NGS.NEWS correspondents collected a dozen popular myths about carriers of the encephalitis virus and asked doctors and scientists to comment on them. It turned out that some of them are the naked truth, but still, for the most part, myths remain folk tales. So, below are 13 of the most popular myths about ticks.
Myth one:
Ticks live only in forests and groves and attack from trees
It's a delusion. Firstly, in addition to the taiga tick, which lives in forests or on the border with forests, there is also the Pavlovsky tick - it is able to survive in dead wood and on the edges. The meadow tick also lives in dry landscapes and fields. Ticks never attack from trees; they do not climb trees at all.
Myth two:
Ticks prefer people wearing white clothes
This myth comes from the fact that ticks are more noticeable on white clothes. However, ticks are simply not able to choose a victim based on the color of clothing - they do not have eyes.
Myth three:
Ticks prefer to bite people with a certain blood type
This myth is based on popular observations: supposedly some people are bitten by ticks often and with pleasure, while others who were with them are avoided. There have been no studies confirming the taste preferences of ticks depending on their blood type. But the gender of the victim may matter. Scientists have found that ticks find women more attractive than men.
Myth four:
Ticks don't like to bite drunk people
You should not wishful thinking; no studies have been conducted to confirm this fact.
Myth six:
Only female ticks bite and can infect
It is not true. Individuals of different sexes have differences in their feeding strategy: females need to attach themselves to the prey for a long period of time, up to three to four days, because in order for eggs to form in the body, protein is needed. Males only attach themselves for about 25 minutes to replenish moisture reserves. However, they are the ones who turn out to be more dangerous: their mouthparts are not as powerful as those of females, so they can dine and fall off without even being noticed. However, both females and males can be carriers of encephalitis and borreliosis equally.
Myth seventh:
A tick crawling on the skin can infect you even before it bites.
The causative agent of the virus can enter the body either through damaged skin or through mucous membranes. The tick can indeed secrete saliva even before suction, but it is dangerous only when interacting with wounds, cracks and mucous membranes.
Myth nine:
There were no ticks in the USSR, and then they were brought here by foreign enemies, perhaps the Japanese
This assumption is a very big compliment to foreign researchers. The ticks themselves have always been there: they even fed on dinosaurs. As for viral encephalitis, its first studies were undertaken in the 30s of the last century in connection with the development of the Far East, since it was then that immigrants from Central Russia began to suffer from the virus en masse. By the way, it was then that Russian scientists isolated the virus tick-borne encephalitis, and at that time scientists were not able to create a new virus in any country in the world.
Myth tenth:
Repellents - reliable protection against ticks
No. Repellents are one of the last places among measures to protect against crawling and tick bites.
Myth eleventh:
Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis solves all problems
Vaccination is the most effective protection against encephalitis, but it does not protect against tick bites.
Myth twelve:
The closer the tick is attached to the head, the faster the disease will develop, and if the tick is removed immediately, infection can be avoided
This is not true. The incoming tick-borne encephalitis virus spreads hematogenously (i.e., through the bloodstream) throughout the body. Unfortunately, even if the tick bite was short-lived, the risk of contracting tick-borne infections cannot be ruled out.
Myth thirteenth:
If you find a tick attached to your body, you need to fill it with sunflower oil- and it will fall off on its own
Experts note that this is a wrong strategy, adhering to which you can only waste time. Because the tick needs to be removed as soon as possible.
Prepared by K. Dimova
Ticks have a bad reputation. There are a number of facts in the life of these bloodsuckers, causing fear in front of these unusual creatures of nature.
Ruthless relatives
Ticks belong to the subclass of arthropods. The closest relatives of these creatures are spiders. From them, ticks inherited a ruthless and extremely aggressive character. When there is not enough food, they attack their fellow creatures, rip open their bellies and drink all the blood.
Bloodsuckers are everywhere
In total, there are more than 50 thousand species of ticks on Earth. The smallest mites live right on your pillow. Here they feel great, eat well, reproduce constantly and leave behind clouds of excrement. It's about about Dermatophagoides dust mites. Maximum size dust mite is 0.5 mm. This “beast” feeds on dead particles of the epidermis.
