When the blood-filled female tick has let herself fall, she can lay eggs a few days later. About 2,000 eggs are laid. A reasonable number considering the poor chance of finding hosts. From the eggs, tiny, six-legged larvae hatch, and they are very hungry. They sit on blades of grass or the like. Here, they […]
The castor bean tick
The castor bean tick, Ixodes ricinus, is just one of about thirty kinds of ticks that are found in Denmark. However, it is almost exclusively this species of ticks that is found on humans. An adult male tick is approx. 2 mm long. The female is twice as long. Ticks engorge when they suck blood. […]
Ticks
Ticks are a kind of large mite that sucks the blood of larger animals. Ticks leave their host between blood meals and it is not very likely that they will find the same host the next time they need to suck blood. The castor bean tick and the brown dog tick must have a total […]
Brown dog tick
(Latin: Rhipicephalus sanguineus) This tick originates from Africa but is now widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical areas of the world. In Europe it is common in the Mediterranean countries. It occurs mainly on dogs and rarely on man. Like the previous species it has to have three separate blood meals before it becomes […]
Castor bean tick
( Latin: Ixodes ricinus) The adult male is 2 mm long, the female twice this .length, but these measurements only apply to individuals which have not recently fed. The red-brown, leathery skin of the abdomen can stretch to an incredible extent. This species is very common in some areas, but not in others. This is […]
Mites and ticks
( Latin: Acari ) In Europe it is only the itch mite which can be regarded as an important parasite of man, but other mites may occasionally cause trouble. Some can suck blood, while others are responsible for hypersensitive reactions.