Prevention is the best way to avoid ticks and their potential pathogens. ImageĬourtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Areas to inspect when completing a tick check. hermsi may transmit Borrelia hermsii and prefers coniferous forests in mountainous regions at higher elevations. parkeri habitat includes burrows of prairie dogs, ground squirrels, and burrowing owls in basins and valleys. Ornithodorous parkeri may transmit tick-borne relapsing fever ( Borrelia parkeri) to humans, though encountering this tick would be a rare event. In Utah, two soft tick species may transmit diseases. Typically, batches of eggs (up to 500) are laid multiple times. Unlike hard ticks, soft ticks can mate multiple times and do not have to feed each time to produce viable eggs. Soft ticks mate off-host, usually in vegetation or in hiding places in their host’s nest or roost. During feeding, soft ticks will have a tenfold increase in their body weight. Soft ticks feed more like bed bugs, actively finding prey and feeding in less than 1 hour. Hard ticks attach from a few days to a few weeks. Soft ticks may live from 10-20 years, largely due to their ability to survive long periods without feeding.Īnother primary difference between soft and hard ticks is how they feed. They differ from hard ticks in that they have multiple (three to five) nymph stages, whereas hard ticks only have one nymph stage. Soft ticks have four life stages (egg, larva, nymph, and adult). The name “soft tick” refers to this group’s lack of a scutum, or the hard plate that covers the back of the hard tick body (Fig. Humans less frequently encounter soft ticks (Argassidae) which are capable of transmitting diseases to humans in Utah. During the feeding process, diseases can be transmitted from the tick to humans or other animals. When feeding, adult females can increase their body weight 100-120 times the pre-feeding weight. Because of this, hard ticks will stay attached to the host for 2 to 3 days as a larva and up to 2 weeks for adult females. Hard ticks’ bodies grow to accommodate their blood meal as they become engorged (Fig. Once firmly in place, a tick will secrete antihistamines, anticoagulants and other enzymes to promote blood feeding. After the cement hardens, ticks become very difficult to remove. When the mouthparts are in place, hard ticks secrete a cement-like substance that will help anchor the tick to the host’s skin. The tick secrets a numbing agent in the saliva as the hypostome pushes into the skin, so bites are typically painless. Scissor-like mouthparts (chelicerae) are used to cut into the skin and the barbed hypostome (straw-like mouthpart) is inserted. Hard ticks don’t simply bite, they attach. Tick engorgement stages from unfed (left) to In Utah, humans and pets mostly come in contact with three-host ticks in the nymph or adult stage while seeking larger mammalian hosts. After hatching, two- and three-host tick larvae will seek rodents, lizards, and other small hosts, while one-host ticks will search for their primary host species. Female hard ticks will die after completing egg-laying. Egg laying can take weeks to complete, and eggs can number in the thousands. Mating occurs on-host, and the female will drop to the ground to lay eggs. Ticks must take a blood meal between each life stage to molt and reproduce successfully. Two-host ticks occur on one host as immatures and on another host in the adult stage. Three-host ticks will attach to three different animal hosts during their life, while the one-host ticks attach to one host and remain on that host throughout their lives. The number of hosts a tick will attach to depends on the tick species. Ticks range in size from 2 mm to 20 mm depending on the life stage and species. Visually, ticks appear to have one body segment, but two distinct segments exist, the gnathosome (mouthparts) and the idosome (body). Adult and nymphal ticks have eight legs, while newly hatched larvae have six legs and are very tiny. Hard ticks (Ixodidae) have four distinct life stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. Ticks are of medical concern because pathogens (bacteria, viruses or protozoa) can be transmitted when infected ticks feed on humans. Many species of ticks occur in Utah, but most live in close association with their hosts and would never encounter humans. In Utah, ticks are usually found on grasses, low plants, and sagebrush, waiting to attach to a host (Fig. albipictus) and the western blacklegged tick ( Ixodes pacificus). Less frequently encountered ticks include the winter fern tick ( D. The brown dog tick ( Rhipicephalus sanguineus) may occasionally be brought into homes on infested dogs or animals. 1) is the most commonly encountered tick for humans and pets. The Rocky Mountain wood tick ( Dermacentor andersoni Fig.
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