6,500 eggs.
Tick Life Cycle – How Long Does Each Stage Last?
The tick life cycle has four distinct stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. Each stage following hatching requires a blood meal.
Stage 1: Eggs
After feeding through some of the winter and spring months, adult female ticks drop off their host to lay their eggs in protected grass. The female digests her blood meal for several days to weeks, depending upon the temperature, before she lays thousands of eggs. Tick eggs hatch in a few weeks to several months. Warm, humid conditions speed digestion, egg laying, and hatching.
Stage 2: Larvae
Once hatched, tick larvae or “seed ticks” have just six legs in contrast to the eight legs of nymphs and adults. Seed ticks begin searching for a host to feed on. They climb to the tops of tall grass, “questing” for a host where pet and human activity are generally high. Once they find a host, the larval ticks climb the animal, looking for a spot to attach and feed. They like spots where the skin is thinner, fur or hair is less dense, and where they are unlikely to be disturbed. Once the seed tick has found a host and is attached, it feeds on the host’s blood for about 3 to 5 days before dropping off for molting into the next stage in the tick’s life cycle.
Stage 3: Nymph
Once the larvae have drunk their fill of blood, they will drop off the host to digest their meal and molt into eight-legged nymphs. Digestion may take several days to weeks, with warmer, humid weather speeding the process. Nymphs then climb to the tops of grasses or leaves to quest for a host. Again, the nymph attaches to the new host, feeding for several days to a week before dropping off.
As the nymph feeds, it also transmits any disease or parasites to the new host it picked up as a seed tick. Nymphs are even more effective at spreading disease than adult ticks because they are smaller and more likely to be overlooked by their hosts.
Stage 4: Adult
After the satiated nymph drops off its host, it digests its blood meal and begins molting into an adult. The nymph sheds its exoskeleton to emerge as a sexually mature adult. Adult ticks then go for a third quest, seeking a larger host and blood meal. Adult ticks, too, spread pathogens they picked up from prior hosts. After feeding, the female releases hormones, advertising her readiness for mating.
The entire tick life cycle involves just three blood meals and can take up to three years to complete.
What is the Life Expectancy of Ticks?
The lifespan of a single tick depends on how long it takes to complete each of the four stages of the tick life cycle. The greatest time is spent between blood meals. If a tick cannot find a host, it can die of starvation. However, ticks are remarkably resilient and can survive long periods between meals:
- Larvae can live for several months without feeding.
- Nymphs may survive without a meal for up to several months, depending on the species.
- Adult ticks can survive for months or even a year after molting until they find a host for their final blood meal.
Ticks have a slow metabolism and physiological adaptations that enable them to conserve energy between blood meals. They spend the majority of their lives in shaded woods and grasslands, seeking out hosts only to feed.
Don’t Let Ticks Take Over Your Life!
The complexity of the tick’s life cycle makes it challenging to rid your property of infestations. Trust the pros at Mosquito Joe® to protect your family and pets from the bloodthirsty little suckers. You know you’ll be pleased with our pest control services. Everything we do is backed by the Neighborly Done Right Promise® and our Mosquito Joe Satisfaction Guarantee. Request a free quote today. Let’s send those nasty biters packing!
