How Ticks Hunt: The Science Behind How Ticks Find You

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Ticks may be small, but they have remarkably sophisticated methods for locating their next blood meal. Dr. Brian Leydet, an associate professor of disease ecology and epidemiology, explains how ticks find and attach to their hosts, offering valuable insight into protecting yourself from tick bites.

Questing vs. Hunting Ticks

Ticks primarily use two strategies to locate hosts:

Questing Ticks (e.g., Blacklegged Ticks)

Blacklegged ticks, carriers of Lyme disease, use the "questing" strategy.
These ticks climb onto grass, twigs, or leaves and extend their legs outward, waiting patiently for a host—such as a mouse, deer, bird, or human—to brush by.

Hunting Ticks (e.g., Lone Star Ticks)

Lone Star ticks actively pursue hosts. Known as hunter or assassin ticks, they can chase down hosts for up to three meters, attaching quickly to lower extremities.

How Ticks Sense Their Hosts

Ticks don't rely on eyesight to find their next meal. Instead, they use specialized sensory abilities:

Smell: Ticks detect lactic acid, a byproduct of muscle activity, signaling that a moving host is nearby. This is one of the key scents that attract ticks to humans and animals.
Carbon Dioxide Detection: When animals breathe, they emit carbon dioxide, another signal ticks use to identify potential hosts.
Heat Detection: Warm-blooded animals radiate heat, which ticks can sense, helping them pinpoint their hosts.
Vibration Sensing: Some ticks can detect vibrations from animals moving nearby, enhancing their ability to locate hosts.

Remarkable Tick Behaviors

Ticks exhibit fascinating behaviors to ensure their survival:

Host-specific behaviors: Cattle ticks, for example, can sense and are attracted to the chewing vibrations of cows.
Scavenger Attraction: Some ticks position themselves near roadkill, attaching to scavengers drawn to the carcass.

Communication Among Ticks

Ticks also communicate with each other using pheromones:

Aggregation Pheromones: Larval ticks use these pheromones to coordinate group feeding, increasing their chance of finding a host.
Mating Pheromones: Adult ticks release pheromones to attract mates, ensuring reproductive success.

Preventing Tick Bites

Understanding tick behavior and what attracts ticks to humans helps improve personal prevention strategies:

Protect Lower Extremities: Wear permethrin-treated clothing to repel ticks attempting to attach to your legs or feet.
Conduct Regular Checks: Regularly inspect yourself and your pets after outdoor activities to remove ticks promptly.
Tuck in Clothing: Creating a physical barrier by tucking in your shirt or pants can give you a better chance at catching the ticks during a tick check.

Insect Shield tick repellent clothing offers a simple way to help protect yourself when you're in a tick habitat. Ticks typically attach from the ground level, so spraying shoes with permethrin spray is another great and simple way to help protect yourself from ticks. Insect Shield’s built-in repellent technology removes the need to reapply spray to your products constantly and helps ensure you are always prepared.