A detailed overview of what different types of ticks look like: the most dangerous, common, their habitats and instructions on what to do after a tick bite

Ticks are not only quite unpleasant and dangerous (especially in the summer) creatures, but also one of the most ancient representatives of the animal world on our planet. They existed long before the appearance of the first dinosaurs, outliving these giant

lizards feel quite at ease in our time; millions of years of evolution have passed for ticks with virtually no changes. Our article today is about them.

Description, structure, characteristics

Many people mistakenly believe that ticks are insects; in fact, they are not. They are part of the order Arachnids.

The body length of a tick rarely reaches 3 mm, on average it ranges from 0.1 to 0.5 mm. Do ticks have wings? Like all arachnids, ticks literally do not have wings at all. But adult ticks have four pairs of legs, and what’s interesting is that juvenile ticks that have not yet reached puberty have only three pairs of legs.

Ticks also lack not only wings, but also eyes, but this is not a problem for them at all; without eyes, ticks are perfectly oriented in space with the help of a developed sensory apparatus. And by the way, thanks to this device, they are also able to smell the scent of their possible victim at a distance of up to 10 meters.

Based on their structure, mites are conventionally divided into leathery mites, which have a fused chest and head, and armored mites, whose head is movably attached to the body. Also, leathery mites breathe through the skin and trachea, while oribati mites have special spiracles.

Development (reproduction) cycle of ticks

Most species of ticks reproduce using eggs, although viviparous species are also found. All arachnids, including ticks, are characterized by division into the opposite sex. Blood-sucking parasites have the most interesting life cycle. In this case, the following stages of development are distinguished:

• Laying eggs.
• Appearance of larvae.
• Transformation into a nymph.
• Adult stage.

Habitats

Almost everywhere, these arachnid creatures live on everything

continents (except perhaps Antarctica) and in all climatic zones. As habitats, many species of ticks prefer wet places near water bodies: thickets near river banks, flooded meadows, forest ravines. Some ticks are able to live both in salt water of seas and oceans, and in fresh rivers and lakes. There are mites that live in houses and apartments, in animal fur (house mites, flour mites, dust mites).

Where do ticks live?

Various types of ticks are found on almost all continents, regardless of climate zone. Ticks prefer damp areas of the landscape, so they are more often found in forest ravines, in undergrowth, in thickets of coastal vegetation, in flooded meadows, on overgrown paths, on animal fur, in dark warehouses, etc. Some species live in ponds, rivers, lakes and seas, and some species prefer human habitation and various outbuildings.

Nutrition

According to their diet, ticks are divided into:

Saprophage mites do not pose a threat; moreover, they also bring benefits, as they participate in the formation of humus.

Blood-sucking ticks are a completely different matter; these parasitic ticks wait for the victim, hiding in ambush on blades of grass and tree branches. Then they quietly jump onto her body, using paws equipped with special suction cups, attach themselves to the victim’s body and slowly drink blood from it. It is interesting that not only various large animals and humans, but also other herbivorous mites or thrips can become victims of ticks.

A tick bite is very dangerous, as they can be carriers of various diseases, especially encephalitis. Despite their unpretentiousness in food (as we wrote above, some ticks can go without it for up to three years), they can be incredibly voracious and can sometimes even increase in weight up to 120 times!

Also, in addition to blood-sucking ticks, there are ticks that feed on plant sap; these ticks sometimes cause great harm to agriculture. There are granary mites that eat flour and grain, ear mites that feed on juice from the ear canals, and subcutaneous mites that feed on the fat found in human hair follicles.

Features of character and lifestyle

Photo: Tick in Russia

Ticks begin to become active in mid-late spring, namely at the end of April, beginning of May. To awaken them, it is necessary for the earth to warm up to three to five degrees. And this continues until the end of August, beginning of September, until the temperature of the earth drops to the same level. The population and density of ticks directly depends on weather conditions. If the summer was not hot and with a lot of rain, and the winter was snowy and not severe, then next year the tick population and density will increase.

The female tick, after sucking blood at the beginning of summer or late spring, lays eggs from which larvae will appear, but they will bite anyone only the next year. But, the larva or nymph, which sucked blood from the host this year, moves to the next phase of development also this year. After a tick has chosen a victim and attached itself to it, it may take about twelve hours before it begins to suck blood. On the human body, ticks prefer places with hair, as well as places behind the ears, knees and elbows.

Due to the fact that ticks have saliva with an anesthetic effect and anticoagulants in their arsenal, their bite is invisible to the owner. The maximum duration of blood sucking by a tick is fifteen minutes. The life expectancy of ticks also varies depending on the species. Dust mites live from 65 to 80 days, but mites living in the taiga live about four years. And without food, depending on the species, ticks live from one month to three years.

