What does a tick suck? - briefly
Ticks draw blood from vertebrate hosts, including mammals, birds, and reptiles. While feeding, they can also transmit disease‑causing microorganisms.
What does a tick suck? - in detail
Ticks attach to a host by inserting their hypostome, a barbed feeding tube, into the skin. The tube penetrates capillaries and draws the host’s blood into the tick’s midgut. Blood is the primary fluid obtained; it supplies proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and iron necessary for growth, molting, and reproduction.
During feeding, the tick injects saliva that contains anticoagulants, vasodilators, and immunomodulatory compounds. These agents keep blood flowing, prevent clotting, and suppress the host’s immune response, allowing uninterrupted ingestion for periods ranging from several days in larvae to up to two weeks in adult females.
Key aspects of the feeding process:
- Attachment – cement-like secretions harden around the mouthparts, anchoring the tick.
- Saliva composition – includes apyrase (breaks down ADP), histamine‑binding proteins, and proteins that inhibit complement pathways.
- Blood intake – up to 200 mg of host blood can be stored in an engorged adult female, representing a volume many times its unfed weight.
- Digestion – proteolytic enzymes in the midgut break down hemoglobin and other proteins; excess water is excreted via the Malpighian tubules.
- Pathogen acquisition – while feeding, ticks may acquire bacteria, viruses, or protozoa present in the blood, which can later be transmitted to subsequent hosts.
Different life stages exhibit distinct feeding capacities. Larvae and nymphs consume only a few microliters of blood, sufficient for molting to the next stage. Adult females require large blood meals to develop eggs; males often feed minimally or not at all, focusing on mating instead.
The tick’s specialized mouthparts and salivary secretions enable efficient extraction of host blood, supporting the arthropod’s life cycle and facilitating the transmission of vector‑borne diseases.