How many days can a tick live? - briefly
Adult ticks may survive for several months, often up to 300 days, while immature stages typically live 30–45 days before molting. Environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity strongly influence these durations.
How many days can a tick live? - in detail
Ticks can survive from a few weeks to several years, depending on species, environmental conditions, and life stage. The total lifespan, expressed in days, ranges roughly from 30 days for some soft‑tick larvae to more than 1 200 days for adult hard‑ticks that complete a full three‑year cycle.
Life‑stage durations
- Eggs: incubation lasts 7–21 days, temperature‑dependent.
- Larva: after hatching, a questing period of 1–30 days precedes a blood meal that lasts 2–5 days. Post‑feeding, the larva drops off the host and molts within 5–14 days.
- Nymph: similar to the larval stage; questing may persist for weeks, feeding for 2–7 days, followed by a 7–30 day molting interval.
- Adult: questing period can extend from weeks to months. A single blood meal lasts 3–10 days; after engorgement, females lay eggs and die, while males may survive for additional weeks.
Factors influencing longevity
- Temperature: optimal 20–30 °C accelerates development; temperatures below 10 °C prolong each stage and can induce diapause.
- Humidity: relative humidity above 80 % is required for active questing; low humidity increases mortality, especially for larvae and nymphs.
- Host availability: uninterrupted access to blood shortens questing intervals, thereby reducing overall time spent in the environment.
- Species: hard ticks (Ixodidae) typically complete a three‑host cycle lasting 2–3 years (≈ 730–1 095 days). Soft ticks (Argasidae) often have shorter, multi‑feeding cycles, with some species living only 30–90 days.
Maximum recorded durations
- Ixodes ricinus (European castor bean tick): up to 3 years in temperate climates, equivalent to about 1 095 days.
- Ornithodoros moubata (African soft tick): laboratory observations of adult survival for 120 days without feeding.
In summary, the number of days a tick can exist varies widely. Minimum observed lifespan is roughly one month, while the longest documented lifespan approaches three years, translating to a range of approximately 30 to 1 200 days.