A tick feeding on a mammalian host inoculates sporozoites (called "vermicules" in earlier literature) that immediately penetrate erythrocytes. There they divide asexually into two merozoites that burst free and invade new erythrocytes. Some become gametocytes. After ingestion by another tick, the gametes fuse and form a zygote (termed a "kinete"). The kinetes begin multiplying in various tissues of the tick. Those that divide in the salivary gland can be transmitted to a new host . Those that multiply in the ovary may transmit transovarially to the next generation of tick, which can then infect a new host during its first blood meal.