Figure 1.

The tick feeding process involves multiple host-response inhibitors secreted from the tick salivary glands, and bacteria at the tick–host interface take advantage during transmission to enter susceptible hosts. A representation of tick feeding and tick mating on the host (I), depicting the preparation of the blood pool inside the host skin dermis, which is rapidly engulfed later. The tick weight gain by an Amblyomma maculatum female (II) represents two distinct stages of feeding: slow, until day six, and rapid, after 8–12 days (10 female ticks were weighed at each stage). Larval (A, B) and nymphal (C, D) ticks at the unfed and fully engorged stages and adult female ticks (E, F, G) at the unfed, slow-feeding, and engorged stages. Scale: 1 mm (A, B and C, D); 5 mm (E, F, G).