In South Africa, a number of tick species feed on horses. Fortunately, the various types tend to favour specific body parts, which makes control of the pests somewhat easier
Most ticks belong to two families: Ixodidae (hard ticks) and Argasidae (soft ticks). In South Africa, several hard tick species feed on horses. The places on the body that they target (the predilection site) depend on the type of tick and the stage of its life cycle: egg, larva, nymph or adult.
After hatching from the egg, the larva has six legs and is pinhead-sized. It climbs up grass leaves and bushes and attaches to a passing host. After feeding, the larva changes into a nymph, which has eight legs, like a spider. After a blood meal, the nymph moults and becomes an adult.
In a one-host tick, all three stages occur on a single animal. In a two-host tick, the larva and nymph feed on one host and the adult on a different host. A three-host tick feeds on a different host at each stage.
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