How do ticks feed? - briefly
A tick anchors to a host, inserts its barbed hypostome into the skin, and injects saliva with anticoagulants to maintain a steady blood flow while it siphons the fluid through its mouthparts. Feeding persists for hours to days, varying with the tick’s developmental stage.
How do ticks feed? - in detail
Ticks attach to a host by locating a suitable spot through heat, carbon‑dioxide, and movement cues. The front legs, equipped with sensory Haller’s organs, guide the questing tick to the skin. Once contact is made, the tick uses its hypostome—a barbed, needle‑like structure—to pierce the epidermis. Salivary glands secrete a cement‑like substance that hardens around the hypostome, anchoring the parasite and preventing premature removal.
Feeding proceeds in three overlapping phases. During the initial phase, the tick injects saliva containing anticoagulants, vasodilators, and immunomodulatory proteins. These compounds inhibit clotting, widen blood vessels, and suppress the host’s inflammatory response, allowing uninterrupted blood flow. The second phase involves massive blood uptake. The tick’s expandable midgut can increase in volume up to 100 times, storing the ingested plasma while filtering out excess water and waste. The third phase, engorgement, culminates when the tick’s body swells to its maximum size; the cement bond weakens, and the tick detaches.
Pathogen transmission occurs primarily during the salivation stage. Microorganisms present in the tick’s salivary glands are introduced into the host’s bloodstream alongside the anti‑hemostatic agents. The duration of attachment correlates with transmission risk; longer feeding periods increase the likelihood of disease transfer.
After detachment, the tick digests the blood meal over several days, synthesizing proteins for egg development in females. The entire feeding cycle, from attachment to detachment, can last from a few days (larval stage) to a week or more (adult stage), depending on species and host availability.