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Dieren en planten

Arthropods   Arachnids (spiders)   Spiders   Daddy longlegs   Ticks   

Mens en Milieu

Ecology   Ecosystems   Ecological dynamics   Island biology   Grazing   Cattle   
  • Dut: Teek
  • Lat: Ixodidae (Argasidae, Haemaphysalidae) (Ixodes ricinus, Haemaphysalis punctata)
  • Eng: Tick
  • Ger: Zecke (Holzbock)
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Tick, Foto Fitis, www.fotofitis.nl

Ticks

Ticks are mostly known as pea-sized gruesome parasites found on dogs and carriers of diseases such as Lyme. They let themselves fall out of trees and bushes and suck blood from mammals, birds and reptiles. A tick usually visits three different hosts during its lifetime. Between two meals, they can go for months without food. Ticks like damp surroundings and are not only found in woods, but in the dunes and salt marshes as well.

  • Tick bites

    The most common tick is the species Ixodes ricinus, also known as the dog's tick. This species has a wide spectrum of hosts: larvae and nymphs are found on small mammals, birds and lizards while adult stages are found on larger animals such as dogs, cattle, deer or boar. This species will also bite people. The bite can carry a bacteria which causes the Lyme disease. When someone is contaminated with Lyme bacteria Borelia, a red ringed-shape skin irritation forms around the bite after a couple of days. The nervous system can be affected and signs of paralysis can result. That is why ticks must be removed as quickly as possible with special tick tweezers. The disease can be counteracted in an early stage with antibiotics. Therefore, it is very important to be alert for any ring formation around the bite up till a week after the tick has been removed.

  • Patient animals

    After the female adult has engorged itself, she lays 500 to 3000 eggs on the ground or under vegetation and then dies. The hatched larvae can remain inactive between ten days to two years, until a suitable host is found. After feeding upon a host, the larvae fall off and molt, transforming into nymphs. Once again, the nymph will wait ten days to two years for the next host, from which it will suck blood and molt into adulthood. The entire life cycle can vary between one and a half and seven years.
    During the nymph stage, a tick is only a few millimeters large, while a fully swelled adult tick can grow to more than a centimeter.