Dust mites and bronchial asthma
A dust mite lives for 3-4 months, producing an entire army of offspring during this time. The female lays 60 eggs at a time, which very quickly turn into adults. You can easily find more than 6 million of these mites in a bed!
Dust mites leave behind feces rich in Der f1 and Der p1 proteins. These are the most natural digestive enzymes that dissolve small particles of our exfoliated skin. Because of these proteins, such a severe allergic disease as bronchial asthma. The disease is chronic. A complete cure is impossible.
Carefully! Tick-borne Encephalitis
Some of the most dangerous are encephalitis ticks. They live in wooded areas, but also move well on grass. The greatest threat is posed by the taiga tick, which belongs to the ixodid subspecies. It suffers from encephalitis, borreliosis, rickettsiosis and a number of other serious illnesses. A person can die from many of them if measures are not taken in time. Thus, a person suffering from encephalitis risks remaining paralyzed forever. It is necessary to carefully protect against ticks through vaccination and additional safety measures.
Fertile and bloodthirsty
Ixodid ticks reproduce at a fantastic rate. Females are capable of growing up to 36 mm. Each lays 20 thousand eggs at one time!
Ticks are also known for their bloodthirstiness. For example, in one go, a dog tick sucks two hundred times more blood than it weighs. The bull tick is even more - ten thousand times.
Terribly tenacious
Ticks are adapted to any adverse conditions and are very tenacious. If scorpions are able to survive without food for two years, then to ticks even ten years will not seem like a long time.
Thanks to the Haller's organ donated by the generous Mother Nature (a very important organ of smell that serves to find the owner), the arthropod can easily sense the presence of a warm-blooded animal nearby. Ticks perfectly sense the slightest changes in humidity and ambient temperature.
Ticks sneak up on a person completely unnoticed and inject an anesthetic substance upon bite in order to disguise their presence on his body. Sometimes it is possible to detect a tick only when it is too late.
7 facts about ticks that are vital to know
1. Ticks do not climb trees, but jump out of the grass
A tick can crawl on you from the grass or bushes, but not jump from a tree, since ticks cannot jump. They usually do not rise higher than 1.5 m above the ground. The legs of insects are very tenacious, and the arachnids themselves are very small, so you won’t even feel that someone is crawling over your body. Of course, tight, tight-fitting clothing can help prevent contact with ticks, but you should not rely on this alone. Typically, ticks bite in the softest places on the body - the armpits, groin area or area behind the ears. Therefore, while walking through the forest, examine yourself and your friends more often.
Do not forget that the infection can be picked up not only directly from an insect bite. You can also become infected by drinking unboiled milk - ticks don’t care who is in front of them, a person or an animal, so they happily bite cows. By the way, nursing mothers should also be careful and, until the terrible diagnosis is refuted, do not breastfeed the baby. But encephalitis is not transmitted from person to person in any other way, and you are not in danger of becoming infected from friends.
2. Vaccination
Ideally, before going into nature, you need to be vaccinated against the most common disease spread by ticks - encephalitis. True, they need to be done in February, otherwise there is a risk that the vaccine will not work. Usually three injections are given with some interval, and so far the vaccination is the most effective remedy protection. Please note that vaccination should be done every year.
3. Infections
In general, there are a lot of tick-borne infections, and encephalitis and borreliosis are the most serious and dangerous of them. However, there is also granucytic anaplasmosis, monocytic ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, rickettsiosis and others. The infection is transmitted to a person directly during a bite, along with saliva injected into the body. Of course, there are also so-called “clean” ticks, whose saliva does not contain any infections, but there is no guarantee that the tick that bit you is not a carrier of the disease.
4. Encephalitis
Encephalitis is the most dangerous tick-borne disease. If you are lucky, you will get away with a fright, but if not, paralysis of both arms, complete blindness or deafness is possible. Keep in mind that these consequences are irreversible, unless, of course, they come up with some kind of universal method treatment. But he's not there yet. In some cases, encephalitis leads to the death of the victim.
The worst thing is if an encephalitis carrier bites you in Siberia or on Far East, since ticks in these parts spread a particularly severe form of the disease, and according to statistics, 80 out of 100 bitten people die from it. In Europe, it’s a little simpler, only two out of 100 infected people die, but this is already a reason to worry about your health, isn’t it?
