Ticks

Ticks have a latin name called Ixodida, they feed on blood, enter human houses and homeowners confuse between ticks and fleas, both live on a hosts and feed on their blood, they may transmit diseases to them, they don’t choose humans as a main host Ticks ​​have four pairs of legs, they may live in gardens and human houses,

they feed on blood during all stages of their life cycle, while fleas have six legs and cannot fly, they jump by the help their of their flat bodies, they move easily on thick fur and hair, found Everywhere in the world, only adults fed on blood, Therefore, if you do not identify the insect in your home, you can immediately call a pest control company in Jeddah to identify ticks and deal with it successfully.

Ticks External Appearance 

Adult ticks have eight legs and larvae have six legs, ticks color varies depending on the type, the larva length may reach to 1 mm, adults reach up to 1 cm when they bloated with blood. ticks size resembles the size of sunflower seeds, both males and females have different colors, females in hard ticks are bigger than males, they have mouth parts when seeing them from the top, while the soft ticks have body wrinkles and both males and females have the same size.

Ticks ​​life cycle

Tick has four stages during its life cycle, eggs, the larva, nymph, and the adults, after mating, females feed on large amounts of blood, then they lay thousands of eggs and die, females size increases dramatically during lactation, sometimes it exceeds its original size by about 100 times, they eaves eggs on plants leaves or organic materials.

females lays about 5,380 eggs, ticks may need either one or two or three hosts, during one host life cycle, tick remains on the same host in all stages, leaves it only before laying eggs, while in the two hosts Ticks transfer ​​from larva to nymph in the first host and leave it in the middle stage, the second host may be the same first host, in the three hosts life cycle, tick leaves the first host and moves at each stage to another host.

Where ticks live?

Ticks live in dark and humid environments, they also live in trees, inside houses they are found in cracks, nests, and stones Ticks feed on mammal blood, birds, they may feed on the blood of cats, dogs, deer, humans and animals.

How ticks enter the house?

Tick sticks to clothes, human skin and animal fur, it cannot jump and fly, it enters the house through pets or mice, once they enter the house they start to look for a suitable host.

How dangerous are ticks?

We may not consider ticks as a major threat to humans, you may find them in holes and gaps, in the building’s structure, they may pinch humans and feed on their blood, ticks can transmit various types of diseases and more than 15 viruses and infections. Lyme disease is the most common disease transmitted to humans through ticks, if it left untreated it affects the heart and nervous system.

How to get rid of ticks?

A pest control company in Jeddah adopts an integrated treatment plan to control ticks through home inspection, determine insect type, our specialist will explain some basic facts about ticks and their life cycle and how to identify and treat them, you may also get rid of ticks by these simple steps:

•  Ventilate your house and expose the sun to dark areas.
• fix humidity problems in your house.
• Get rid of garbage inside your house.
• Get rid of rocks, wood, stones in your garden.
• Use chemical products to get rid of ticks effectively.
• Get rid of birds and mice nests in the garden and put barrier around trees in the yard.
• Inspect your pets for possible tick infestation.
• If you notice ticks in your pets, hold them with special tongs and pull them slowly away from pet skin, then wash and sterilize the affected area.