2024-04-02 22:01:59
The host as a magnet: Ticks can be attracted to their victim by electrostatic energy, a study shows. This opens up new opportunities for defense.
A tick bite can be dangerous. The animals can transmit pathogens that cause Lyme disease and TBE (tick-borne encephalitis). And: The risk of infection is increasing due to climate change – more and more regions in Germany are becoming TBE risk areas. In addition, more and more species of ticks are settling here that were not originally native to Germany and can transmit diseases such as typhus and Q fever.
Protection against tick bites is becoming increasingly important. But there are persistent myths about how the parasites move. Many people believe that ticks jump on people and animals or fly towards their victims. However, both are wrong. The species native to Germany do not move by jumping or flying – at least strictly speaking.
As researchers at the British University of Bristol have now discovered, ticks are capable of a kind of flight under certain circumstances. And this knowledge could also help to effectively ward off bloodsuckers in the future.
As if attracted by a magnet
The scientists wanted to know more precisely how ticks find their victims. The central question was whether the animals actually cling to their host and crawl up when the host brushes past tall grass or bushes or stays in one place for a longer period of time.
The team discovered another mechanism that apparently makes it easier for the animals to get to their victim: electrostatic attraction. We all know them from everyday life – for example when we rub a balloon on our hair and it starts to “fly”.
Ticks benefit from this effect: the attractive effect of electric fields lifts them and transports them to the body of humans or animals, as if attracted by a magnet. So, in a sense, they fly.
“Flight” over a distance of several centimeters
To do this, the scientists analyzed in the laboratory what attraction electrically charged rabbit fur exerted on nearby ticks. And the fur actually attracted the bloodsuckers. They can overcome up to several centimeters in “flight”.
“This electrostatic charge also happens to animals in nature when they rub against objects in their environment such as grass, sand or other animals. These charges are amazingly powerful and can be equivalent to hundreds if not thousands of volts – more than you get at home your sockets,” said Sam England, one of the researchers involved.
The British researchers now hope that their discovery could help develop new defense options against the parasites. Anti-static coated clothing or anti-static sprays could be considered.