dog tick, Latin name of which Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758) is the most widespread and widespread representative of the subclass Acari of the Arachnida class. In Russian-language literature, the name of the species has several synonyms, the most frequently used of which is the term “European forest tick.”
The photo below shows a female dog tick engorged on blood:
The dog tick lives almost everywhere, its range covers all continents except Antarctica. Such a wide distribution allowed the species to firmly establish itself in a wide variety of ecosystems and adapt to feeding on various animals, the number of species of which exceeds several dozen.
In addition, Ixodes ricinus is a carrier of pathogens of a number of dangerous natural focal diseases, which it infects humans and animals through blood sucking, thereby contributing to the spread of infections. Most dangerous for people various shapes encephalitis, hemorrhagic fever, tick-borne typhus and some other infections, the carrier and reservoir of which is the dog tick.
The European forest tick (also known as the dog tick) is common in North Africa (the territory of Tunisia and Algeria), Europe and Asia. In the Neoarctic, its localization is represented by rare populations North America. The dog tick is also common in the Baltics - Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. The species is widespread in almost all countries of the former USSR.
The northern border of the species' distribution in Russia passes through Karelia, Leningrad and Nizhny Novgorod regions, moving to the left bank of the Volga into the Samara region. Further, the boundaries of the range follow south along the floodplain of the indicated river.
The northern border in the Ciscaucasia lies along the lower reaches of the Don and the north Krasnodar Territory, reaching here to the Terek valley. The border then follows east, all the way to the Chechen Republic, and goes around the greater Caucasus, going into Azerbaijan.
The dog tick prefers deciduous, coniferous-deciduous forests and open spaces with shrub vegetation as habitats.
On a note
The body of an adult tick looks bag-like and consists of elastic elastic tissues that can significantly change size, depending on the degree of saturation. The dog tick's body color is usually brown, but can vary from light gray to dark brown.
The brown color of Ixodes ricinus is clearly visible in the photo below:
Near oral organs palps are attached that perform a sensitive function. At the base of the head section there is a pair of chelicerae that look like sharp knives, curved to the top. The tick uses them to cut the victim's skin when feeding.
If you look at the oral appendages under a microscope, then below (between the chelicerae) you can see a cone-shaped outgrowth studded with sharp hooks - this is the hypostome (the so-called proboscis). It is this that is injected into the victim’s wound and blood is sucked through it. The pumping action is carried out due to powerful contractile movements of the esophagus.
The photograph below clearly shows what a dog tick hypostome looks like under a microscope:
This is interesting
The hooks on the hypostome can be arranged in several rows in the form of a corolla. Their number and location have taxonomic significance, that is, by the nature of the placement and morphology of the hooks, the type of tick can be determined and its description given.
The hooks are oriented so that they do not interfere with the insertion of the proboscis into the tissue, but then remain securely in the skin. That is why a tick should never be pulled out by force after it has attached itself. This is fraught with the separation of the abdomen from the head - as a result, the head and proboscis will remain in the wound, causing suppuration.
Behind the complex of oral appendages you can see a constriction that separates the head from the body (idiosomes). The idiosome has completely lost segmentation and has the appearance of a convex sac from above.
The body is covered on top with chitinous scutes that are not connected to each other. When ticks are hungry, lighter grooves of elastic tissue are visible between these scutes. They are the ones who create a kind of drawing.
In the anterior part there is a dark burgundy, less often red, shiny dorsal shield, covered with sparse setae. It is by its size that one can unmistakably distinguish a male from a female: in a female, this shield covers 1/3 of the back, and in a male, it covers the entire back. This is primarily due to the peculiarities of the life activity of the sexes: females feed more often and in larger volumes, which is due to the need for reproduction and egg laying.
The body ends with the anal and genital openings, which are slightly shifted to the ventral side.
The photo shows a female and male dog tick:
All mites have 4 pairs of walking legs, while all insects are six-legged.
On a note
Larvae differ from adults in the number of legs - there are six of them. Nymphs already have 8 limbs, but their genital opening has not yet developed.