Now you know how dangerous a tick bite is. Let's see how they reproduce in the wild.

Types, photos and names

The zoological classification of ticks includes more than 4,000 species, which scientists have roughly divided into three groups:

• parasitomorphic (this includes gamasid, argasid, nuttalium, ixodid ticks).
• acariform (scabies, hair, feather, marine, freshwater, thyroglyphoid, acaridia, oribatiform, sarcoptiform, thrombidiform mites).
• Haymaking mites are classified into the third group.

Below we describe some interesting types of ticks.

Ixodid ticks

The body of these ticks is covered with hard chitinous plates and has quite impressive dimensions for ticks - they reach 2.5 cm in length. These ticks live in temperate latitudes, almost throughout Eurasia. Waiting in the foliage and various bushes for their victims, they parasitize many forest and domestic animals, including humans. Having clung to the skin of its victim, the ixodid tick is able to drink blood from several days to two to three weeks.

Argasid mites

These mites, which live in the cracks of houses and outbuildings, parasitize domestic animals and birds, preferring chickens most of all. They can also attack humans. The bite of an argas tick is very painful, accompanied by severe itching and a rash at the site of the lesion. It lives over a wide geographical range, almost throughout Eurasia.

Armored mites

These mites mainly live in the soil, although there are subspecies among them that prefer to live in trees. Also, oribatid mites are not predatory parasites; their food source is mushrooms, lichens and other plant debris. Despite this, the oribatid tick poses some danger to other animals, as it is a carrier of helminths and tapeworms.

Gamasid mites

These mites live in the nests of birds, as well as in the burrows of rodents, mice and rats, and for good reason, because they parasitize on them. Gamasid mites cause great harm to poultry farms, as they love to parasitize chickens, causing them to lose feathers and have huge scratches on their skin.

Subcutaneous mite

This mite is especially insidious, since, crawling under the skin of both humans and animals, it can remain unnoticed for a long time, causing itching and irritation in the affected area.

Scabies mite

This mite is also very unpleasant; it is the mite that causes scabies in humans and animals by making small passages in the skin. It feeds not on blood, but on skin secretions, causing severe itching and redness.

Ear mite

Ear mites cause the most trouble to beloved human pets -

For cats and dogs, their ears are where their food comes from. This tick is safe for humans, but animals have a hard time with it. To remove it, cat and dog owners often have to contact veterinarians.

Dust mite

Dust mites are not parasites; they feed mainly on accumulated dust, fluff and feathers. Therefore, it is sometimes also called bed or linen flare.

Spider mite

This tick is completely harmless, as it is a true vegetarian among ticks, feeding exclusively on plant juices. It is also a carrier of a disease that is dangerous for many plants - gray rot.

Water mite

It is also a sea mite, it lives either in flowing fresh water bodies, and some subspecies also love salty sea water. They parasitize shellfish and some aquatic insects.

Predatory mite

This is a real cannibal tick, as it feeds on its relatives, other ticks. For this reason, it is sometimes specially planted by people in greenhouses and gardens to combat spider mites that are harmful to plants.

Pasture mite

This tick usually lives in forests and forest-steppes. It is dangerous for both humans and animals, as it is a carrier of encephalitis, plague, and fever.

Brown dog tick

It is safe for humans, but not for dogs.

Domestic arachnids

Among the types of ticks and names, people recognize bed ticks. They live in blankets, pillows, soft fabrics, and toys. The individual has special suction cups on its legs to cling to surfaces. The body itself has a water-repellent layer.

The animals have a white belly and are quite small. Sometimes some species live in dusty places. Then they are called dust mites.

These arachnids are not bloodsuckers. They eat dead epidermis of human skin, which is found in dust, on furniture, beds, etc. They should not be confused with bedbugs, as bedbugs can cause more serious damage.

Why are such animals harmful? Their waste products cause allergies, symptoms of asthma, coughing, sneezing.

Eggs

In the spring or late summer, having had enough of the blood of its victims, the fertile female tick makes a clutch consisting of 2.5-3 yew. eggs What do tick eggs look like? They are a very large cell, which consists of a nucleus and

cytoplasm, also covered with a two-layer membrane of different colors. Tick ​​eggs come in a variety of shapes, from oval to square, flattened and elongated.

What ticks are found in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

in Russia :

• taiga;
• canine or forest;
• meadow;

• pasture;
• Pavlovsky's mite;
• hybrid of Pavlovsky and taiga ticks.

