Depending on the kind of tick, the larva can be extremely active or lay in wait for a host to come. Once on the host, the larva will begin feeding. After the tick is full of blood, it will either fall off the host or stay on, depending on the type of tick. The next step for the tick is to turn into a nymph. From this point on, the tick will have eight legs.
Some ticks go through many nymphal stages, while some only have one.
The nymph will have a blood meal at every stage. After the nymph goes through all of its stages, it will turn into an adult. The adult will either stay on the original host or find a new one if the nymph dropped off after feeding. There are about 80 different kinds of ticks in the United States. Most of them are not associated with humans or their pets.