By the way, if a person has already suffered encephalitis once, he acquires lifelong immunity to it.
5. Borreliosis
The second dangerous disease is borreliosis. It is characterized by heat and extensive redness at the site of the bite. In case of complications, paralysis of the facial muscles occurs, then the joints will begin to ache, especially difficult cases the pain may be so severe that it becomes impossible to move. There may be problems with hearing and vision, up to complete loss, or heart problems. The skin will become thin, dry and take on a bluish tint.
And the worst thing is that there are no vaccinations against borreliosis. Immunity too - if you get sick once, you can get sick a second time. Fortunately, on early stage it is quite easy to cure, but you should consult a doctor in time.
6. Removing the tick
If you are unlucky and still find a tick embedded in your body, then first of all, don’t panic. Remember that in any critical situation you must remain calm.
First, remove the tick. This must be done very carefully, best with tweezers, turning it counterclockwise. Do not pull the tick under any circumstances - it has already grabbed your flesh with its front legs, and if you pull hard, you will tear off the head, and it, along with the sting, will remain in the skin. Then you will have to pick out the head with a needle, previously heated in the flame of a lighter, like a splinter. If at least a sting remains, then it will eventually be necessary to cut it out with a scalpel. If you don’t have tweezers with you, you can try to unscrew the insect using a loop of thread.
They often talk about the method of removing a tick using vegetable oil- supposedly the insect will begin to choke and crawl out on its own. Doctors do not recommend doing this. The tick will indeed begin to choke, but in this case it will release the maximum amount of saliva into your blood, since it will begin to feel very sick, and, as we remember, saliva contains pathogens.
7. Proboscis and legs
After the tick is removed, carefully inspect it for the presence of all parts - the number of legs (the proboscis is indistinguishable from the leg) should be odd. If it’s even, it means the sting remains in the body, and you need to urgently go to the emergency room to remove it and at the same time give an injection. Remember that you will have to give the injection in any case, and try not to delay it.
Don’t forget to place the extracted tick in a box to take it to the nearest laboratory for SES analysis.
10 days after the bite you will need to have your blood tested to check for infections. This also needs to be done in any case. In another two weeks - a repeat analysis, this time for immunoglobulins M for encephalitis, and after another one - for immunoglobulins M for borreliosis. Of course, your doctor should tell you about this, but it’s better to know about it yourself: he who is forewarned is forearmed.
About ticks and encephalitis (15 photos + 2 videos)
Taiga tick - Ixodes persulcatus.
The habitat of the taiga tick in Russia is located mainly within the middle and southern subzones of the taiga. In the west he captures Moscow, Leningrad region, in the north - the southern regions of Karelia. In the Volga region, the southern border runs north of 53° N. w. (Ulyanovsk region, Samara Region north of the river Samara). The range extends into Belarus, the Baltic states, covers the south-eastern coast of Finland and some other areas of the north Western Europe; in more southern regions this species is being replaced by another species, Ixodes ricinus. To the east, the range of the taiga tick extends to the coast Pacific Ocean, its main part is located between 50 and 60° N. w. (along the Ob and Lena valleys it comes to the north, in the Far East - significantly to the south, to the southern border of Primorye and northeast China). Separate parts of the range cover the south of Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Kurile Islands, southern Japan, isolated areas of the mountain ranges of Central Asia.
Dog tick - Ixodes ricinus.
Dog tick distribution areas in middle lane In Russia they coincide with their taiga “brother”, and throughout the world the dog bloodsucker is found much more widely - throughout the Northern Hemisphere of the planet. It has another name - “European forest tick”, although in Latin it has the same name - Ixodes ricinus. This suggests that the dog tick is rampant where there is vegetation. IN last years There is a steady migration of ticks closer to humans and their households. The canine bloodsucker, which previously traditionally fed on the blood of forest and steppe inhabitants such as foxes, wolves, and jackals, can now easily be found in close proximity to people.
Both types of ticks are extremely rarely (as an exception) found at altitudes of more than 1500 meters above sea level.