In Ukraine the most common are:

• European forest Ixodes ricinus;
• taiga Ixodes persiculatus;
• Hyalomma marginatus;

• pasture Dermacentor reticulates;
• village Ornithodoros sp.
• brown dog Phipicephalus sanquineus

In the Republic of Belarus , 12 species of ticks have been recorded, but the most common of them are:

• taiga Ixodes persulcatus;
• European forest Ixodes ricinus;
• Meadow Dermacentor pictus.

Larva. Is the larva dangerous for humans?

What does a tick larva look like? Having hatched from the egg after 2-4 weeks, the larva is, in fact, an advanced copy of its parents. It does not exceed 0.5 mm in size and we can say that the larva looks like a small poppy seed. Also, as we wrote above, it has only three pairs of legs, and not four, like in adult ticks.

The body of the mite larva is not yet fully formed, there are no bristles yet, and in oribatid mites the body shell is still thin. Just like adult ticks, larvae hunt, only they choose small terrestrial animals as victims:

hedgehogs, mice, lizards (it is still difficult for them to rise to great heights).

As for the danger of tick larvae for humans, yes, the larvae are just as dangerous as adult ticks, because they can also carry the same encephalitis and other unpleasant diseases.

Can ticks jump and fly?

None of the tick species can fly, so there is no need to fear an attack from the air. Can ticks jump from tree branches and bushes? No, they are not capable of jumping. Their main way of attacking a victim is to cling to it. Ticks do not prefer to climb to a height above one and a half meters, but this is quite enough for them. In the event of a threat, such as a fire, the ticks simply detach from a branch or blade of grass and simply fall down. Some might call it a jump, but it's just an uncontrolled fall down.

Nymph. Is a nymph dangerous?

Having eaten someone else's blood, the tick larva eventually turns into a nymph. The latter has larger dimensions (1-2 mm) and already has four limbs. As a result, the tick nymph can choose larger animals as objects for parasitism, and even attack humans.

Just like adult ticks, nymphs are carriers of various infections, and therefore dangerous.

How do ticks reproduce and lay eggs?

Reproduction of forest ticks occurs after full saturation. After fertilization, the female must feed on blood for about 10 days to produce offspring. At one time, she is capable of laying 5,000 eggs, which in the first stages after birth are located on low plants. Then, after the larvae emerge, they need to find a host - a vertebrate animal that will supply them with blood. This is what will allow the larvae to turn into nymphs (more adult individuals).

The growth doesn't stop there. To become an adult, ticks again need to find a victim and drink blood. The period during which the parasite grows from a larva into an ordinary adult tick is determined by two years. Under favorable conditions, it is reduced to 5-6 months.

Bite and diseases

A tick bite is not only unpleasant in itself, as it is accompanied by itching, burning, redness of the skin at the site of the lesion, but its main danger is that various diseases and infections can be transmitted with it, including:

• Lyme borreliosis
• tick-borne encephalitis
• epilepsy and hyperkinesis
• arthritis
• nephritis
• indigestion
• pneumonia or pulmonary hemorrhage
• arterial surges

pressure and arrhythmia

What does a tick bite look like? Like this.

Tick-borne diseases

Having suffered from a tick bite, it is impossible to say for sure that there will be no further serious consequences. The thing is that many representatives of this species are carriers of diseases that are terrible for humans. The most serious include encephalitis, Lyme disease, and ehrlichiosis. Relapsing tick-borne fever, tularemia, babesiosis, and spotted fever are also common. All diseases transmitted by ticks entail an extremely serious condition, often resulting in disability and an extremely long rehabilitation period, and sometimes death.

Lyme disease - symptoms, consequences, treatment

Lyme disease (tick-borne borreliosis) is caused by the bite of a tick that carries a spirochete called ixodid. Infection occurs when saliva from an infected arachnid enters a wound on the skin. There are also cases when a person himself, while scratching his skin, rubs in an infection from a crushed tick. The main symptom after injury is a red spot, the surface of which rises above other areas of the skin, with a white center, which then turns into a crust and a scar.

Within 1.5 months, disorders of the nervous system, cardiac apparatus and joints appear. Paralysis, insomnia, depression, and hearing loss are common. The outcome of this disease is usually not fatal, but the effects on the heart can be serious. To treat Lyme disease, experts prescribe antibiotics (from 2 weeks); in more severe cases, they are administered intravenously.

Encephalitis - symptoms, consequences, treatment

Encephalitis is one of the most serious diseases, which is an acute disorder in the brain. Its cause lies in the immune system, which mistakenly attacks its own tissues. Encephalitis ticks live in many forests in Europe and Russia, but refusing to visit them is not guaranteed to save you from the disease - ticks are often hidden in branches and fur.

