Deer ticks are arachnids that feed on the blood of their hosts.
There are two types of black ticks: the eastern one, Ixodes scapularis, and the western one, Ixodes pacificus. Both are more commonly known as deer ticks, they are very similar and are members of the arachnid family. The black tick is a parasitic organism that feeds on a variety of hosts during its two-year life cycle. This tiny creature, like many other tick species, is a common carrier or vector of a variety of bacterial infections, including Lyme disease and babesiosis.
When black ticks, also known as deer ticks, bite, they can spread neurotoxins to humans and infect them with Lyme disease.
The black tick is very common, particularly in North America, and can be easily detected by humans if precautions are not taken. A member of the arachnid, or spider, family, the black tick is a parasite, unlike the spiders to which it is related. A parasite is an organism that uses another organism for food and shelter and to complete its reproductive cycle.
Depending on sex and type, ticks can expand to different sizes, as large as a grape or as small as an apple seed, when they feed on blood.
As a parasitic organism, the black tick feeds on the blood of its chosen host, switching to a new host after each stage of the life cycle. After hatching from the large clutch of eggs, the first stage or larval stage, the tick encounters a small mammal. One of the most common hosts for black tick larvae is the white-footed mouse, but any small mammal will suffice. Once on the host, the tick buries its comparatively large mouthparts below the surface of the skin and begins to feed on the mammal’s blood.
This is where the larval tick is most likely to contract the bacteria that cause Lyme disease and other potentially harmful or deadly bacteria. Ticks can also contract and carry other smaller parasites, such as the single-celled or protozoan Babesia microti, which can be passed to large mammals such as cattle, horses and humans through the bite of an infected tick. If a tick larva bites an infected host, the tick will carry the parasite or smaller bacteria to maturity, potentially transmitting infections to each host it feeds on.
Once large enough, the tick larva molts, losing its exoskeleton as it morphs into a nymph after several months. The cycle then repeats until the nymph obtains enough nutrients from its host’s blood to become a fully developed adult. The adult black tick attaches itself to a new host, which tends to be a much larger mammal, such as a deer, cow, or human.
The mature black tick once again buries its mouthparts through the host’s skin, where it injects a chemical that thins the blood and prevents clotting. Feeding a mature female black tick can take several weeks and involve multiple hosts. Eventually, the tick falls off the final host and lays up to 300 eggs on the ground before dying, completing its two-year life cycle.