Accordingly, only a specialist can accurately determine which tick has attached itself to a person or animal.
Life cycle of Ixodes ricinus
The life cycle of all ixodid ticks consists of 4 stages of ontogenesis:
- eggs;
- larvae;
- nymphs;
- imago (adult).
The dog tick develops according to the three-host type. This means that in the process of growth and development, one individual feeds on 3 different hosts, while passing through one of the active stages of ontogenesis. Development can last from 1.5 to 3 years, depending on climatic conditions and food supply.
The activity of Ixodes ricinus begins after the snow melts and ends with the onset of the first frost. Thus, these arachnids lead an active lifestyle for most of the year. But activity during this period is different, its peak occurs in the spring and autumn seasons, when weather conditions are characterized by a fairly high temperature and degree of humidity of both air and soil.
On a note
High numbers in spring-autumn period caused not only weather conditions. The mass population is created by individuals of two generations: adult ticks that overwintered in the leaf litter, and young individuals that have recently molted from nymphs—the current year’s generation.
In summer, compared to spring and autumn, the number of active dog ticks becomes minimal. For example, in the floodplain and ravine forests of the steppe zone, tick imagoes in summer period are not found at all, as they often fall into thermal anabiosis.
Larvae of Ixodes ricinus are found as early as April, but their maximum activity is observed in June and July. Nymphs appear in late April – early May and are registered until early November. At the same time, two peaks of activity are recorded in the summer: the third ten days of May and the beginning of June, as well as July - the beginning of August.
The meeting of the sexes occurs as in natural environment, and on the host, on which the male and female feed simultaneously.
After fertilization, the female feeds on the same host for some time, or actively seeks out a host. This is very important, since nutrition is necessary for the timely and complete maturation of eggs. big amount blood. In science, this dependence is called gonotrophic harmony. For the same reason, females are more bloodthirsty - they drink more blood and suck it longer than males.
The photograph shows a female dog tick laying eggs on the forest floor:
The development of eggs lasts up to 20 days, the hatched larvae develop for a month. During this period, they need to find a host and feed in order to gain strength for the upcoming molt.
Nymphs take 30 to 40 days to develop, and during this period nutrition is also vital.
In hot and dry weather, the timing of development may shift by a week or more. Many experts are of the opinion that with a further increase in the intensity of global warming, the dog tick will become increasingly active in early spring and in the autumn-winter period, which can increase the incidence of diseases transmitted by ticks.
On a note
On the other hand, such a wait-and-see position allows it to instantly attach itself to the fur or clothing of a potential owner. As soon as the tick catches the irritant, it turns its body in the direction of its action and waits for the host to approach it. If this does not happen, then the tick descends to the substrate and begins to crawl towards the victim, as if chasing it.
But dog ticks cannot actively attack large vertebrates, primarily due to their small size and insufficiently fast movement. In addition, with increased activity, the arthropod quickly loses moisture and is forced to restore the water balance in humid areas, interrupting the pursuit.
The dog tick is a polyphagous tick, which means it has a wide range of animals on which it can feed. Adults often sit on cattle, deer, dogs, cats, foxes, raccoon dogs, and hares. Small mammals are avoided as the blood supply to their skin may not be sufficient to fully saturate them.
It is well known that among the main hosts of nymphs are hedgehogs and squirrels. Less commonly, nymphs are found on deer, hares, dormouse, mice, voles, moles, shrews, and cattle.
Birds are of great importance as the dominant hosts of immature phases of Ixodes ricinus. Feeding often occurs on birds that nest on the ground or often lead a terrestrial lifestyle: nightingales, tits, sparrows, pipits, thrushes, buntings, warblers, etc.
This is interesting
Birds are natural carriers of ticks, helping them migrate over long distances. The phenomenon of transfer of invertebrates by large animals is well known in nature and is called “phoresy”.
Resident birds are a powerful factor in maintaining tick populations.
