![]() They are slow feeders and will usually feed for 3-5 days.Blacklegged ticks feed on blood by inserting their mouth parts into the skin.It also shows the relative sizes and patterns of the blacklegged tick, lone star tick, and American dog tick. This picture shows each of the life stages of the blacklegged tick: adult female, adult male, nymph, and larva. ![]() Larvae are typically most active in June. Nymph activity tapers off slowly, and they are much less active by the end of July. Blacklegged tick nymphs start to become active in mid-May and reach peak activity at the end of May through the month of June. Adults will also become active again in the fall, usually by the end of September and through October, until temperatures drop below freezing or snow covers the ground. The adult ticks will typically stay active throughout June. In Minnesota, adult ticks will usually emerge right after the snow melts and reach peak spring-time activity during the month of May. If there is little to no snow cover and temperatures rise above freezing, it is possible to find an active adult tick searching for a host on a warm winter day. Some adults who do not feed or mate in the fall will survive through the winter and then come out to feed and/or mate the following spring. The females find a host to feed, mate with an adult male tick, lay hundreds to thousands of eggs, and then die. The males attach to a host to find a female mate and then die. In the fall of their second year, nymphs that have had a blood meal will molt into an adult male or female tick. Adults prefer to feed on large mammals, such as white-tailed deer or humans. At this time, if the nymph is infected with a disease agent then it could spread the disease agent to a human or animal that it feeds on. Late in the spring of their second year, nymphs take their second feeding. Nymphs aren’t as picky with their choice of host and will feed on blood from small or large mammals, such as white-tailed deer or humans. Larvae have one feeding then molt into nymphs and rest until the next spring. During this first meal, the larva may pick up a disease agent (like the bacteria that causes Lyme disease) while feeding on a small mammal, such as a white-footed mouse. Larvae prefer to feed on blood from small mammals, like mice and birds. In the spring of their first year, eggs hatch into larvae. During their entire lifetime, they will only have up to three blood meals. The picture below shows that the life cycle begins when the female lays eggs. As the egg matures, it develops into a larva (right-middle), then a nymph (top-middle) and finally, an adult male or female (bottom-right). Most of their life is spent out in the environment rather than on a host or in a host’s nest. ![]() The lone star tick is shown in the upper left of this photo and is a little smaller than the American dog tick but larger than the blacklegged tick Blacklegged Tick Life Cycleīlacklegged ticks live for about two to three years. The blacklegged tick, shown in the lower right, is much smaller than the American dog tick, shown in the upper right. Lone star ticks are rarely found in Minnesota, but can spread diseases such as ehrlichiosis and tularemia. American dog ticks may spread Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia. People in Minnesota are often bitten by American dog ticks but they rarely spread diseases. The blacklegged tick causes by far the most tickborne disease in Minnesota. Three types that people may come across in Minnesota are the blacklegged tick (aka deer tick), the American dog tick (aka wood tick), and the lone star tick. In Minnesota, there are about a dozen different types of ticks.
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