Surprisingly, even after drinking the milk of an infected cow or goat, a weak body can become infected with encephalitis. The virus spreads within 1.5 weeks, affecting the gray matter of the brain, accompanied by convulsions, paralysis of either certain muscles or entire limbs. After damage to the entire brain, severe headaches, vomiting, and loss of consciousness are observed. The consequences are very serious - disability and, in frequent cases, death. To treat encephalitis, doctors prescribe intravenous immunoglobulin, and antiviral drugs are required for prevention.

What should I do if bitten by a tick? First aid for a tick bite.

First of all, you need to remember that a bitten tick should not be crushed under any circumstances; it must be removed from the skin as quickly as possible, and completely. To do this, you can use one of the following methods:

• Generously lubricate the part of the tick's body sticking out with vegetable oil or wait 3-5 minutes. The fact is that the tick's respiratory organs are located in the back of its body, so while suffocating, it will try to get out.
• You can try to lubricate the tick with kerosene, after which after 10 minutes it will either unhook itself, or loosen its grip, after which it can be carefully pulled out with tweezers.

Now you know how to remove a tick.

It is extremely important to save the removed tick (you can put it in a plastic bag) in order to conduct laboratory tests and determine whether it was an encephalitis tick or not. Of course, both the severity of further consequences of a tick bite and future treatment depend on this.

After a tick bite, you should definitely consult a doctor.

How to protect yourself from ticks?

There are several simple rules that everyone can follow to avoid tick bites:

• clothing that securely covers all parts of the body, especially arms and legs;
• headdress;
• closed and high shoes, or trousers tucked into them;
• Light-colored clothing, which makes it easier to see ticks;
• treating exposed skin with repellent;
• examining yourself and loved ones every half hour;
• refusal to collect flowers, branches and plants.

Repellents

Repellent is a type of tick repellent. The spray can be sprayed not only on clothes, but also on the skin, but you need to make sure that it does not erode and repeat the procedure again. Particular attention should be paid to the areas of the armpits, abdomen, neck and wrists - most often ticks choose them to bite. Of course, this remedy is not an exact guarantee that all ticks will bypass a person, but still, the use of repellents significantly reduces the likelihood of being bitten.

Acaricides

These remedies are the most powerful and effective. The substance used in the spray affects the nervous system of the tick, causing its limbs to go numb. But we must remember that acaricidal agents are extremely harmful to the skin and, moreover, they should not be inhaled. Adults are advised to treat their clothes, but never wear them, wait a while for everything to dry completely, and only then put them on. One spraying with such an acaricidal spray gives an effect for about two weeks.

Insecticidal and repellent agents

This type is considered the most convenient and reliable, because it combines two products together, which means it not only repels ticks, but also paralyzes them. The convenience is that the product can be applied to skin and clothing. In addition, the drugs fight not only ticks, but also other blood-sucking insects, which also has its own benefits - mosquitoes will not bother you.

Vaccination

Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis, the most serious disease transmitted by ticks, is carried out so that the human immune system can recognize the virus and begin to fight it. First, you need to contact a therapist who will tell you where it is best to perform this procedure.

It is important to note that this can only be done in hospitals that are licensed to provide this type of vaccination. If the drug is stored incorrectly, the vaccine is useless and sometimes dangerous. In Russia, drugs of domestic, German and Austrian origin are used. The advantage of foreign vaccines is that they have much fewer contraindications and side effects.

Means of protection

The most effective means of protection against ticks are repellents - special sprays for children and adults that are applied to outer clothing and repel ticks.

You can also try folk remedies against ticks:

• Ticks do not like the smell of geranium and lavender; you can put bushes of these plants in your pockets when going into the forest.
• Intensely scented essential oils can also untangle ticks.

When are ticks most dangerous?

Most types of dangerous and poisonous ticks in Russia wake up in mid-April, when the night air temperature rises above zero. Their population reaches its peak in mid-May, when the largest number of bites are recorded.

In summer, the activity of parasites decreases slightly, as these individuals love humidity. During hot months they can be found in damp and cool places.

In September they again have a peak of activity; with the onset of frost, their season ends. Ideal conditions for ticks: air temperature -18-20℃ and humidity about 80%.

Have you become the prey of a tick?

Yes, it happened No, fortunately

Interesting Facts

• The smallest tick in the world, measuring only 0.08 mm in length, is even listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
• Three adult ticks, if placed together, will look like the dot at the end of a sentence in size.
• At birth, not a single tick is a carrier of dangerous infections; they only acquire them after parasitism.
• A female ixodid tick can eat 100 times more food than a male. After such a hearty meal, the female can increase in size by 150 times.

