Tick Talk: May 2024
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What a Mild & Rainy Winter Means for Ticks
Ticks thrive in weather that is warm and wet, whereas their population diminishes when they are in environments of heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Unfortunately, the 2023/2024 winter is going down in U.S. history as the warmest winter in 130 years of record keeping. Scientists also found that 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded, driven by both human-caused warming and climate patterns caused by the El Ni?o storm. These weather pattens insinuate that the tick population will be thriving in 2024 after a warm winter that lacked snow and consistent freezing temperatures. This means it is crucial to take steps to protect yourself from these disease-carrying pests!
New Testing for Powassan Virus from Deer Ticks
A new scientific study suggests that some species of ticks are scared off by pheromones produced by ants. A team of researchers is working to synthetically replicate these ant excretions and sell them as tick repellent. Because unlike DEET, Citronella, or other tick sprays, the one derived from ants is virtually undetectable by the human nose.
In January, lead author of the study Claire Gooding and her team of scientists at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, set out to examine how the ticks avoid being eaten by their everyday predators, specifically ants, spiders, and beetles. They realized that the blood-sucking insects detect chemicals left by their enemies, and retreat when they smell them. “We decided to look at ants because they are social insects and use a huge range of pheromones to communicate with one another,” says Gooding. “And for something that perceives the world chemically, they’re easy to predict where they’ll be, based on these pheromones.”
“They could see that there were ants and basically go, ‘I’m not going to go there, because there may be ants there, or there may be ants there again soon in the future,’” Gooding said. Gooding and her peers then worked with a team of chemists in Vancouver to produce synthetic versions of the pheromones. The man-made ant scents also caused ticks to retreat. Gooding said that the synthetically-produced ant pheromones could someday be used in spray-on repellents, or they could be added to wood chips or other materials to create environmental barriers for ticks.
Smelling Like Ants To Keep Ticks Away
A new scientific study suggests that some species of ticks are scared off by pheromones produced by ants. A team of researchers is working to synthetically replicate these ant excretions and sell them as tick repellent. Because unlike DEET, Citronella, or other tick sprays, the one derived from ants is virtually undetectable by the human nose.
In January, lead author of the study Claire Gooding and her team of scientists at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, set out to examine how the ticks avoid being eaten by their everyday predators, specifically ants, spiders, and beetles. They realized that the blood-sucking insects detect chemicals left by their enemies, and retreat when they smell them. “We decided to look at ants because they are social insects and use a huge range of pheromones to communicate with one another,” says Gooding. “And for something that perceives the world chemically, they’re easy to predict where they’ll be, based on these pheromones.”
“They could see that there were ants and basically go, ‘I’m not going to go there, because there may be ants there, or there may be ants there again soon in the future,’” Gooding said. Gooding and her peers then worked with a team of chemists in Vancouver to produce synthetic versions of the pheromones. The man-made ant scents also caused ticks to retreat. Gooding said that the synthetically-produced ant pheromones could someday be used in spray-on repellents, or they could be added to wood chips or other materials to create environmental barriers for ticks.
Sources