Ticks

Ticks move through three feeding life stages that each require one blood meal to grow or reproduce. They don’t jump or fly; they wait on plants and detect heat, CO₂, and movement from passing hosts. Different stages feed on different animals, which shapes the pathogens they can pick up and spread. Their activity depends on temperature and humidity: warm, moist conditions keep them questing, while cold or dry periods push them into dormancy.

Adult: Females have a final meal, lay thousands of eggs, and restart the cycle.

Nymph: After molting, nymphs seek a second meal and are the stage most likely to bite humans.

Larvae: Six-legged larvae take their first blood meal, usually from small animals.

Eggs: Laid in leaf litter in clusters of hundreds to thousands.