Lecture 9: Tick Infestations Flashcards
What are a destructive group of blood sucking parasitic arthropods
Ticks
When are ticks most abundant
Spring and fall
2 major families of ticks
Ixodidae
Argasidae
Ticks have what 2 general segments
Head
Body
General anatomy of ticks: what structures are fused, what 2 structures are absent
Fused head, thorax and abdomen
No antennae or mandibles
Tick head aka
Capitulum or gnathosoma
Basis capituli
Near body
2 components of head/capitulum/gnathosoma
Basis capituli
Mouthparts
3 components of mouthparts
2 chelicerae
1 hypostome
2 palps
Chelicerae function
Cutting blades for laceration
Hypostome function
Barbed, penetrating sucking organ
What are palps
Accessory appendages
Tick body aka
Idiosoma
What are the tick’s respiratory openings called
Spiracles
how many legs do ADULT ticks have
8
Body/idiosoma shape of ticks
Dorsoventrally flattened
Scutum definition
Dorsal shield
Festoons definition
Grooves on back margin
Ixodidae vs argasidae (which one is hard/soft tick)
Ixodidae = soft ticks
Argasidae = hard ticks
Ixodidae vs argasidae: presence or absence of scutum/festoons
Ixodidae = present
Argasidae = absent
Ixodidae: lifecycle (how many stages), when blood meal taken
3 stages
Larvae hatch from eggs —> nymphs —> adults
Single bloodmeal and moult between stages
Argasidae: max number of life cycle stages, when and how many blood meals taken
11 stages
Multiple blood meals between stages
Which general tick type has adult and nymphal stages that feed on the same host
Argasidae
Which general tick type is Nidicolous
Argasidae
Which general tick type is non nidiculous
Ixodidae
which tick type finds a host and remains attached throughout its entire life cycle
Ixodidae
Which tick type inhabits the nest/burrow of the host
Argasidae
Which tick type targets small rodents, larger mammals and HUMANS
Ixodidae
Which tick type targets birds and bats mainly
Argasidae
2 types of disease transmission by ticks
Transovarian
Transstadial