Overview of Ticks Ticks are wingless, blood sucking arachnids more closely related to spiders, mites, and scorpions than insects. More than 825 species exist. Ticks are usually found in brushy, woody, and tall grass areas ? avoiding those areas or keeping grass well mowed, and trees and bushes well trimmed may aid reducing the local tick population. Treating the outdoor environment with approved products is an important step for tick control. Ticks have harpoon-like barbs on their mouths to attach to the host for feeding and a sticky secretion to help them hold on to the host Lyme disease, which can be transmitted to both pets and humans by the bite of infected deer ticks, affects more than 16,000 Americans each year. Ticks can carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which strikes 300 to 400 Americans a year. Some species of ticks lay about 100 eggs at a time; others lay 3,000 to 6,000 per batch. |
