They can produce offspring by both sexual reproduction (offspring that develop from eggs fertilized by a male) and parthenogenetic reproduction (offspring that develop from unfertilized eggs, from an unmated female). The reproduction of Asian Longhorned ticks is unusual among tick species. For nymphs, photoperiod and temperature are the only cues to induce diapause due to their resistance to dehydration. The cues for ticks to enter diapause are both abiotic such as temperature, humidity, and photoperiod, and biotic such as nutrition. The Asian Longhorned tick can compete its life cycle in six months, but typically one generation occurs per year, with most immature ticks entering diapause (dormancy) during winter and other cold periods. After finding a suitable host, adults may feed for 7 to 14 days before dropping from this third host. Nymphs then locate and attach to a new host, feed for 3 to 8 days, and fall from the second host, where they take about 17 days to digest their blood meal and develop into adults. Once larvae are engorged, they drop from the host and digest the blood meal before molting into nymphs, a period that may take up to two weeks. After locating and attaching to a host, they feed for 3 to 9 days. These newly-hatched larvae immediately search for a host. The larvae hatch about 25 days after oviposition when held at 77☏. The engorged (fully blood-fed) female can produce up to 2,000 eggs over 2 to 3 weeks. The Asian Longhorned tick is a three-host tick meaning that after taking a blood meal, each active stage (larva, nymph, and adult) will leave the host to digest the blood meal, and develop and molt into the next stage, or if an adult female will lay eggs and die. The scutum on males covers the entire dorsal surface. The scutum of females is smaller than that of males, covers only the anterior dorsal surface, and has an angular margin that becomes more obvious during blood feeding. Females and males are reddish-yellow in color, but have different body sizes.įemales are 2.7 to 3.4 mm in length and 1.4 to 2 mm in width, while the smaller males are approximately 2.51 mm in length and 1.65 mm in width. The scutum of the nymph is approximately 1.25 times as wide as long, and its outline is broadly rounded. The presence of genital pores on adult females makes them distinguishable from the adult males and nymphs, where it is absent.Īn un-engorged (prior to a blood meal) nymph is about 1.76 mm in length and 1 mm in width. The scutum (dorsal shield) of the larva is approximately 1.5 times as wide as it is long.Īs with nearly all hard-bodied ticks, both nymphs and adults have eight legs. Larvae of Asian Longhorned Ticks have three pairs of legs with a body size of approximately 0.58 to 0.62 mm in length and 0.47 to 0.51 mm in width. Given the importance of this new invasive species, if suspected Asian longhorned ticks are found in Florida, a sample should be sent in to Tick Safety for proper identification. Asian Longhorned ticks are difficult to identify by non-experts.
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