The larvae are fed mainly by small rodents: dormice, mice, shrews, voles, and squirrels. Sometimes feeding is carried out on moles, mole rats, hares, and hedgehogs. Among birds, dog tick larvae most often attach themselves to the tree pipit, hazel grouse, robin, chaffinch and tufted tit.
Thus, the dog tick is characterized by a wide range of hosts. They can feed on all of these animals, however, these arachnids at each stage of ontogenesis have preferred trophic relationships. It follows from this that the name of the species (Dog tick) does not in any way reflect its food preferences. In addition to dogs, Ixodes ricinus feeds on more than 100 species of animals, including which can easily bite humans.
Accordingly, ticks do not have such a pronounced selectivity in relation to food contacts. It is this circumstance that poses the danger of the dog tick, as the main carrier of pathogens of serious diseases from wild animals to humans.
Medical significance
The most common and frequently occurring in humans and domestic animals are:
- tick-borne spring-summer encephalitis;
- Scottish encephalitis;
- Q fever;
- tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease).
Tick-borne spring-summer encephalitis
Tick-borne spring-summer encephalitis is an acute viral disease, which is characterized by a sudden and rapid onset of the disease, fever and severe damage to the central nervous system. The disease is a natural focal disease, and is widespread in the north of Russia, the Far East and the Central European part. Natural reservoirs are wild animals (often rodents), and carriers are ticks of the genus Ixodes. In particular, the dog tick is the main carrier of the pathogen from wild animals to humans.
As a rule, even at the larval or nymph stage, the arachnid becomes infected with the virus during blood sucking. The tick transmits the pathogen to all subsequent hosts tick-borne encephalitis, and the longer a dog tick feeds, the higher the likelihood of infection with subsequent development of the disease.
On a note
Tick-borne encephalitis is also transmitted by the taiga tick (Ixodes persulcatus). However, its habitat is shifted to the north, so the northern and Far Eastern regions suffer from it. Many scientists believe that this encephalitis has a different form, which is more pathogenic than that carried in the central part of the country by Ixodes ricinus.
Scottish encephalitis
Symptoms of the disease are typical for encephalitis: muscle weakness, drowsiness, headaches, fever. The disease occurs in two phases with exposure for about a week. However, unlike ordinary spring-summer encephalitis, treatment of Scottish encephalitis in most cases ends with a complete recovery of the person.
Q fever
Q fever is an acute natural focal disease caused by Burnet's rickettsia. The disease is characterized by an acute chronic course and primary severe damage to the respiratory tract, causing first bronchitis and then pneumonia.
The photo below shows the bacteria Coxiella burnetii at high magnification:
Foci of the disease exist in both wildlife(wild artiodactyls, rodents), and can also be anthropourgic (the source is farm animals: cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, poultry).
Tick-borne borreliosis
Tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease) is an acute bacterial disease that affects the central nervous system, the cardiovascular system, muscle tissue, organs gastrointestinal tract.
Natural reservoirs of pathogens are wild animals: deer and rodents, and domestic dogs, sheep and cattle can also be reservoirs of infection. The dog tick transmits pathogens from animals to humans.
In Russia, this disease occurs very often and almost everywhere, although it was first noted in our country only in 1985.
You can determine that it was a tick infected with Borrelia that has bitten you in the following way: after a few hours, a ring inflammation (ring erythema) appears at the site of the bite, and the boundaries of the redness may migrate after some time. If you notice this symptom, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Ixodid ticks. A relatively small, taxonomically isolated group of ticks are obligate bloodsuckers. 680 species of these mites have been described by humans, and the fauna of Russia is represented by 55 species. They are distributors and keepers of a large number of pathogens of natural focal diseases and participate in the circulation of bacteria, spirochetes, viruses and rickettsia. In the structure of tick-borne infections, the leading place is occupied by Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis.
Ixodid ticks spend a significant part of life cycle in external environment. Key event in their life is contact with a potential host-provider. The taiga ( I. persulcatus) and forest ( I. ricinus) ticks. These animals are very small, but by looking at photographs of ticks you can see them magnified many times over.
