Tick Life Cycle

Tick eggs are laid by the thousands in springtime as adult female ticks reach the final stage of their life cycle. They are found in areas that are dark, warm, and hidden from potential predators but still close enough to paths where they will be near potential hosts. They are often laid in leaf piles and other debris which is why ticks are more prevalent in wooded areas. Ticks need to unlatch from their host to lay their eggs so you won’t find tick eggs on an animal like you would other blood sucking insects like fleas. These eggs are typically small and translucent with a red or brown tint. 

By the start of summer, the eggs will have hatched into 6-legged tick larvae. These larvae are not typically born infectious but in rare cases, transovarial transmission occurs where tick borne illnesses are passed from adult ticks to their eggs. What happens normally is that larvae will become infected after feeding on the blood of a host that carries a dangerous disease. Tick larvae will often feed on rodents like white footed mice since they are close to the ground. These types of hosts tend to carry diseases like Lyme disease in their blood which can pass on when the tick bites. Once they are infected, tick larvae will remain infectious throughout the rest of the stages of their life cycle. When a tick becomes infected, this is known as transstadial transmission, and they will be able to infect any host they feed on in the future. Tick larvae growth peaks by late summer when they will be looking to feed. Several ticks may not reach the next phase of their life cycle due to not being able to find a host but those that do will develop into nymphs after a blood meal. 

Sometime during the fall, tick larvae will have found a host to feed on. After this point, they will develop into tick nymphs. They will develop their final set of legs and lay dormant in leaf piles and under dense brush while the winter period of colder temperatures pass. Once temperatures start to rise above 37 degrees Fahrenheit in the spring, tick nymphs will become active and start their search for their next blood meal. At this stage, tick nymphs will spend the rest of spring and summer searching for food as they start to climb upwards on tall grass and shrubs. They place themselves strategically in locations where they are likely to cross paths with a new larger host like deer, moose, and even humans. Once they reach the tip of a blade of grass or branch, they will extend their new front legs in a position called “questing” which allows them to grip onto the fur or clothing of an unsuspecting host. Once they are attached to a host, tick nymphs will typically feed for 4 – 5 days before unlatching and falling off. If a tick is already a carrier of a disease from when it was infected as larvae, it is possible for them to be infected with another disease. This co-infection can then be passed onto to the final host that is fed on after a tick develops into a mature adult. 

By the end of the 2nd summer, as long as ticks are able to find a blood meal, tick nymphs will start their transition into adulthood. During the fall, the fully developed adults will start their search for their final host. By this time, several diseases can be carried by the adult ticks which make them particularly dangerous to animals and humans. In the northeast region of the US, it is said that 45% of ticks are carriers of Lyme disease. If a host isn’t found before temperatures drop, the adult ticks will find a place to hide and lay dormant until springtime comes back around. If they are able to find a host in the spring, the adult ticks will be ready to start producing eggs. Both males and females will be looking to mate at this point to start the final step of the life cycle of a tick. Males will die right after mating while females will produce thousands of new eggs and then perish shortly after.