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Three-host tick life cycle

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The life cycle of a 3-host tick may take 1 to 2 years, depending on whether the tick can find a suitable host between life stages. (1) Female tick lays eggs on ground. (2) The 6-legged larva feeds on small mammals and then drops off to the ground and molts. (3) The 8-legged nymph feeds on a small mammal and then drops off to the ground and molts. (4) Eight-legged adult ticks feed and mate on a larger mammal (including livestock and pets) and then drop off to the ground, where females begin to develop eggs. Illustration by Scott Charlesworth, Purdue University, Medical Entomology Extension. (Source: Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.)