The taiga tick lives in taiga and mixed forests, but appears in meadows and bushes. It lies in wait for a person in the grass along forest paths for 1-4 weeks. After moving onto the human body, it finds a suitable area and attaches itself. A engorged female lays up to 10 thousand eggs.
Argasid mites
Argas mites are one of the largest, their sizes vary from 3 to 30 mm. They are capable of fasting for up to 11 years, and therefore the development cycle reaches 25 years. Among the names of the species of ticks of this family, the most dangerous ones should be highlighted:
- Caucasian tick (carrier of the causative agent of endemic relapsing fever);
- village tick (transmits the Central Asian form of tick-borne spirochetosis);
- shell or pigeon mite (bites cause a severe allergic reaction, up to anaphylactic shock; it attaches itself to people only during severe hunger).
Adult argasid mites feed repeatedly, laying thousands of eggs over their lifetime, at yearly intervals. It wouldn’t hurt to study the descriptions and photos of tick species in detail. If necessary, this will help to understand whether the arthropod poses a danger or not.
Gamasid mites
The bites of these arthropods cause acute dermatitis in people (especially children), which is sometimes accompanied by fever. Mouse and rat ticks are the keepers and carriers of the causative agent of vesicular rickettsiosis. The possible participation of these species in the circulation of Ku-rickettsiosis and tick-borne encephalitis is assumed.
Localization of passages is most often found on the dorsum of the hands and interdigital spaces, in the armpits. The person experiences severe itching, which intensifies at night, and scratches the affected areas. The scratches get infected, suppuration and inflammatory processes occur.
Zheleznitsa
Zheleznitsa. Another human mite, the iron mite acne, belongs to the genus Demodex, lives in the skin. It is usually harmless and occurs in almost every person, regardless of skin color, gender and origin. Lives for several weeks, feeds on the contents of the epithelial cells of the walls of the hair follicles, and after death decomposes inside the follicle or sebaceous gland. When severely affected, the disease causes demodicosis. The incidence of ticks increases with age.
Ticks leave behind excrement containing the P1 antigen, allergic in people. To date, about 150 species of mites have been found in house dust. The main source of allergens is considered to be the dominant mites of the Pyroglyphidae family. Of the 13 species living in houses, the most commonly found are D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae.
Most allergens are contained in fecal pellets with sizes of 10-40 microns, which easily rise into the air and settle in the human respiratory tract. During the day, a dust mite produces 10-20 such balls. They can be stored in house dust for up to 4 years.
This is how many types of ticks pose a danger to humans. Some of them cause allergic reactions, others spread infections and reduce immunity. That's why it's so important to know what they look like and where you can meet them.
Argasid mites–Argasidae
Subcutaneous mite (hair mite) – Demodex
This mite lives on the human body, namely on the face. The body length is 0.4-0.5 mm, the body is oblong, has a light yellow color. The subcutaneous mite lives in the sebaceous glands, skin pores, glands of the eyelids and hair follicles on the head. By feeding under the skin, the hair mite releases toxic substances that cause an allergic reaction: itching, redness, rash. Subcutaneous mites on people's faces cannot be seen with the naked eye, but only under a microscope. A tick in the skin lays eggs, develops and leaves behind excrement and passages, which leads to the above diseases.
Tracheal mite - Sternostomatracheacolum
Dust mites – Dermatophagoides farinae
Body size 0.1-0.5 mm. Dust mites Mites are saprophytes, that is, they feed on processed waste products of humans, animals and plants. This is a household mite that lives in pillows, mattresses, linens, and house dust. It is also often called farina, sofa or paper mite. House mites can cause allergic reactions and asthma. Heat treatment of linen, pillows and regular wet cleaning in the house.
