Stereotypes aside, ticks are a very successful parasite!
As early as the time of the dinosaurs, they can already be found. Evidence of the existence of this ancient species has been found in the feather fossils and amber of dinosaurs.
The picture below is amber found in Dominica, including the ancestor of a tick. The earliest ticks on Earth are at least 146 million to 66 million years old.
Ticks in Dominican amber, more than 99 million years ago
Ticks prefer to live in warm, humid mountain forests and mountain forest junctions. They are extremely survivable.
Although they prefer warm, humid environments, they can survive at -18 °C for more than 2 hours. At -2 to -7 °C, it can survive for at least 2 weeks.
In drought and water shortage, dieting can survive for more than 4 months.
Vampires are synonymous with ticks!
They are not as "picky eaters" as other parasites, and they can parasitize among multiple species.
Ticks can be taxonomically divided into hard ticks and soft ticks. This basis for classification is easy to understand. The hard tick has a strongly shelled shield on the back of its body, while those without a shield are soft ticks.
Ticks prefer to parasitize birds, mammals, and are sometimes found in reptiles, amphibians, etc.
When they suck blood, they secrete an enzyme that dissolves tissue in their mouthparts and produce substances with an anesthetic effect.
Stealing "blood juice" without the host being aware of it.
When not sucking blood, it is only the size of a grain of rice, and it can grow to the size of a fingernail after a full meal.
Ticks after blood sucking can reach several times to dozens of times the size of before bloodsucking
The life of ticks can be divided into four periods: "egg-larvae-nymph-adult".
Adult male and female ticks that parasitize the host and then fall off after mating after sucking full. Females crawl to lay eggs in grass roots, tree roots, and crevices in livestock houses. Soon the female tick died.
Ticks lay eggs
Tick eggs hatch into larvae in the next 2-4 weeks. The larvae resemble nymphs, but are smaller, and the biggest difference between the two is that the larvae have only 3 pairs of feet, while the nymphs have 4 pairs of feet.
It takes 1-4 weeks for the larvae to molt into nymphs, and the tick that becomes a nymph does not have a reproductive hole, which also marks its inability to reproduce.
Why can't it reproduce, because reproduction requires a huge energy consumption. It is waiting to return to the host for a "hearty" suck.
Nymphs will actively climb up the leaves, branches and other places at a height of the host, and then firmly grasp the leaves, branches, etc. with the 3rd to 4th pairs of feet, and finally extend the first 1-2 pairs of feet into the air, as long as mammals and birds pass by and are caught by them, they will successfully board the "boat of life".
The nymph climbs to a height such as a leaf and stretches out its forefoot to wait to grab the host's "hair"
If they never find a host, they have to die.
Of course, how do ticks know that mammals and the like will pass through this place?
In fact, on the tick's first pair of feet, there is a structure called Haller's organ, which can sense chemicals such as odors in the air, in addition to sensing temperature changes.
That is, they have captured the corresponding information before the host is about to approach. Then eagerly stretch out its paws, waiting for the opportunity to take care of it.
Ticks, which are fortunate enough to board their hosts, begin to choose different habits.
Some will eagerly start eating, while others will wander on the host and start "settling" until they find a suitable location.
For example, some ticks like to hide under the hair, while others like to stay in the ears of mammals.
Experienced people know that tick bites are very strong in the host.
This solidity is, of course, also an evolutionary necessity.
If a tick takes so much effort to get to the host, and the host "shakes its body" and is thrown out, then it is fatal to the tick.
Because leaving the host means death in a greater probability.
Tick mouthparts
Ticks can sting firmly on the host epidermis because their mouthparts secrete a protein that resembles "glue."
In addition, after the mouthpiece is inserted into the body surface, it will also be firmly "held" to avoid falling off.
Ticks are "terrifying" to humans because ticks themselves can carry "as many as cattle hair" viruses, bacteria, and pathogens.
In the past, people often heard news of people dying after being bitten by ticks.
This is not alarmist, but it is a common thing.
It's just that as people move into urbanization, they're not as easily exposed to these ticks as they were before, so the frequency of incident reporting has also decreased.
Among the crisis conditions caused by ticks, the most common is called renal syndrome hemorrhagic fever, which is caused by hantavirus infection.
Among the viruses carried by ticks, hantavirus is very common.
Tick bites may cause diffuse damage to the walls of blood vessels in humans, in addition to thrombocytopenia.
Damage to the vascular wall leads to extensive "breakage" of blood vessels, and blood cells overflow outside the blood vessels; and platelets are important structures in the human body that block vascular wounds, and the decrease in their content leads to more blood flowing out of the blood inside the blood vessels.
This situation is urgent because its biggest feature is "extensiveness".
In other words, every tissue of the human body is bleeding! Pulmonary hemorrhage may occur in the lungs, bleeding from the digestive tract, and bleeding from muscles and joints, resulting in tissue bruising.
The kidneys are very rich in the distribution of blood vessels in the human body, and when the inner wall of the blood vessels of the kidneys is damaged, it can lead to fever, shock and other symptoms.
If not treated in time, it can quickly lead to death.
It is worth mentioning that after a person is bitten by a certain tick, he may have to say goodbye to "red meat" for a lifetime.
Because as long as you eat "red meat" the body will have an allergic reaction.
This tick is a tick called lone star tick, which has a substance called α-galactose in its saliva.
Lone Star Tick
When a person is bitten by the tick, α-galactose can enter the human blood with saliva, and the body's immune system will treat it as a "foreign harmful substance" and produce specific antibodies to destroy it.
When people eat red meat again, the α-galactose contained in red meat will be "recognized" by the special antibodies in their bodies.
The immune system mistakenly thought that the previous invader had come again, so a series of violent immune reactions were initiated, and the body also appeared symptoms of red meat allergy.
In general, with the improvement of sanitary conditions, living in urban and rural systems is rarely parasitic by ticks.
However, as activities such as family tourism in the wild increase, so does the chance of being bitten by ticks.
When people are in the wild, try to wear long-sleeved trousers, while also applying some insect repellent spray to the bare areas.
And after the activity, it is necessary to check whether there are potential ticks attached.
Again, because tick mouthparts can secrete narcotic substances, even after a person is bitten, it is not noticed at all, and it needs to be distinguished with the naked eye.
Once you find that you have been bitten by a tick, don't rush to "pull it out" directly and rudely by hand.
Forced external pulling can cause the tick's head to penetrate deeper into the human skin, causing the tick's head and claws to easily remain in it.
In addition, forced pulling can also stimulate ticks to secrete a large amount of saliva and release more pathogens, increasing the risk of disease.
Once a tick bite occurs on the skin, you can apply alcohol to the head of the tick or lightly blanch the tick body with a cigarette butt to make it fall off naturally as much as possible.
Then grasp the mouthpart with forceps to remove the whole tick (be sure to clamp the mouthpiece) and disinfect the wound in time.
If the body has symptoms of poisoning, you should immediately go to the hospital for rescue!