Mechanism of spread of ticks

On their own, ticks are not able to expand their living space, since they are able to overcome a few meters, but by attaching themselves to the body of a bird or animal, they are able to significantly expand their habitat. Ixodid ticks prefer to be in the temperate climate of Eurasia, but taiga and dog ticks are more common in Siberia, the Far East or the Baltic states.

Links and useful literature on the topic

• Zhang, Z.-Q. et al. "Phylum Arthropoda von Siebold, 1848". — In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) “Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness.” (English) // Zootaxa / Zhang, Z.-Q. (Chief Editor & Founder). - Auckland: Magnolia Press, 2011. - Vol. 3148. - P. 99-103. — ISBN 978-1-86977-849-1 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-86977-850-7 (online edition).
• Günther Schmidt. Giftige und gefährliche Spinnentiere: []. - Westarp Wissenschaften, 1993. - P. 58ff. — ISBN 3-89432-405-8.
• A Manual of Acarology / Gerald W. Krantz & DE Walter. - 3rd. - Texas Tech University Press, 2009. - ISBN 978-0-89672-620-8.
• S. C. BARKER and A. MURRELL (2004). Systematics and evolution of ticks with a list of valid genus and species names. Parasitology, 129, pp. S15-S36. DOI:10.1017/S0031182004005207.
• Harvey MS (2002). The neglected cousins: what do we know about the smaller arachnid orders? Journal of Arachnology, vol. 30, pp. 357-372. pdf Archived February 7, 2012. (English)

Author: Pavel Chaika, editor-in-chief of Poznavaika magazine

When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and high-quality as possible. I would be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments on the article. You can also write your wish/question/suggestion to my email [email protected] or Facebook, with respect, the author.

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Expanding the boundaries

Over the past decades, the range of ixodid ticks has changed and expanded. Thus, if previously it was believed that in Russia the problem of tick-borne infections was relevant only for Siberia and the Far East, now it is well known to residents of the western regions of the country. Ticks are increasingly spreading in other regions of the planet: in the USA and Canada, China and the countries of Southeast Asia, South America.

Scientists believe that one of the reasons for this phenomenon is climate warming. It has been repeatedly shown that migratory birds can carry ticks over long distances (Sparagano et al., 2015). But if earlier ticks could not take root in the northern territories, now the situation has changed. In many regions of the planet, winters have become shorter and milder, and ticks are able to survive the winter more easily.

One star mite Amblyomma americanum

widespread in the southeastern United States.
This tick is known as a carrier of several species of Ehrlichia, the causative agent of tularemia and the recently discovered Heartland
and
Bourbon
. Thus, in Sweden and Norway for the period 1994–2008. The limit of occurrence of ticks has moved more than 200 km north along the Baltic coast (Jaenson et al., 2012). On the North American continent, ticks began to be found almost 1000 km further north compared to the period 1943–1983. And in the mountains in the north of the Czech Republic, where temperatures have risen by 1.4° over four decades, ticks appeared at altitudes of up to 1,300 m above sea level. In Russia in the 1960s. The taiga tick was found only in the southern regions of the Komi Republic, but now it is also found in the central ones: over the past forty years, the northern border of its range has moved 150–200 km (Loktev, 2015).

Extensive range of the meadow mite Dermacentor reticulatus

includes the territory of Europe, the European part of Russia and Western Siberia.
Often found in forested areas and on the outskirts of cities (in wastelands). It has two peaks of activity - spring and autumn. It poses the greatest danger to dogs, since it is a carrier of pathogens that cause a serious, life-threatening disease in them - canine piroplasmosis. In Eastern Siberia and the Far East, where D. reticulatus
is absent, cases of canine piroplasmosis have not been described. This photo was taken in the Moscow region. © CC BY-SA 4.0, photo by A. Yakovlev

The second possible reason for the change in the range of ticks is a change in the ecological situation caused by human activity. For example, naturalists who traveled to the USA in the mid-18th century noted a large number of ticks there. But a century later, due to the development of agriculture, the number of white-tailed deer, the main feeders of black-legged ticks,

, which led to a decrease in the number of these parasites. However, in the second half of the last century, the number of both host animals and ticks themselves increased manifold. Accordingly, the number of tick attacks on humans has increased as city dwellers began to spend more and more time in nature.

Western black-legged tick Ixodes pacificus

distributed on the western (Pacific) coast of the United States, where it serves as the main carrier of tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease).
The photo
shows a view from the dorsal and ventral sides. © CC BY 2.0, photo by Don Loarie

Recently, in Western Siberia, the range of the Pavlovsky mite

, and the cause of this event remains unclear.
At the end of the last century, its habitat was only in the territory of Altai and other mountainous regions (Salair Ridge, Kuznetsk Alatau). Now it is found in most of the studied lowland areas of the Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions, while in some areas, mainly with high anthropogenic load, the Pavlovsky tick has almost completely replaced the taiga tick
(Livanova et al., 2011; Romanenko, 2011).

