This review analyzes 30 yr of data concerning physiological age of ixo
did ticks. The level and state of nutritional reserves in unfed ticks
has been proposed as an index of tick physiological age. The dynamics
of the use of these substances reflect tick aging. Thus, physiological
age of ixodid ticks is determined by estimating the irreversible chan
ges caused by natural vital activity in the body of unfed ticks, which
inevitably raises the probability of tick death. The 4 age groups use
d in most studies correspond to different periods in the life of unfed
ticks: the postmolting development, the commencement of active life (
= questing activity), the midperiod of active life, and the final peri
od of active life. The aging of adult ixodid ticks has been studied in
natural populations and laboratory colonies of different species belo
nging to several genera. The dynamics of age composition through the a
ctivity season observed in adult Ixodes persulcatus, I. ricinus, and D
ermacentor reticulatus from field populations correlated well with the
known data on the life history of these species. Physiological age wa
s successfully used as an indicator of the patterns of tick activizati
on (= beginning of questing activity). Tick susceptibility to acaricid
es was shown to increase with tick aging. The success of maintenance,
reproduction, and transmission of pathogens was found to be strongly i
nfluenced by tick physiological age. The physiological age can provide
information about the present physiological status of an individual t
ick or a group of ticks and, on this basis, predictions can be made (f
or example, life expectancy, degree of response to certain factors). T
he physiological age does not give reliable information about the past
life of ticks, in particular their calendar age. In this respect, the
meaning of the physiological age of ixodid ticks corresponds to the b
iological (physiological, functional) age of animals, as used in geron
tology, and differs from the physiological age of mosquitoes and other
bloodsucking dipterans. Balashov's histological method of tick age de
termination successfully used by many authors, remains the most approp
riate, until now. However, there is ample room for further advancement
of methodologies of tick age assessment. The future methods should be
based on the quantitative estimation of a number of characters (test-
battery) related to different organs or systems.