Reproduction and development
The life cycle of ixodid ticks consists of the following stages: an egg, from which a larva emerges, which turns into a nymph, from which an imago is formed, which grows into a sexually mature individual. The eggs of ixodid ticks are oval in shape, their size is only 0.3-0.5 millimeters. The egg is protected by a hard, shiny brownish shell. The larva has 3 pairs of limbs. The front part of the body is covered with a shield. At this stage, ixodid ticks do not have a genital opening. The size of the larva depends on how much blood it has sucked; it can vary from 0.5 to 1 millimeter. . They can remain in a hungry state for up to 2 years. At the same time, they do not move on to the next development cycle. Dies with a sharp or prolonged drop in temperature. And here low humidity she is no longer afraid. Under favorable conditions, after 4 weeks the larva turns into a nymph.
The nymph already looks more like an adult. Increases in size. The life cycle in this state lasts 1 month. The next bite becomes an impetus for further development. A nymph can feed in the same way as a full-fledged insect. The behavior is practically no different. After 4 weeks, the nymph turns into an adult.
An adult has a torso, 4 pairs of limbs, a head and a proboscis. In males, the body is completely covered with scutes, and in females it is covered by a third with scutes. Breathing is carried out through stigmata on the sides. On the abdomen of the tick there are teeth, with the help of which they cling to the body of the owner.
The size of adults depends on the degree of blood saturation. In hungry individuals, the body shape is oval, flattened, and the size is about 6-8 millimeters. Color brown or yellow. After the tick drinks blood, its body becomes rounded, and the length of the tick increases to 30 millimeters.
Danger of ticks to people
The greatest danger is represented by encephalitis ticks. These ticks are carriers of encephalitis. This virus is transmitted through contact with an infected animal. The infection enters the human blood and causes the development of a serious illness. An equally dangerous disease spread by ixodid ticks is borreliosis. The disease can appear as early as a week after the bite. The main symptom of infection is a red ring around the bite and a light center.
After a bite, you need to carefully monitor your health. The longer the tick was on the body, the higher the risk that it could infect a person with a dangerous disease. If an inflammatory reaction occurs, body temperature rises, chills, rash and malaise occur, you should immediately consult a doctor.
TICK-BORNE ENCEPHALITIS: SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT
Tick-borne encephalitis is classified as a natural focal disease that occurs in certain areas. The carriers of the pathogen are wild animals, in this case the encephalitis tick. The main foci of tick-borne pathology are Siberia and the Far East, the Urals, the Kaliningrad region, Mongolia, China, some areas of the Scandinavian Peninsula and of Eastern Europe. Every year, about 5–6 thousand cases of encephalitis tick infection are registered in our country. The severity and form depend on the immunity of the bitten person, the amount of virus in the body, the number of bites, and also on geographic location. Experts divide the encephalitis tick virus into 3 subspecies: Far Eastern, Siberian and Western. The most severe forms of the disease occur after a tick attack in the Far East, with a 20–40% fatality rate. If an encephalitis tick attack occurred in the European part of Russia, the chances of avoiding complications are much higher - the mortality rate here is only 1-3%.
Symptoms after an encephalitis tick attack are very diverse, but in each patient the period of the disease traditionally proceeds with several pronounced signs. In accordance with this, there are 5 main forms of tick-borne encephalitis. Feverish, or erased (the most successful prognosis for treatment).
- Meningeal (most often diagnosed).
— Meningoencephalitic (occurs in 15% of the country as a whole, in the Far East 2 times more often).
— Poliomyelitis (diagnosed in a third of victims of encephalitis ticks).
- Polyradiculoneuritis. Special shape tick-borne infection– with a two-wave flow.
The first period of the disease is characterized by febrile symptoms and lasts 3–7 days. The virus then penetrates the meninges and neurological signs appear. The second period lasts about two weeks and is much more severe than the febrile phase.
When making a diagnosis of “tick-borne encephalitis”, it is necessary to take into account a combination of three factors: clinical manifestations (symptoms), epidemiological data (time of year, vaccination, whether there was a tick bite) and laboratory tests (analysis of the tick itself - optional, blood test, analysis cerebrospinal fluid, etc.).
The first thing to do if you are attacked by a tick is to examine the sore spot. The bite of an infected insect is just a red, inflamed wound, and the encephalitis tick itself looks like a regular one. Therefore, in any case, emergency prevention of tick-borne encephalitis is needed - administer immunoglobulin against the virus, and then do an analysis.