Perhaps this change in range is associated with long-term anti-tick treatments of the area around large cities, which were carried out in the 1960–1980s. When these places began to be repopulated by ticks, I. pavlovskyi

received an advantage, since its life cycle is shorter, and it can feed on birds, the number of which in anthropogenic foci is higher compared to the number of large mammals, the main feeders of the taiga tick.

Tick ​​Ixodes trianguliceps

parasitizes only on small mammals; it does not attach itself to people and large mammals.
At the same time, its range overlaps with the range of other ticks of the genus Ixodes, which attack people, and their feeders are the same species of animals. Therefore, I. trianguliceps
can infect people indirectly, through ticks of other species (Filippova, 1977; Yakimenko, 2013).
The photo
shows a well-fed female and nymph
of I. trianguliceps
on a vole. Photo by V. Yakimenko (Omsk Research Institute of Natural Focal Infections)

In some cases, the habitat of ticks is expanding southward. Thus, in Western Siberia in the 1960–1970s. range of the meadow tick

moved south, from the forest to the forest-steppe zone. The reason could be a combination of several factors: acaricidal treatment of forests and a change in the structure of rodent populations, the main hosts of the tick (Yakimenko, 2013).

Based on modeling of changes in climate and biotopes as a result of human activity, it was shown that in the 21st century. One can expect a reduction in the range of the taiga tick on the territory of states bordering Russia from the west, and by the end of the century this process will also take place in the European part of Russia (Yasyukevich, 2019). Presumably, in the Moscow region and the regions bordering it in the west and north-west, the taiga tick will disappear. A similar process will take place in areas to the south, where, due to climate warming, the forest will retreat, giving way to drier habitats.

At the same time, there are prerequisites for a significant expansion of the range of the taiga tick in the Kamchatka Territory and its appearance in the Magadan Region, and these forecasts are already beginning to come true. Thus, taiga ticks were recently discovered in the vicinity of Magadan (Dokuchaev, 2015). These ticks have been found on the Kamchatka Peninsula for quite a long time. At the same time, no larvae or nymphs were found there, which would be indirect evidence that the taiga tick can go through a full life cycle in this territory (according to the Federal Budgetary Institution of Health “Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Kamchatka Territory” for 2022). Probably, the ticks are brought there by migratory birds.

Stages of the life cycle of ixodid ticks using the example of a widespread species - the European forest or dog tick Ixodes ricinus

. © CC BY-SA 3.0, photo by Alan R. Walker

Interspecies alliances

Pavlovsky's mite Ixodes pavlovskyi
was first discovered in the Russian Far East in the middle of the last century. The range consists of two separated parts - eastern and western, located in the Far East and Western Siberia. In morphology, genetic characteristics and activity it is similar to the taiga tick. It serves as a carrier of the same infectious agents as the taiga tick, although their occurrence in these two types of ticks differs significantly (Rar et al., 2017).

The movement of the Pavlovsky tick population to the north coincided with another phenomenon—the discovery of its hybrids with the taiga tick. Interspecific hybridization is a fairly common phenomenon among closely related species of ixodid ticks. However, in the vast majority of cases, these interspecific hybrids are not capable of reproduction.

Thus, in Russia and Estonia, in places where the ranges of taiga and European forest ticks overlap, ticks with morphological and genetic characteristics of hybrids were found (Bugmyrin et al., 2015). However, the offspring obtained by laboratory crossing of these two species turned out to be infertile.

The entire range of the Pavlovsky tick is located within the distribution area of ​​the taiga tick, and molecular genetic analysis revealed ticks with a hybrid genotype in all habitats of the Pavlovsky tick in the Tomsk and Novosibirsk regions and the Altai Republic. In some places, the relative abundance of hybrids exceeded 30%, and among them there were hybrids of both the first and second generations (Kovalev et al., 2015; Rar et al., 2019). All this suggests that these two types of ticks are capable of not only interbreeding, but also producing fertile offspring.

Strawberry mite - Phytonemus pallidus

Strawberry mite

The body is oval, translucent, pale yellow (0.1-0.2 mm). The strawberry mite feeds on leaf juices and is located on the underside of the leaf blade. The strawberry mite attacks the plant during the period when its antennae are released. The harm that the strawberry mite causes to strawberries is wilting, drying and dying of leaves. The strawberry mite produces about 7 generations per year. So the scale of its settlement can be quite large.

