It needs enough blood to grow from larva to nymph, nymph to adult and then for females to lay their eggs. But in that time it only eats three huge meals, each one necessary for it to grow to its next life stage. A western blacklegged tick, the species that transmits Lyme bacteria to humans along the Pacific coast, lives three years. Compare that to a speedy mosquito, which digs into human skin, sucks blood and leaves, all within seconds.įor ticks, the stakes are high because instead of taking small meals they need to gorge themselves each time. Ticks need to stay firmly attached because they're going in for a meal that can last three to 10 days, depending on whether they're young ticks or adult females. Ticks sip it, like drinking from a straw. "They're teeth that are backward facing, similar to one of those gates you would drive over but you're not allowed to back up or else you'd puncture your tires," says Padgett.Ĭompounds in ticks' saliva help blood pool under the surface of our skin. Those hooks act like mini-harpoons, anchoring the tick to us for the long haul. The bottom of the hypostome is also covered in rows of hooks that give it the look of a chainsaw. Left to its own devices, this western blacklegged tick nymph will stay attached for three to four days, during which time it will drink enough blood to later molt and grow into an adult. Then these "hands" bend in unison to perform approximately half-a-dozen breaststrokes that pull skin out of the way so the tick can push in a long stubby mouth part called the hypostome.Ī tick nymph, or young tick, has dug its mouth into a human arm. The hooks dig in and wriggle into the skin. Each set looks like a hand with three hooked fingers. Instead, a tick digs in using two sets of hooks. "They're not like a mosquito that can just put their mouth parts in and out nicely, like a hypodermic needle." "Ticks have a lovely, evolved mouth part for doing exactly what they need to do, which is extended feeding," said Kerry Padgett, supervising public health biologist at the California Department of Public Health in Richmond. The key to their success is a menacing mouth covered in hooks that they use to get under the surface of our skin and attach themselves for several days while they fatten up on our blood. This young tick's mouth was photographed under the microscope at San Francisco State University. A tick's mouth is covered in hooks that help it dig into the skin and stay attached for several days.
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