Maybe your winters are too cold for them? When I lived in upstate NY we didn't have any ticks either. But the mosquitos, black flies and deer flies we enough to spoil your day anyhow 
ticks
- Thread starter grendel
- Start date
The two times I was out this year (ugh) I found a few on me.
This may be my first chigger free year.
This may be my first chigger free year.
Sometimes seeing all the ticks ending up on me from my woods makes me want some ginny hens or just to have more wild turkeys around
Here are the four most often encountered tick species you will find in the pines.
There are other ixodes species (like the blacklegged tick) around that are capable of transmitting Lyme disease, but they're more obscure.
Below is the Brown Dog tick, (Rhipicephalus sanguineous), the one above is the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis). The best way to tell the difference between the 2 dog ticks and Lone Star tick species (it's not always as obvious as it is in a photo) is the above brown dog tick has a scalloped edge along its abdomen (the bottom part).
With ticks, the larvae are generally teeny and have three pairs of legs, while the nymphs and adults are larger and always have four pairs of legs.
There are other ixodes species (like the blacklegged tick) around that are capable of transmitting Lyme disease, but they're more obscure.
Below is the Brown Dog tick, (Rhipicephalus sanguineous), the one above is the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis). The best way to tell the difference between the 2 dog ticks and Lone Star tick species (it's not always as obvious as it is in a photo) is the above brown dog tick has a scalloped edge along its abdomen (the bottom part).
With ticks, the larvae are generally teeny and have three pairs of legs, while the nymphs and adults are larger and always have four pairs of legs.
Yeah - thanks! So I have always heard that Lyme disease is transmitted by the tiny little brown ticks which I've heard refered to as "deer ticks." Which would these be? Also, do the nymphs only appear in the early spring, or do they continue to hatch throughout the summer?
Lyme disease is primarily transmitted by the black legged tick at the top, Ixodes scapularis, also known as the deer tick. The females are reddish and the males are darker, but color can vary so you can't go on that to ID a tick. The ticks will reproduce as much as they can and don't have a seasonality. Yes, they'll slow down in the winter due to the temperature, but they would breed all year if they could. All of them need a blood meal, but a female needs blood in order to reproduce, her ovaries won't develop.
All stages bite and drop off, it's only the females that really tank up after they mate. They will lay huge egg masses, (generally the mass is bigger than they are), then they die. The larvae will hatch and venture out on their own.
Here's a photo of a female lone star tick and her egg mass. Interestingly, they lay their eggs through a pore that's under their head. Each one of those little eggs becomes a 6-legged larva of about the same size as the egg. An scarily enough, that one looks like she's not nearly done laying eggs.
All stages bite and drop off, it's only the females that really tank up after they mate. They will lay huge egg masses, (generally the mass is bigger than they are), then they die. The larvae will hatch and venture out on their own.
Here's a photo of a female lone star tick and her egg mass. Interestingly, they lay their eggs through a pore that's under their head. Each one of those little eggs becomes a 6-legged larva of about the same size as the egg. An scarily enough, that one looks like she's not nearly done laying eggs.
Aaarrrrgh! That's the scariest thing I've seen since Alien 2 !!!
Thanks Sue, this helps me understand these nasty little creatures much better.
Thanks Sue, this helps me understand these nasty little creatures much better.
You're welcome. I just noticed that I got the two dog ticks backward so I fixed it. Whoops, I always do that.
To give you an idea of the time it takes for a tick generation to hatch and grow to reproduce in optimum climate conditions (80-90% humidity and ~80 degrees F), they require 3 hosts to develop to the adult stage. (Which is why they're such good disease vectors). New larvae feed on a host for 4 to 6 days and drop off to shed to the nymphal stage. Nymph ticks attach to a host and feed for 4 to 6 days and drop off to shed to the adult stage. Adults mate then feed on a third host for about a week, after which the female drops off and lays anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 eggs depending on the species of tick, and dies.
To give you an idea of the time it takes for a tick generation to hatch and grow to reproduce in optimum climate conditions (80-90% humidity and ~80 degrees F), they require 3 hosts to develop to the adult stage. (Which is why they're such good disease vectors). New larvae feed on a host for 4 to 6 days and drop off to shed to the nymphal stage. Nymph ticks attach to a host and feed for 4 to 6 days and drop off to shed to the adult stage. Adults mate then feed on a third host for about a week, after which the female drops off and lays anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 eggs depending on the species of tick, and dies.
My God were they out in force today. We were in the lowlands west of Aserdaten, and on one road in particular they were crawling up our legs by threes and fours as we walked. We inspected each other often, and I thought I was careful. Had long pants, high top boots, tall socks, sprayed down bare skin with repellant. We picked a lot off but one got away and I found him in the middle of my back when I got home. Was careful to pick him off without squeezing, so hopefully not too much risk.
If the repellant is DEET it seems useless for ticks. Clothes sprayed with permethrin seem to work the best.
Didn't see that many ticks out today, but the gypsy moth larva are everywhere, and they are big and fat.
Didn't see that many ticks out today, but the gypsy moth larva are everywhere, and they are big and fat.
On the way to Tuckerton yesterday the devastation from the moths made it look like winter, Burrs Mills Rd., Ong's Hat Rd., Rt.72 east from Four Mile Circle was qute bare, also the picture of the laying of all those eggs makes you really detest those bloodsuckers, nasty.
I thought there was widespread spraying for gypsy moths this spring? I guess some places were missed? Dimilin is pretty effective against that genus of insects.
My friend said that Tabernacle Township sprayed, Southampton Township did not.
I think we got all of ours on one boggy, lowland trail west of Aserdaten. It was incredibly beautiful back in there. The trail cuts right across a quiet cedar bog where you can smell the pine in the air, and stand still and listen to the cedar waters filtering through. Unfortunately the ticks like it too.
Last time I was out ten days ago we saw some on our clothes, but I didn't have any on me after the trip. This time despite long pants, high topped boots, and religious inspection, I removed eight from my person when I got home and stripped. We're going to stay out of that area for now, and try permethrin the next time out.
I saw for myself what the tick situation is down there. It's not good! Geeze Louise. I picked about 50 off of myself and my husband today. The picaridin we sprayed ourselves with didn't do a thing. Between the ticks, mosquitoes, blackflies and greenheads, we're both anemic. I hope the chiggers were merciiful. We both scrubbed our legs with a stiff soapy brush just in case.
We also saw the devastation that the gypsy moths wreaked on the hardwood trees. There are adult moths EVERYWHERE. We spent the day in the Atsion Lake area.
We also saw the devastation that the gypsy moths wreaked on the hardwood trees. There are adult moths EVERYWHERE. We spent the day in the Atsion Lake area.