yep, i was a suitable host…
Once a suitable host is found, the larvae will blood feed for 4-6 days, drop from the host and moult to the eight-legged nymphal stage. Nymphs require a further blood meal for 4-8 days before moulting to the adult stage. Both female and male ticks quest for a host, but for different reasons; the female for a bloodmeal, the males to search the host for female ticks in order to mate and sometimes feed from them. Males may actually parasitise the female ticks by piercing their cuticle with their mouthparts to feed on her haemolymph (the tick’s blood) and up to 3-4 males have been found feeding on one female tick. Male ticks rarely bloodfeed on a host. The adult female Paralysis tick will feed for up to around 10 days, drop off the host and lay eggs over several weeks. The entire life cycle of the Paralysis tick, involving 4 stages and 3 hosts, will take around a year to complete. Each life stage can be present throughout the year, although for the Paralysis tick, adults are more abundant in the spring and the early summer months, larvae in mid to late-summer, and nymphs during winter.
