what is the scientific name of tick

What is the medical name for a tick?

Medical entomology A hematophagous ectoparasitic arthropod of the superfamily Ixodoidea, which is either a hard tick–family Ixodidae or a soft tick–family Argasidae; ticks may be vectors of bacterial and viral infections.

What is a tick in science?

Abstract. Ticks are representatives of the order Ixodida, which constitute a large group of arthropods of major medical and veterinary importance. They are obligate blood feeders and some species act as vectors of various viruses, bacteria, protozoa and helminths to many animal species, including humans.

What kingdom is tick?

AnimalTick / KingdomAnimals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and ... Wikipedia

Why is a tick called a parasite?

They are classified as parasites since they feed on the blood of host animals – which is how they get the various diseases that they can then transmit to other animals and humans. While there are hundreds of species of ticks, only a handful typically transmits disease to humans.

What type of animal is a tick?

Ticks are members of the same phylum (Arthropoda) of the animal kingdom as insects, however are in a different class. The subphylum Chelicerata includes the class Arachnida, which again contains several subclasses. The subclass Acari (syn. Acaria, Acarina, Acarida) includes ticks.

What eats a tick?

Ticks have a variety of natural predators including ants, spiders, and birds, though most are generalists that only occasionally feed on ticks.

Do ticks bite humans?

Ticks typically bite once, instead of in clusters or lines. Most harmless tick bites cause no physical signs or symptoms. Some cause a red or discolored bump to appear that looks similar to a mosquito bite. A Lyme disease bullseye rash can appear anywhere from 3 to 30 days after you've been bitten.

Can ticks fly?

Tick Facts Ticks can only crawl; they cannot fly or jump. Ticks found on the scalp have usually crawled there from lower parts of the body. Some species of ticks will crawl several feet toward a host.

What is tick made of?

The tick's form consists of a capitulum (head) and a flattened, oval-shaped body called the idiosoma. Like spiders and other arachnids, adult ticks and nymphs have eight legs, though larvae emerge from the egg with only six.

Is a tick considered a parasite?

Ticks are parasites that feed on warm-blooded hosts. They are related to mites and spiders because they are all arthropods. That means they have eight legs. There are many kinds of ticks.

How ticks are formed?

Most ticks go through four life stages: egg, six-legged larva, eight-legged nymph, and adult. After hatching from the eggs, ticks must eat blood at every stage to survive.

Are ticks harmful to humans?

Most tick bites are harmless and don't need medical treatment. But some ticks (like the deer tick, wood tick, and others) can carry harmful germs that cause diseases like Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease.

What is a tick?

For other uses, see Tick (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Tic. Ticks (suborder Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the superorder Parasitiformes. Along with mites, they constitute the subclass Acari. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness".

What is the family of ticks?

Ticks belong to two major families, the Ixodidae or hard ticks, and the Argasidae, or soft ticks. Nuttalliella, a genus of tick from southern Africa is the only member of the family Nuttalliellidae, and represents the most primitive living lineage of ticks.

What are the three families of ticks?

Ticks belong to three different families. The majority of tick species belong to the two families: Ixodidae (hard ticks) and Argasidae (soft ticks). The third living family is Nuttalliellidae, named for the bacteriologist George Nuttall.

How do ticks find their hosts?

Ticks find their hosts by detecting an animals' breath and body odors, sensing body heat, moisture, or vibrations. A common misconception about ticks is they jump onto their host or they fall from trees, however, they are incapable of flying or jumping. Many tick species, particularly Ixodidae, lie in wait in a position known as "questing". While questing, ticks cling to leaves and grasses by their third and fourth pairs of legs. They hold the first pair of legs outstretched, waiting to grasp and climb on to any passing host. Tick questing heights tend to be correlated with the size of the desired host; nymphs and small species tend to quest close to the ground, where they may encounter small mammalian or bird hosts; adults climb higher into the vegetation, where larger hosts may be encountered. Some species are hunters and lurk near places where hosts may rest. Upon receiving an olfactory stimulus or other environmental indication, they crawl or run across the intervening surface.

How long does it take for a tick to feed?

Depending on the species and life stage, preparing to feed can take from ten minutes to two hours. On locating a suitable feeding spot, the tick grasps the host's skin and cuts into the surface. It extracts blood by cutting a hole in the host's epidermis, into which it inserts its hypostome and prevents the blood from clotting by excreting an anticoagulant or platelet aggregation inhibitor.

How many legs does a tick have?

Larval ticks hatch with six legs, acquiring the other two after a blood meal and molting into the nymph stage. In the nymphal and adult stages, ticks have eight legs, each of which has seven segments and is tipped with a pair of claws. The legs are sometimes ornamented and usually bear sensory or tactile hairs.

How old are ticks?

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.

What does a tick look like?

Some ticks are round (like beans) while others are flat with festoons (folds that look like a ridge) around their abdomen. All ticks are parasitic. Their body shape color can greatly change after a blood meal. Flat, hungry ticks become inflated like a balloon after a full meal. Color may change also.

How are insects confined?

Some insects are naturally confined by environment, weather, mating habits, food resources and the like while others see widespread expansion across most, or all, of North America. States/Territories shown above are a general indicator of areas inhabited by the Tick.

Do ticks carry Lyme disease?

They might not even realize they were a host even after the tick leaves. Fortunately, the American Dog Tick is not known to carry Lyme Disease, the most popular affliction associated with ticks. Ticks are not insects, they are arachnids, which means they have 8 legs.

Can ticks spread disease?

Some species of tick are capable of spreading disease to humans, like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Although the infectious agent does not affect the tick, once it is passed through the tick's saliva into the human bloodstream, it can cause an array of symptoms including fatigue, headaches, and general malaise. If you suspect you have been bitten by a tick, seeking the advice of a medical professional as soon as possible is prudent.

