How much blood does a tick drink in a day? - briefly
An adult tick usually ingests under one milliliter of blood over its entire feeding cycle, averaging roughly 0.2–0.3 ml per day. This represents a minute portion of the host’s total blood volume.
How much blood does a tick drink in a day? - in detail
Ticks ingest only a fraction of a milliliter of blood during an entire feeding episode, which can last from several days to over a week depending on species and life stage. Consequently, the average daily intake is measured in microliters rather than milliliters.
- Larval stage: A newly hatched tick consumes approximately 0.2–0.5 µL over a 3–5‑day attachment period, yielding a daily intake of 0.04–0.17 µL.
- Nymphal stage: A nymph acquires roughly 0.5–1.0 µL during a 5–7‑day feeding, translating to 0.07–0.14 µL per day.
- Adult female: The most voracious stage, an engorged adult female can ingest 0.5–2.0 mL in a single meal lasting 7–10 days. Daily consumption ranges from 50 µL to 200 µL, with peak rates observed during the middle of the feeding period when the tick’s gut expands rapidly.
- Adult male: Males feed intermittently, often taking 0.1–0.3 µL over several days, resulting in less than 0.05 µL per day.
Factors influencing daily blood volume include host species, temperature, humidity, and the tick’s physiological condition. Warmer ambient temperatures accelerate metabolism, modestly increasing daily intake, while low humidity can reduce feeding efficiency.
Researchers determine these values using microcapillary tubes, weighing ticks before and after feeding, and employing spectrophotometric hemoglobin assays. Data consistently show that even the most active adult females never exceed a few hundred microliters per day, far below the volume required to cause immediate physiological distress in the host.