What will happen if a tick didn't get to feed? - briefly
A tick that fails to obtain a blood meal cannot progress to the next life stage, resulting in its eventual death and inability to reproduce. Consequently, it will not transmit pathogens to hosts.
What will happen if a tick didn't get to feed? - in detail
A tick that does not obtain a blood meal faces several physiological and ecological outcomes.
During the questing stage, the arthropod relies on stored lipids and proteins accumulated from previous feedings. Without a new host, these reserves are gradually depleted, leading to reduced metabolic activity. Energy exhaustion triggers a decline in locomotion and sensory responsiveness, making the tick less likely to locate a subsequent host.
If starvation persists beyond the species‑specific tolerance period—ranging from weeks in soft‑ticks to several months in hard‑ticks—the organism enters a state of diapause. Diapause slows development, suppresses molting, and extends survival under adverse conditions, but does not reverse the loss of reproductive potential.
Reproductive consequences are severe. Female ticks that fail to feed cannot produce eggs, because vitellogenesis requires the influx of host blood proteins. Consequently, the population contribution of the unfed individual is null, and the species’ reproductive output declines proportionally to the frequency of unsuccessful feedings.
Pathogen transmission is also affected. A tick that never ingests blood cannot acquire, maintain, or transmit microbial agents such as Borrelia, Rickettsia, or viruses. Therefore, unfed individuals do not participate in disease cycles, reducing the risk of vector‑borne infections in the immediate environment.
Survival options differ among families:
- Ixodidae (hard ticks): May survive months to years without feeding, especially in cool, humid microhabitats; eventual death occurs when reserves are exhausted.
- Argasidae (soft ticks): Typically require more frequent meals; prolonged starvation leads to rapid mortality within weeks.
- Nymphal stages: Have shorter starvation tolerance than adults; failure to feed often results in death before the next molting event.
In summary, a tick that never secures a blood meal experiences metabolic depletion, possible entry into diapause, loss of reproductive capacity, inability to act as a disease vector, and ultimately mortality when energy stores run out.