Chicken mite - Dermanyssus gallinae
Chicken mite
Feather mites are microscopic – 0.5 mm. Down and feather pillows are an ideal habitat for them. Feather mite It is dangerous for humans because it causes allergic reactions, urticaria, bronchial asthma, swelling of the respiratory tract and dermatitis. House mites irritate the epidermis of our skin. You can get rid of them by treating pillows with steam or washing them in hot water. It is best to purchase pillows made from non-natural filling.
Moose tick - Lipoptenacervi
Soil mite (root)
The soil mite has an oval light body (0.5-1 mm). Root mites live in the soil, gnawing into roots and root crops, which causes harm to agriculture. Damaged root crops become rotten and often rot. Infestation of crops by soil mites can also occur during storage. Acaricides (anti-mite drugs) will help you in the fight against soil mites.
Mealy (mealy) or granary mite
The mealy mite is microscopic, with a body length of 0.32-0.67 mm. The flour mite feeds on cereals, flour, meat products, and dried fruits. The barn mite is a pest of food stored in the home. Grain that has been damaged by flour mites is unsuitable for consumption. The flour mite carries E. coli and various bacteria. Their skin cause allergies and dermatoses, especially in children. The flour mite also contributes to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, shortness of breath, anaphylaxis, and kidney disease. The flour mite cannot tolerate low temperatures. For fumigation of large premises, it is recommended to use acaricides Phostoksin, Fostek.
Oribatida
The oribatid mite has a dark brown body color (0.7-0.9 mm). It is not harmful to humans and Agriculture. On the contrary, it helps regulate the decomposition of organic substances and microorganisms living in the soil. The soil becomes loose and favorable for plant growth. The oribatid mite feeds on plant and animal decaying remains.
Rat mite - Ornithonyssusbacoti
The rat mite mainly attacks rats, but can also drink the blood of other rodents. Body 0.75 to 1.44 mm gray or black. Rat mites can also attack other mammals, including humans. Rat mites on the human body leave redness, itching, swelling, and a rash. The rat mite is dangerous because it transmits dangerous diseases such as rat tick-borne dermatitis, tularemia, typhoid, and fever. A rat can easily transmit these diseases to humans.
Cecidophyopsis ribis
Currant mite is white, worm-shaped (0.2 mm). Kidney mite is a pest of currants and gooseberries. The bud mite on currants feeds on plant juices. It gets to plants with the help of insects, birds, and wind. The bud mite, overwintering in currant buds, damages them, which leads to deformation and death of the buds. The bud mite on currants can settle up to 8 individuals per bud. To combat it, acaricides are used and the rules of agricultural technology are followed. The bud mite on currants produces five generations per year.
Gall mite – Eriophyoidea
The gall mite has a worm-shaped body (0.1-0.3 mm). It inhabits both cultivated and wild trees, bushes, and shrubs. The gall mite sucks juices from plant leaves, as a result of which photosynthesis and water balance are disrupted, which ultimately leads to deformation and drying of the leaves. Also, small shoots appear on the leaves - galls, in which the gall mite hides and lays eggs. It is necessary to spray the plants with acaricides and insecticides, follow the rules of agricultural technology, and thus the gall mite will no longer harm your plants.
Strawberry mite - Phytonemus pallidus
The body is oval, translucent, pale yellow (0.1-0.2 mm). The strawberry mite feeds on leaf juices and is located on the underside of the leaf blade. The strawberry mite attacks the plant during the period when its antennae are released. The harm that the strawberry mite causes to strawberries is wilting, drying and dying of leaves. The strawberry mite produces about 7 generations per year. So the scale of its settlement can be quite large.
Spider mite - Tetranychinae
The body is oval (0.4-0.6 mm). The color of the body depends on the tick's way of life. For example, spider mites on red cucumbers. This red mite settles on the underside of the leaf and sucks the juices from the plant. The red mite settles on cucumbers in large colonies, which leads to the rapid death of the plant. The red mite on flowers also causes no less damage. It is also called flower mite. He is happy to settle in houseplants. For example, the red mite on an orchid reproduces very actively, especially when warm temperature. Spider mite It settles on violets almost less than on other flowers. The pubescent leaf is an ideal habitat for it. Spider mites leave a thin web on plants; only those species that have a spinning apparatus are capable of this. Their web does not carry any special meaning, it is only characteristic, which they inherited from their relatives spiders.
