Editing Tick (section)

====Argasidae====
{{main|Argasidae}}

Argasid ticks, unlike ixodid ticks, may go through up to seven nymphal stages (instars), requiring a meal of blood each time.<ref name="Aeschlimann-182">[[#Aeschlimann|Aeschlimann & Freyvogel, 1995]]: [https://books.google.com/books?id=YwJF6qzhrbkC&pg=PA177 p. 182]</ref> Often, egg laying and mating occurs detached from the host in a safe environment.<ref name="CDC - DPDx - Ticks"/> The eggs hatch and the larvae feed on a nearby host for anywhere from a few hours to several days, this depends on the species of tick. After they feed the larvae drop and molt into their first nymphal instars, then the nymph seeks out and feeds on its second host, often this is the same as the first host, within an hour. This process occurs repeatedly and until the last nymphal instar occurs, thus allowing the tick to molt into an adult. Once an adult these ticks feed rapidly and periodically their entire life cycle. In some species an adult female may lay eggs after each feeding. Their life cycles range from months to years. The adult female argasid tick can lay a few hundred to over a thousand eggs over the course of her lifetime. Both male and female adults feed on blood, and they mate off the host. During feeding, any excess fluid is excreted by the coxal glands, a process that is unique to argasid ticks.<ref name="SamuelPybus2001"/>