Are You an Automatic Static Tick Magnet?

Ever get the feeling that you are a magnet to certain unwanted pests? Pest like mosquitoes and ticks. Are you pursued by that one yellow jacket hornet that's honed in on that scrumptious plate of blueberry pie at your annual summer barbecue?  Well there might be something to that... especially when it comes to ticks.

Doctoral students, Sam England and Katie L. Lihou, at the University of Bristol, embarked on a unique endeavor to collect ticks by harnessing the static electric fields naturally produced by animals, including humans. Their collaborative project, published in Current Biology, sheds light on how ticks can be physically drawn onto hosts through static electricity, potentially making it easier for them to latch onto their prey. While this discovery adds to the alarming traits of ticks, it also opens avenues for improving antistatic tick defenses.

The researchers conducted controlled experiments to mimic the conditions ticks encounter while questing for a blood meal. Placing ticks on grounding plates and applying electrical charges revealed that ticks are pulled upward against gravity toward the electrode, demonstrating their responsiveness to electric fields. Computer modeling further illustrated how static charges from passing animals, such as cows, could exert significant attractive force on ticks searching for hosts, even from a few millimeters away.

Despite the intriguing findings, further research is needed to validate the role of static electricity in the tick life cycle outside the laboratory. While the results are promising, confirmation with live hosts in natural settings is essential. Dr. England suggests future experiments involving sheep treated with antistatic spray to explore the practical implications of their discovery. Overall, this study highlights the potential impact of static electricity on tick behavior and underscores the importance of understanding the intricate dynamics between pests and their hosts.