Ixodid (forest/taiga) tick – Ixodidae
The body is flat, round or oval (1-10mm). This is a gray mite, sometimes light yellow to brown, or almost black mite. Taiga ticks are bloodsuckers by nature of their diet. After feeding on blood, this forest tick turns gray or pinkish-yellowish. Stages of development of ixodid ticks: egg, larva, nymph and adult. The usual victims of larvae and nymphs are small animals, but ticks are found on humans just as often. They are usually attached to the head or other places with hair. The forest tick most often carries Lyme disease, that is, the well-known encephalitis, piroplasmosis and others. It is distributed all over the world. These are the most dangerous ticks.
Photo of a dog tick
Differences between dog ticks and other representatives
Life cycle
A tick requires a portion of blood once at each stage of development. Next, either molting occurs before the next stage, or (if we're talking about about an adult female) egg production.
Spreading
The main conditions for the survival of the dog tick are the presence of hosts and a humid microclimate.
Danger to people and control measures
Despite the name, the dog tick does not care whose blood it feeds on in order to get enough and continue further development. Theoretically, a dog tick can bite any warm-blooded animal or person:
- The larvae climb plants and shrubs no higher than 50 cm and usually bite small rodents and birds.
- Nymphs climb plants up to 1 meter in height, bite medium-sized animals, people, but most often children (due to their short stature).
- Adult ticks easily move through tall bushes and plants and bite large animals and humans.
Ticks are animals from the class of arachnids. Today, more than 54 thousand species of these arthropods have already been found and described. Of the total, only 144 species have become extinct. The rest are still alive today. This is the largest group of the arachnids. Small ticks and a fairly wide food spectrum helped ticks “conquer the world.”
Principles of classification
There are different types of ticks. Some feed on plant sap, others on rotting organic matter, others on blood, and others on dead parts of the epidermis and wool. But there are no highly specialized species among them. If it's sap, it's the sap of many plants. If blood, then from all warm-blooded organisms living in the area. If organic, then it is still of plant or animal origin. The classification of ticks is multi-stage. These animals are divided into groups not only by lifestyle, but also by type of nutrition and appearance.
On a note!
These arthropods are not insects, but are closer to animals such as spiders, crabs and crayfish.
What types of ticks are there?
The classification of living organisms in biology is based on phylogeny - the evolutionary origin and development of species. But there is still debate among scientists about the phylogeny of ticks, and the data may change in the future.
On a note!
The superorder Parasitiformes includes:
- The order Opilioacarida, which includes only one family of harvest mites. The family contains 25 modern species.
- The order Ixodida includes one superfamily of ixodoid ticks, which is divided into 3 families: , argasidae, Nuttalliellidae - endemic to Africa, having a single species in the family.
- The order Holothyrida contains 27 species, but all of them are found in the southern regions of the planet and feed on the hemolymph of dead arthropods.
- The order Mesostigmata is the most numerous in the superorder, comprising more than 70 families containing a total of 8,000 species of mites. Representatives of this order are predators.
On a note!
Of interest to humans are the order Ixodidae and Mesostigamata. The former are dangerous to life, the latter are useful as assistants in the fight against agricultural pests.
There are more than 30 thousand species in this superorder of arachnids. The classification of acariform mites is quite confusing and is carried out using different methods. Of interest in this superorder are the sarcoptoid mites, which cause ear scabies.
Brief description and names of tick species
All 54 thousand can only be described by a reference book on acarins, so we will have to limit ourselves to the most common and those living within the reach of residents of the Russian Federation.
Ixodidae
This group of ticks is ubiquitous in Russia. The three most common species received the collective name “forest” for their predilection for forest biotopes. All species prefer deciduous and mixed forests. The most common of them are:
- canine;
- (Dermacentor reticulatus);
- genus Haemaphysalis.
