Ixodes dammini Natural History

.Ixodes dammini (or Ixodes scapularis)
(Deer Tick or black-legged tick)

 

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthrodoa

Class: Arachnida (eight legs, Spiders, ticks, mites, scorpions)

Superorder: Parasitiformes

Order: Ixodida (small arachnids, ticks and mites)

Family: Ixodidae

Genus/Species: Ixodes dammini or Ixodes scapularis

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(Remedy abbreviation is Ixodes-d, Ixodes dammin.)

Ixodes: a genus of hard-bodied ticks in the family Ixodidae. Some species are vectors of disease.

Ticks are small arachnids in the order Ixodida. Along with mites, they constitute the subclass Acarina. Ticks are ectoparasites (external parasites), living by hematophagy on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. Ticks carry a number of diseases, including Lyme disease, Q fever, Colorado tick fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, African tick bite fever, tularemia, tick-borne relapsing fever, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Tick paralysis and tick-borne meningoencephalitis, as well as bovine anaplasmosis.

There are three families of ticks, one of which Nuttalliellidae has only one species. The remaining two families contain the hard ticks (Ixodidae) and the soft ticks (Argasidae).

 

Range and Habitat

Tick species are widely distributed around the world. However, they tend to flourish more in countries with warm, humid climates, because they require a certain amount of moisture in the air in order to undergo metamorphosis, and because low temperatures inhibit their development from egg to larva. Ticks of domestic animals are especially common and varied in tropical countries, where they cause considerable harm to livestock by transmission of many species of pathogens and also causing direct parasitic damage.

For an ecosystem to support ticks, it must satisfy two requirements: there must be a high enough population density of host species in the area, and there must be high enough humidity for ticks to remain hydrated. Certain features of a given micro-climate – such as sandy soil, hardwood trees, rivers, and the presence of deer – are good predictors of dense tick populations.

 

Anatomy

Ticks, like mites, have bodies which are divided into two primary sections: the anterior capitulum (or gnathosoma), which contains the head and mouthparts; and the posterior idiosoma which contains the legs, digestive tract, and reproductive organs

Ticks satisfy all of their nutritional requirements on a diet of blood, a practice known as hematophagy. They extract the blood by cutting a hole in the host's epidermis, into which they insert their hypostome, likely keeping the blood from clotting by excreting an anticoagulant.

Like all arachnids, ticks have eight legs. The tarsus of leg I contains a unique sensory organ known as the Haller's organ which can detect odors and chemicals emanating from the host, as well as sensing changes in temperature and air currents

 

Life Cycle

Both ixodid and argasid ticks undergo three primary stages of development: larval, nymphal, and adult. Ixodid ticks require three hosts, and their life cycle takes at least one year to complete. Up to 3,000 eggs are laid on the ground by an adult female tick. When larvae emerge, they feed primarily on small mammals and birds. After feeding, they detach from their host and molt to nymphs on the ground, which then feed on larger hosts and molt to adults. Female adults attach to larger hosts, feed, and lay eggs, while males feed very little and occupy larger hosts primarily for mating