Ticks

Tick Control Services

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Learn More About the Ticks We Exterminate

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Dog Ticks

Female Dog Tick:

This is one of the most widely distributed ticks in the world and there are records of its occurrence on a number of hosts. By far the most common host is the domestic dog and the brown tick is virtually restricted to this host in the United States.

There are occasional collection records of people and domestic cats as hosts, but these records are generally for instances where there has been close contact with infected dogs. In other parts of the world, this tick seems to have a somewhat wider range of hosts.

Under normal circumstances in North America, all feeding stages of the tick feed on dogs. The adults commonly attach to the ears and between the toes, and the larvae and nymphs are often found in hair along the back.

While these developmental stages are often found on the indicated host body regions, they are not restricted to these regions and may be found on practically any part of the dog's body.

When individuals of each feeding stage become fully engorged, they drop from the host and seek some protected situation in the immediate surroundings. For this reason, all tick life stages may be found behind baseboards, under window and door moldings, in window pulley openings, or in furniture.

Couple this behavior with the climbing behavior of newly hatched larvae or other states which have not obtained a blood meal recently, and one can understand why nearly all cracks and crevices in an infested premise must be carefully treated in order to obtain good tick control.

Homeowner calls usually occur in the late summer and fall when ticks are encountered crawling on carpeting, walls, and sometimes furniture.

Brown dog ticks can be found outdoors in the southern United States during any time of the year, but are found outdoors during the warm months in the northern United States. It is generally believed that this species of tick cannot overwinter in the more northern United States except within a heated structure.

Male Dog Tick:

tiny pits scattered over the back. They do not enlarge upon feeding as do females Before feeding, adult female ticks resemble the males in size, shape and color. As they feed, females become engorged and swell to 1/2 inch long and 1/4 inch wide. The legs, mouthparts and shield area behind the head remain red-brown, but the enlarged portion of the body becomes gray-blue to olive. The red-brown color is distinctive and no other tick normally encountered will be uniformly red-brown.

Egg-laying begins about three days after the engorged adult female drops from the dog. She may deposit as many as 5,000 eggs in places such as between boards, under plaster or carpeting, or in other cracks and crevices. The eggs usually hatch in about three weeks, although up to several months may be required under particularly cool or dry conditions. After hatching, the larvae wait months while waiting for a host. Once on the host, the larvae feed for about three days and then drop off. Molting occurs about one week after the blood meal, and nymphs emerge to climb vegetation or vertical surfaces to again wait for a host. The second feeding will last about four days, after which they again drop off, to molt into the adult stage. Adults can live up to 1 1/2 years, without feeding, but must feed before mating. After mating, the female completely engorges herself with blood and then drops off the host to lay eggs.

A home can become heavily infested if the family dog picks up ticks from an infested residence, during which time some ticks may drop off. In this case, the home and yard may become infested even though a dog is not generally kept there. Dogs do not become infested with brown dog ticks by direct contact with other dogs. Ticks feeding on a dog drop off and molt before they will resume host-seeking behavior and attach to another dog.

Deer Ticks

The deer (or black-legged) tick in the East and the related western black-legged tick are the primary (and possibly the only) known transmitters of true Lyme disease in the United States. Both are hard-bodied ticks with a two-year life cycle.

Like all species of ticks, deer ticks and their relatives require a blood meal to progress to each successive stage in their life cycles.

The life cycle of the deer tick comprises three growth stages: the larva, nymph and adult. In both the northeastern and mid-western U.S., where Lyme disease has become prevalent, it takes about two years for the tick to hatch from the egg, go through all three stages, reproduce, and then die.

In May, nymphal activity begins. Host-seeking nymphs wait on vegetation near the ground for a small mammal or bird to approach.

The nymph will then latch on to its host and feed for 4 or 5 days, engorging with blood and swelling to many times its original size. If previously infected during its larval stage, the nymph may transmit the Lyme disease spirochete to its host.

If not previously infected, the nymph may become infected if its host carries the Lyme disease spirochete from previous infectious tick bites. In highly endemic areas of the northeast, 25% of nymphs have been found to harbor the Lyme disease spirochete.

Too often, humans are the hosts that come into contact with infected nymphs during their peak spring activity (late May through July).

Although the nymphs' preferred hosts are small mammals and birds, humans and their pets are suitable substitutes. Because nymphs are about the size of a poppy seed, they often go unnoticed until fully engorged, and are therefore responsible for the majority of human Lyme disease cases.

Adult female ticks that attach to deer, whether in the fall or spring, feed for approximately one week. Males feed only intermittently. Mating may take place on or off the host and is required for the female's successful completion of the blood meal.

The females then drop off the host, become gravid, lay their eggs underneath leaf litter in early spring, and die. Each female lays approximately 3,000 eggs. The eggs hatch later in the summer, beginning the two-year cycle anew.