Prevention of tick-borne encephalitis is carried out in two directions: vaccination (specific prevention against tick-borne encephalitis) and preventive measures (non-specific). Emergency prophylaxis against tick encephalitis virus is immunoglobulin, which is administered within 3 days after the bite. Immunoglobulin is also administered to unvaccinated persons in dangerous (endemic) areas. The protective effect lasts about 4 weeks; if the danger remains, immunoglobulin can be re-administered.
Tick control
With the onset of the tick season, the question of treating forests against ticks arises. It is widely believed that the number of ticks has increased due to the fact that forests are no longer treated for ticks. But mass treatment with acaricides can do more harm than good. There are currently no drugs that selectively kill only ticks. Previously used DDT has a long decay period and can accumulate in the soil. Many organophosphate insecticides are toxic to humans. The best way to control ticks is to use pyrethroids. They are low toxic to humans and most animals, kill ticks effectively, and disintegrate quickly. All this is done with repellents, acaricides, and preparations selected for treating the area against ticks.
When going to the dacha, you want to relax in peace, and not wear an anti-encephalitis suit. Everyone has the power to significantly reduce the number of ticks in their area. To do this you need:
— Regularly mow lawns, remove plant debris, and rake fallen leaves. There should be no cluttered areas on the site. Around the site it is necessary to make a barrier in the form of a strip of gravel or sawdust not wide less than a meter.
— Fight against mice - rodents are the main feeder of ixodid tick larvae; in addition, ticks receive the tick-borne encephalitis virus from them.
To do this, you need to reduce the number of shelters. Do not leave leftover food on the site. Use traps and poisoned bait. (Poisoned baits and traps must be used carefully in accordance with the instructions. Remember their potential danger to children and animals).
Conclusion
It's amazing how much trouble one thing can cause for people and animals. little creature. Take care of yourself and your loved ones!
Ticks have a bad reputation. There are a number of facts in the life of these bloodsuckers that cause fear of these unusual creatures of nature.
Ruthless relatives
Ticks belong to the subclass of arthropods. The closest relatives of these creatures are spiders. From them, ticks inherited a ruthless and extremely aggressive character. When there is not enough food, they attack their fellow creatures, rip open their bellies and drink all the blood.
Bloodsuckers are everywhere
In total, there are more than 50 thousand species of ticks on Earth. The smallest mites live right on your pillow. Here they feel great, eat well, reproduce constantly and leave behind clouds of excrement. We are talking about Dermatophagoides dust mites. The maximum size of a dust mite is 0.5 mm. This “beast” feeds on dead particles of the epidermis.
Dust mites and bronchial asthma
A dust mite lives for 3-4 months, producing an entire army of offspring during this time. The female lays 60 eggs at a time, which very quickly turn into adults. You can easily find more than 6 million of these mites in a bed!
Dust mites leave behind feces rich in Der f1 and Der p1 proteins. These are the most natural digestive enzymes that dissolve small particles of our exfoliated skin. Because of these proteins, such a severe allergic disease as bronchial asthma occurs. The disease is chronic. A complete cure is impossible.
Carefully! Tick-borne Encephalitis
One of the most dangerous are encephalitis ticks. They live in wooded areas, but also move well on grass. The greatest threat is posed by the taiga tick, which belongs to the ixodid subspecies. It suffers from encephalitis, borreliosis, rickettsiosis and a number of other serious illnesses. A person can die from many of them if measures are not taken in time. Thus, a person suffering from encephalitis risks remaining paralyzed forever. It is necessary to carefully protect against ticks through vaccination and additional safety measures.
Fertile and bloodthirsty
Ixodid ticks reproduce at a fantastic rate. Females are capable of growing up to 36 mm. Each lays 20 thousand eggs at one time!
Ticks are also known for their bloodthirstiness. For example, in one go, a dog tick sucks two hundred times more blood than it weighs. The bull tick is even more - ten thousand times.
Terribly tenacious
Ticks are adapted to any adverse conditions and are very tenacious. If scorpions are able to survive without food for two years, then to ticks even ten years will not seem like a long time.
Thanks to the Haller's organ donated by the generous Mother Nature (a very important organ of smell that serves to find the owner), the arthropod can easily sense the presence of a warm-blooded animal nearby. Ticks perfectly sense the slightest changes in humidity and ambient temperature.
