All ticks are parasitic, feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and reptiles.
Ticks are the most important vectors of disease to domestic animals and are second only to mosquitoes as vectors of disease to humans. Certain ticks inject a venom while feeding on their hosts that produces a paralysis which can be fatal if the tick is not removed. Soft ticks lack a scutum or hard dorsal plate, are soft bodied, and the mouth parts are ventral and can not be seen from above. The soft ticks are mainly nocturnal, feeding rapidly during the night and concealing themselves during the day in cracks near the nest of their host. The female soft tick indulges in several blood meals and generally lays small batches of eggs after each feeding until 100 to 200 total eggs are laid.