Gamasoidea mites

Gamasid mite

Gamasid mites are 0.3-0.4 mm in size, light brown in color. These are parasites of reptiles and birds; only some subspecies of this family parasitize mammals. Gamasid mites do not parasitize humans, but in isolated cases they can be bitten. Gamasid mites do not cause dermatitis and other diseases, but they transmit piroplasmosis and tularemia, parasitizing rodents.

Gall mite – Eriophyoidea

Gall mite

A leaf with galls damaged by a gall mite

The gall mite has a worm-shaped body (0.1-0.3 mm). It inhabits both cultivated and wild trees, bushes, and shrubs. The gall mite sucks juices from plant leaves, as a result of which photosynthesis and water balance are disrupted, which ultimately leads to deformation and drying of the leaves. Also, small shoots appear on the leaves - galls, in which the gall mite hides and lays eggs. It is necessary to spray the plants with acaricides and insecticides, follow the rules of agricultural technology, and thus the gall mite will no longer harm your plants.

Ixodid (forest/taiga) tick – Ixodidae

Ixodid tick

The body is flat, round or oval (1-10mm). This is a gray mite, sometimes light yellow to brown, or almost black mite. Taiga ticks are bloodsuckers by nature of their diet. After feeding on blood, this forest tick turns gray or pinkish-yellowish. Stages of development of ixodid ticks: egg, larva, nymph and adult. The usual victims of larvae and nymphs are small animals, but ticks are found on humans just as often. They are usually attached to the head or other places with hair. The forest tick most often carries Lyme disease, that is, the well-known encephalitis, piroplasmosis and others. It is distributed all over the world. These are the most dangerous ticks.

Author: Julia Paydem

Spider mite - Tetranychinae

Spider mites on an orchid

Spider mite on violet

Spider mites on cucumbers

What does a spider mite's web look like?

The body is oval (0.4-0.6 mm). The color of the body depends on the tick's way of life. For example, spider mites on red cucumbers. This red mite settles on the underside of the leaf and sucks the juices from the plant. The red mite settles on cucumbers in large colonies, which leads to the rapid death of the plant. The red mite on flowers also causes no less damage. It is also called flower mite. He enjoys populating indoor plants. For example, the red mite on an orchid reproduces very actively, especially at warm temperatures. Spider mites settle on violets no less than on other flowers. The pubescent leaf is an ideal habitat for it. Spider mites leave a thin web on plants; only those species that have a spinning apparatus are capable of this. Their web does not have any special meaning; it is only a characteristic feature that they inherited from their relatives of spiders.

Mealy (mealy) or granary mite

Flour mite

The mealy mite is microscopic, with a body length of 0.32-0.67 mm. The flour mite feeds on cereals, flour, meat products, and dried fruits. The barn mite is a pest of food stored in the home. Grain that has been damaged by flour mites is unsuitable for consumption. The flour mite carries E. coli and various bacteria. Their skin causes allergies and dermatoses, especially in children. The flour mite also contributes to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, shortness of breath, anaphylaxis, and kidney disease. The flour mite does not tolerate low temperatures. For fumigation of large premises, it is recommended to use acaricides Phostoksin, Fostek.

Tracheal mite - Sternostomatracheacolum

Tracheal mite

Tracheal mite is a bird mite, such as parrots, canaries, etc. The parasite is 0.4-0.6 mm in size. The tracheal mite is dangerous because the females lay eggs in the host’s lungs, after which the hatched larvae begin to actively drink blood. The tracheal mite irritates the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, resulting in mucus secretion, coughing, wheezing, and sneezing. The bird can die from suffocation due to severe coughing and dead epithelium in the respiratory organs. The tracheal mite is transmitted from adult birds to chicks during feeding.

Chicken mite - Dermanyssus gallinae

Chicken mite

The chicken mite has a dark red body (0.7 mm). This is a parasite that feeds on the blood of domestic and wild birds, and sometimes mammals. The chicken mite lives in wood cracks, bird nests and other places. They leave there only at night to refresh themselves. The chicken mite is dangerous because it can transmit dangerous diseases such as fowl pox virus, piroplasmosis, Newcastle virus and avian cholera. Chicken mites can significantly reduce the egg production of chickens and the quality of chicken meat.

Procedure for detecting a tick on the body

When a pest is discovered, a person may become confused. But there is a certain procedure that will help you collect your thoughts and not harm your health:

1. Carefully and immediately remove the tick from the surface of the skin, while trying not to damage its abdomen.
2. The removed parasite should be delivered to the laboratory of the sanitary and epidemiological station or other medical institutions conducting such research.
3. Mark and record the day of the bite on your calendar.
4. Monitor the condition of the body and immediately consult a doctor at the first signs of illness.
5. Based on the results of the tick examination, take appropriate measures: donate blood and receive specific treatment from a doctor.

