ScientificName: Order Acari, family Nuttalliellidae and Ixodida, many species
Description: Up to ½-inch long, round, flat, reddish brown bodies. They have eight legs and piercing-sucking mouthparts.
Habitat/Food: Ticks can live almost anywhere in nature and are usually a few feet above ground level to be able to latch on to their host has it passes by. They feed on the blood of animals and humans.
Life Cycle: After mating, the females drop from their host and lay their eggs under debris. Once they hatch, the larva stage attaches itself to a host and then falls off to molt into the nymph stage and find yet another host. Adult ticks can survive over a year without feeding.
Organic Control: Citrus, pyrethrum, and diatomaceous earth can be used for control.
Interesting Fact: To remove a tick, grasp it with blunt tweezers, as close to the skin as possible and pull. You can also light a match, let it burn a little, blow it out, then quickly apply the hot part to the back of the tick. In most cases, this will cause the tick to remove its head from you for easier removal.