59.Phylum Arthropoda. Ticks and mites – their role in vector-borne diseases.
Covers the main arthropod classes, Arachnida and Insecta, and how they differ in body plan and leg number. It then describes hard and soft ticks, their morphology, mouthparts and life cycle, and the tick-borne diseases listed, with practical advice on tick removal. Mites follow, using Sarcoptes scabiei as the example, including its size, legs, mouthparts and burrowing life cycle, ending with how scabies is transmitted and where its lesions appear.
Topic 59 of 63 in the MU Pleven syllabus for Biology (Medicine, Year 1). The free AceMed note covers it in 8 sections, about 562 words (4 min of reading), with 22 flashcards.
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Phylum Arthropoda. Ticks and mites – their role in vector-borne diseases.
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Arachnida
Class Insecta
Ticks and Mites (Order: Acarina)
Life Cycle of Ticks
Mites
Transmission and Symptoms of Scabies
Phylum Arthropoda
Phylum Arthropoda includes a large number of organisms, many of which are of medical importance. The phylum is subdivided into several classes, of which the most important are Class Arachnida and Class Insecta.
Arachnids are spider-like animals with the body divided into two parts: the cephalothorax and the abdomen. The cephalothorax is unsegmented and bears four pairs of legs, while the abdomen is hairy and sacculated and is separated from the cephalothorax by a slender constriction. The mouthparts include a pair of chelicerae (poison jaws), and paired poison glands located in the cephalothorax discharge venom, which in many species is used to paralyse prey.
Insects differ from arachnids in having three pairs of legs and a body divided into three distinct regions: head, thorax and abdomen.
Class Arachnida
Spider-like animals
Body divided into:
Cephalothorax
Abdomen
Cephalothorax:
Unsegmented
Bears four pairs of legs
Abdomen:
Hairy and sacculated
Separated by a slender constriction
Mouthparts:
Chelicerae (poison jaws)
Paired poison glands in cephalothorax
Venom used by many species to paralyse prey
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