Once firmly attached, they are difficult to remove. Ticks receive no sustenance from plants. Hard Ticks Hard ticks are the group of ticks most Kansans are familiar with and readily recognize. The entire body covering of the male hard tick is hardened. Juveniles and females have hardened plates only on the foreparts of their bodies and can swell to several times their original size during feeding.
Some species have pale markings on the hardened parts of their bodies and on their legs.
There are no contrasting color markings on juveniles of any species found in Kansas. They feed only once in each post-hatching stage, requiring five to 10 days to become engorged. Under natural conditions, a complete life cycle of the species found in Kansas requires at least one year. Adults of most species mate while the female is attached to the host animal. After mating and engorgement, females detach from the host, fall to the ground, digest the blood and produce several thousand eggs.