Scientists have found out what trick helps hungry ticks land on people
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Hungry ticks can use static electricity to land on the body of a person or animal even without direct contact. The corresponding conclusions were reached by scientists in the journal Current Biology, reports MedicalXpress. Ticks cannot fly on their hosts, but electrified clothing, hair or fur helps them move. In particular, ticks use a trick known as “questing.” Bloodsuckers hang from a branch or blade of grass with their legs outstretched and wait for people or animals to pass by to grab and suck. “Ticks can now attach themselves to hosts that don’t come into direct contact with them,” said University of Massachusetts Amherst public health expert Stephen Rich. Read also: In Japan, the world’s first death from the Oz virus caused by a tick bite was recorded. Photo: andrei310/Depositphotos Researchers studied a species common in Europe – the dog tick that transmits Lyme disease, encephalitis and other diseases. When the scientists charged the electrodes and placed them near the young ticks, the creatures swooped through the air to land on the electrodes. It turned out that the normal level of static charge that a person’s fur, feathers, scales or clothing has can attract insects through gaps of a few millimeters or centimeters. To a person, these distances may seem small, but to a tiny mite, they are very significant. “This is equivalent to us jumping three or four flights of stairs in one go,” said Sam England, the study’s author and an ecologist who now works at Berlin’s Natural History Museum. Currently, scientists do not know how to reduce this static electricity – so people are advised to use classic tick prevention measures to protect themselves from bites. In particular, you can use repellents – substances that repel ticks. We will remind you that earlier “UP. Life” explained how to remove ticks and protect yourself from bloodsuckers in nature. And recently in Japan, a woman died for the first time from the Oz virus after a tick bite. Read also: What to do if an insect bites and an allergic reaction begins? Suprun explains
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