A tick with a pattern on its back is a meadow tick (Dermacentor reticulatus). It is not found in forests without undergrowth. This tick waits for its victim in the grass, which is why it is often called the grass tick. Prefers open spaces: edges, water meadows, pastures. Can tolerate flooding melt water. Very cold resistant. Its activity begins earlier than that of the taiga. Peak activity occurs in April-May. It ceases its activity only with the onset of cold weather.
His closest relatives from the same family are found:
- (Dermacentor marginatus) in the steppes and forest-steppes of Kazakhstan, the European part of the Russian Federation, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, in the south of Western Siberia;
- – Siberian forests;
- Dermacentor silvarum – forest-steppe of Eastern Siberia and the Far East.
All of these species have a characteristic pattern on their back, which can be seen in the photo of the meadow tick below.
Taiga, in addition to the “honorary” title, is also called “wood mite”. It does not sit in trees, waiting for prey, but few people wonder where this animal came from on clothes. Many believe that it jumped from a tree branch. Moreover, this species prefers forests rather than open spaces.
The ixodid family Haemaphysalis has similar habits. But ticks of this family prefer deciduous forests, where they wait for their prey, sitting on the grass. They live in Crimea, the Far East and Transcaucasia. They can be found in the south of Altai, Western Siberia and Transbaikalia.
Ixodids are similar not only appearance, but also a way of life. A sexually mature female tick feeds only once, preferring large mammals. The drunk female falls away from the victim to complete. Ticks of the ixodid family lay up to 17 thousand eggs. Only a few survive to sexual maturity due to the large number and difficulties in finding prey. The female lays eggs on moist soil. The hatched larva finds a victim and, having drunk blood, disappears to transform into a nymph. The actions of the nymph are exactly the same.
Natural enemies
Ixodidae feed on:
- birds;
- small reptiles;
- predatory insects;
- other predatory mites;
- ants.
Destruction of the habitat of these creatures leads to an increase in the number of ticks.
Argaceae
This family includes the largest representatives of the superorder of mites. The size can be from 3 to 30 mm. The total number of species in the family is 200. 12 species can attack humans, causing a severe allergic reaction. Argasaceae also carry 2 types of relapsing fever and tick-borne borreliosis. Dangerous for humans:
- Persian;
- Caucasian;
- village;
- shell
Europe and Russia have been familiar with the last three for a long time. Persian – the new kind ticks imported from the Middle East. In endemic areas it suffers fever, which is very severe in foreigners.
In appearance and behavior it is very similar to, but larger. Body length up to 10 cm, width up to 5 mm. The main object of attack is birds. Also attacks people and is capable of jumping onto people from the ceiling. Active at night.
On a note!
Ticks do not build nests, but the female Persian tick lays 30-100 eggs in cracks on the walls. Such a clutch can be equated to a nest, especially during mass reproduction of arthropods.
And scabies (Sarcoptes scabiei), which affects humans. Animal and human sarcoptiform ticks do not overlap. That is, you cannot get scabies from a dog.
The external characteristics of mites of the order Sarcoptiformes are so similar that there is debate in scientific circles whether they should be considered one species or several. But these small arthropods have different food sources. Photo human tick, causing scabies below.
But not all arthropods are equally harmful. There are also harmless and even necessary ones.
Saprophytes
These are arthropods that feed on decaying organic matter. Saprophytic mites are relatively harmless. Most of them process rotting organic matter, improving soil quality like earthworms. But the “dust allergy” known to many actually occurs due to the presence of Dermatophagoides farinae in the home.
These are microscopic creatures measuring 0.1-0.5 mm. They feed on epidermal scales, particles of fallen hair and animal fur, and waste products.
“Dust allergy” is not actually caused by house dust, and excrement of dust mites and particles of shells of dead arthropods. Dermatophagoides farinae live in uncollected dust in corners and under furniture, in sofas, pillows, and mattresses. For regular thorough cleaning and treatment upholstered furniture.
