A new generation of winter tick begins

As the weather starts to warm up, it's the end of one generation of winter tick and the beginning of another. Once female ticks have laid shiny clusters of up to 4000 red-orange eggs in the leaf-litter or "duff layer" on the ground, they die. These tiny eggs are 0.2-3mm across, and now remain on the ground for 100 days or more before hatching.

There are very few observations of tick eggs in the environment, and so far, none at all in Yukon. As the adults are seen on deer, elk, moose and caribou each year, we know they must be there!

If you find any eggs on the ground that you think might be tick eggs, don't forget to submit your picture and location to the Yukon Winter Tick Monitoring Project page!

Posted on June 16, 2018 04:50 PM by emilychenery