What is the most common type of tick in the United States?

The deer tick is the most common type of tick in the United States, and also the smallest of all the species of ticks. Adult Eastern blacklegged ticks grow to roughly the size of a sesame seed. This tick has a distinct red color with a black dorsal shield towards the head of the tick.

What is the difference between a hard tick and a soft tick?

Hard ticks have the scutum while soft ticks do not. There are also a few other minor differences between the two types of ticks. Hard ticks have mouthparts that can be viewed from the top of the tick. Observing a soft tick from the top looks like it is missing mouthparts.

How long does it take for a blacklegged tick to grow?

This tick has three life stages which are larva, nymph, and adult. It takes two years for this tick to grow from larva to adult.

Why are ticks considered arachnids?

It is because of the tick’s anatomy that it is classified as an arachnid rather than an insect. Tick legs have tiny claws at the end and spiny hairs. These features allow the arachnid to grasp vegetation such as leaves, grass, and branches and to attach to their host’s body.

How many ticks are there in the world?

There are over 800 different species of ticks in the world and over 100 of these are found in North America. The good news is you will probably never encounter most species of ticks in your lifetime. Only a handful of tick species come into contact with humans.

When do winter ticks go to the host?

Winter ticks are unlike most other tick species in that they typically go through their entire lifecycle on a single host. The winter tick is most active during fall, winter, and spring but not active in the summer.

How long does it take for a tick to live?

Ticks typically go through four life stages and can take up to three years to undergo the entire life cycle.

How do ticks spend their time?

Behavior. Ticks spend a great deal of time waiting for their hosts. They are particularly sensitive to carbon dioxide and movement-signals that a host is nearby. Their grasping forelegs allow them to climb on a host. They quickly find a protected spot on the host's body, sink their mouthparts into the flesh, and begin to feed.

What is a relapsing fever tick?

The relapsing-fever tick is a soft tick that occasionally bites humans. Importance. Several diseases are transmitted to humans and domestic animals through tick bites or tick excrement. The most important of these are spotted fever, relapsing fever, Lyme disease, tularemia, some forms of encephalitis, and Texas cattle fever.

What is a tick?

Tick, common name for members of a group of large mitelike arachnids parasitic on mammals, birds, and reptiles. All ticks are bloodsucking parasites.

What are the two families of ticks?

Ticks are divided into two families: hard ticks and soft ticks. In hard ticks, the mouthparts are visible from above. Hard ticks are parasites primarily of mammals but are also found on birds and reptiles. The nymphs may feed on a different host species in each developmental stage; in each stage, the nymph feeds only once.

How big are ticks?

In general, they are larger than most mites, ranging from about 0.2 to 0.6 cm (about 0.08 to 0.24 in) in length, although females may be 1 cm (0.4 in) or more in diameter when fully engorged with blood. The adult tick has a mitelike body with a tough skin ...

What are the mouthparts of a tick?

The mouthparts consist of a paired anchoring organ, or rostrum, covered with backward-curving hooks and equivalent to the pedipalps of other arachnids; and a pair of sharp mandibles that move back and forth in two longitudinal channels on the rostrum. Ticks spend a great deal of time waiting for their hosts.

What is the phylum of ticks and hosts?

Scientific classification: Ticks belong to the suborder Metastigmata in the order Acari, class Arachnida, phy lum Arthropoda.

What is the most common tick that bites humans?

All life stages bite humans, but nymphs and adult females are most commonly found on people. LONE STAR TICK Amblyomma americanum. WHERE FOUND Widely distributed in the eastern United States, but more common in the South. TRANSMITS Ehrlichia chaffeensis and E. ewingii (which cause human ehrlichiosis), Francisella tularensis (tularemia), ...

What do ticks eat?

COMMENTS Larvae and nymphs feed on birds and small rodents, while adult ticks feed on deer and other wildlife. Adult ticks have been associated with transmission of R. parkeri to humans. ROCKY MOUNTAIN WOOD TICK Dermacentor andersoni. WHERE FOUND Rocky Mountain states.

What do nymphs eat?

miyamotoi ( Borrelia miyamotoi disease, a form of relapsing fever). COMMENTS Larvae and nymphs often feed on lizards, birds, and rodents, and adults more commonly feed on deer.

Where is R. rickettsii transmitted?

Primary vector for R. rickettsii transmission in the southwestern United States and along the U.S.-Mexico border. COMMENTS Dogs are the primary host for the brown dog tick in each of its life stages, but the tick may also bite humans or other mammals. GROUNDHOG TICK Ixodes cookei.

Where are ticks most likely to be bitten?

COMMENTS The greatest risk of being bitten exists in the spring, summer, and fall in the Northeast, Upper Midwest and mid-Atlantic. However, adult ticks may be out searching for a host any time winter temperatures are above freezing.

When do ticks bite humans?

COMMENTS The greatest risk of being bitten exists in early spring through late fall. A very aggressive tick that bites humans. The adult female is distinguished by a white dot or “lone star” on her back. The nymph and adult females most frequently bite humans.

When are humans most likely to be bit by a female?

COMMENTS The greatest risk of being bitten occurs during spring and summer. Adult females are most likely to bite humans.

What is the tickborne disease caused by?

Anaplasmosis is a tickborne disease caused by the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum.

What to do if you find a tick on your skin?

If you find a tick attached to your skin, there’s no need to panic—the key is to remove the tick as soon as possible. Where ticks live. Not all ticks bite and transmit disease to people. Find out what which ticks are spreading disease in your area.

Overview

Biology

Relationship with humans

See also

Sources

External links