In the first year, tick eggs hatch into larvae in the spring and summer, feeding and molting into dormant nymphs in the fall. In the second year, nymphs feed from May through July and can transmit diseases to humans and animals. In the fall, nymphs molt into adult male and female ticks, with females feeding, mating, laying eggs and dying while males wait for females without feeding.

1. YEAR ONE
In the spring and summer of year one, eggs hatch
into larvae which feed once and molt into nymphs.
Nymphs become dormant for the fall and winter.
The Life Cycle of
Presents
THE TICK
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YEAR TWO
In the second year, nymphs feed from May
through July. At this time, the nymph may
transmit disease-causing organisms (such as the
bacteria that cause Lyme disease) to humans or
to wild or domestic mammals.
THE FALL
In the fall, nymphs molt into adult male and female ticks.
The females feed on deer and other large mammals, mate,
lay eggs, and die. If females don’t feed in the fall, they try
to find a large mammal host in the following spring. Male
blacklegged ticks attach to a host to wait for females, but
do not take a blood meal.
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