Abstract
The integument of Ixodes ricinus consists of the single‐layered epidermis and the cuticle. The integument differentiates into hard and soft body surface, the interarticular/intersegmental folds, cuticular sensory organs, setae, and epidermal glands with their excretory ducts (including salivary glands and salivary ducts).
The enormous amount of food taken up by adult females during feeding requires specialized morphological features of the integument to accommodate the volume changes of the body (i.e. a combination of expandable cuticle/epidermis, proliferation of epidermis cells, and production of new cuticle). The morphology of the integument of
Ixodes ricinus
males and females is documented in this contribution and its functional features are discussed.
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