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, 21:54, 18 May 2010
[[Image:Ticks mating.jpg|thumb|right|150px|''Ixodes ricinus'' mating - Wikimedia Commons]]
*Ticks are temporary parasites so only spend a short period of their lives on the host species
*When larvae are seeking a host they are known as '''seed ticks'''
*Both hard and soft ticks have the same life cycle
**Egg → larva → nymph → adult
*Soft ticks feed little and often and on '''many hosts'''
'''Hard ticks'''
*Classified depending on the number of host species they parasitise during their life cycle
*Take one blood meal at each life cycle stage which lasts several days
*'''One-host ticks'''
**Each stage feeds and develops on one host (the same host)
**E.g. ''Boophillus spp.''
*'''Two-host ticks'''
**Larvae and nymphs feed on one host
**Adults feed on a second host
**E.g. ''Hyalomma''
*'''Three-host ticks'''
**Each stage feeds and develops on a different host
**E.g. ''Ixodes spp.''[[Category:Ticks]]