How to properly remove a tick

It is not so easy to detect an attached parasite, so a thorough examination of the body after a walk in nature is important. Most often they attach to the scalp and in areas with soft skin tissue.

Favorite attack spots:

• place behind the ears and auricles,
• head,
• neck,
• inner sides of elbows,
• armpits,
• stomach,
• groin area,
• inner sides of the legs,
• area under the knees.

To remove a tick you can use:

1. Thread.
2. Forceps.
3. Loop.
4. Patch.
5. Tweezers.

The essence of all devices is the same: place them as close to the skin as possible, pull slowly and carefully!

To avoid contact with the pest's abdomen, which is the main part of the transmission of possible infection, it is important to use gloves!

After removing the tick, treat the area with an antiseptic or wash with soap and water. And the person who removed it must wash their hands!

There is no need to panic if the head of the parasite remains in the skin, because there is nothing dangerous in this. In fact, it’s like a splinter that will come out on its own in a few days. But if this bothers you, then it can be removed with a pre-heated needle or pin. Rinse the bite area with soapy water, treat well and dry. Disinfect the wound with iodine.

After removing the caught bloodsucker, it must be placed in a clean container with a small piece of damp cotton wool, gauze or paper for subsequent laboratory analysis.

What you should never do when removing a tick

Among the folk methods, there are not only useless, but also life-threatening methods for extracting the parasite.

Never crush ticks with your hands!

Splashes of abdominal fluid and salivary glands of the pest can get on damaged areas of the skin, as well as on the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose, which can cause disease.

It is not recommended to use substances that must be applied directly to the tick's body. Cannot be used for these purposes:

• vegetable oils,
• alcohol,
• petrolatum,
• fat,
• kerosene,
• melted candle wax,
• varnish,
• nail liquid,
• petrol,
• essential oils.

QUEST

LETTER: N

They CANNOT be used to extract the parasite, as in an unfavorable environment it can regurgitate infected abdominal contents into the host's blood. And the probability of infection will increase several times, even though the pest may die after such manipulations.

Do not seal the space next to the tick with a plaster, tape or bag to block its access to air.

In such stressful conditions, it may not only not come out, but also behave in the opposite way - by introducing an infection into the human blood.

After removing a tick, you should not throw it away or release it into nature.

He needs an urgent examination to establish the presence or absence of the disease. For these purposes, it must be placed in a container and taken to the laboratory. Both living and dead pests are suitable for research.

You should not try to figure out on your own whether a tick is infected or not, or self-medicate a possible dangerous disease without control and prescription from a doctor.

Only with the help of medical care is it possible to establish the disease and the degree of its complexity. Competent and timely treatment can save you from serious and irreversible consequences, as well as disability and death.

Preventive measures

When visiting the forest, it is necessary to strictly observe conditions that prevent parasites from penetrating under clothing.

1. Wear the right clothing that will cover as much as possible all exposed areas of the body.
2. Choose wide paths for walking.
3. Carry out periodic inspection every 2 hours.
4. Carefully inspect clothing and body on the way home.
5. When you return, take a shower and wash your walking clothes.

For a hike in nature, there are strict requirements for wardrobe items:

• Give preference to light shades so that the pest can be immediately detected.
• Button up your outerwear tightly and tuck it into your pants if necessary.
• And the pants, in turn, should be tucked into socks or boots.
• Use items with elastic, ties and a hood.
• Don't neglect hats.

How are tick-borne infections transmitted to humans?

There are three main methods of transmission of tick-borne infection:

1. By a tick bite - during blood sucking along with its saliva,
2. By contact - through the interaction of infection with lesions on the skin (for example, when crushing a tick with unprotected bare hands),
3. Ingestion - when consuming infected raw milk from sheep, goats and cows.

Tick-borne diseases are not transmitted from person to person!

But in ticks, pathogens are inherited - from female to offspring, so dangerous carriers constantly circulate among them!

Soil mite (root)

Soil mite

The soil mite has an oval light body (0.5-1 mm). Root mites live in the soil, gnawing into roots and root crops, which causes harm to agriculture. Damaged root crops become rotten and often rot. Infestation of crops by soil mites can also occur during storage. Acaricides (anti-mite drugs) will help you in the fight against soil mites.

Armored mite - Oribatida

Armored mite

The oribatid mite has a dark brown body color (0.7-0.9 mm). It is not harmful to humans and agriculture. On the contrary, it helps regulate the decomposition of organic substances and microorganisms living in the soil. The soil becomes loose and favorable for plant growth. The oribatid mite feeds on plant and animal decaying remains.