Ticks sneak up on a person completely unnoticed and inject an anesthetic substance upon bite in order to disguise their presence on his body. Sometimes it is possible to detect a tick only when it is too late.
1. Ticks are not the most exciting object of study.
Interest in them is caused by fear for the health of people and animals. But scientists are people of a special mindset; they enthusiastically study everything and everyone on the planet. There is an entire branch of zoology that studies ticks. It's called acarology. The number of species of the most numerous group of the arachnid class exceeded 50 thousand.
2. Ticks are not insects, as many people think. Due to their small size and external similarity, ticks are mistakenly classified as insects. In fact, they belong to the class of arachnids.
3. Ticks constitute the largest subclass of arthropods, with more than 48,000 species described.
4. Among the unimaginable variety of arthropods, mites occupy a special place. Their body has a solid structure without division into the chest and abdomen. The main difference between species is the number of limbs; insects have 3 pairs of legs. And ticks have 8 legs or 4 pairs. These creatures also differ from others in their segmented limbs, features of the oral apparatus, life cycle and habitat.
5. Taxonomists have identified and described about 55,000 species of ticks. But science does not stand still; every year researchers discover new organisms. Many representatives of the subfamily are fairly harmless soil or aquatic inhabitants, but there is also a large group of chelicerate pests.
6. Ticks (Acari) belong to the phylum arthropods. Like other members of the group, they have a chitin-containing cuticle (body membrane). The main feature of this type is paired limbs consisting of several segments.
8. Saprophages - feed on organic debris. Most representatives of this group live in the soil and forest floor, for example, oribatid mites.
9. Phytophages are creatures that live and feed on plants. They are often pests, a prime example being the spider mite.
10. Predators are individuals that hunt prey. What do predatory mites eat? Their diet includes small insects, worms, nematodes and their own relatives. People grow and use the arachnid predators Phytoseiulus and Amblyseius to destroy pests.
Ixodid ticks
11. Of the total number of existing groups of ticks, only a small part poses a direct threat to human life and health. These are ixodid and argasid species.
13. Ixodids are quite large individuals - the female is 3-4 millimeters, the male is 2-2.5 millimeters. On the back of the imago ( adult) there is a dense scute; in the male it covers the entire back, and in the female only one third. The color of the head, legs and body is dark, from brown to black. When saturated with blood, the female increases significantly in size (up to 100 times) and changes color to gray.
Argas mite
14. Ticks reproduce in a unique way. Males fertilize females who feed on the animals' bodies. Bloodsuckers hold the record for the number of eggs they lay. One female leaves up to 17 thousand eggs in the ground. It is good that only a small part of the offspring survives. After birth, the larva feeds once, choosing a rodent as its host.
15.After molting, she becomes a nymph. To transform into an adult, one more feed is needed. In total, ixodid ticks suck blood three times in their life. Most species change hosts, the last being a large animal or human.
Reproduction and development of ticks
16.On the territory of Russia, two types of blood-sucking ticks are considered the most dangerous - the taiga tick and the dog tick.
Water mite
19. The primary larva has 6 legs, swimming with their help, it finds a victim - a bivalve mollusk, and settles in the gills.
20.After feeding, she molts, turns into 8-legged and goes off to swim freely. Having found another mollusk, the secondary larva again attaches to the gills, and a few days after molting it turns into a sexually mature individual.
21. Among blood-sucking ticks, as a rule, only females stick for a long time. They feed for 6-7 days and then go off to lay eggs in secluded place. Males practically do not eat, but they also stick to the skin in search of a female.
22. Ticks are most active before rain and in cool weather.
23. Contrary to very popular belief, ticks rarely fall from trees. Most species live in soil, leaf litter or grass.
24. Ixodid ticks are considered the most dangerous; in addition to the fact that they feed on blood, these small animals are carriers of dangerous diseases in animals and humans (pyroplasmosis, anaplasmosis, encephalitis).
26. Often found in animals skin diseases caused by microscopic mites, the disease is called differently depending on the type (demodectic mange, sarcoptic mange, cheyletiosis, etc.).
27. 97% of the human population are considered carriers of demodex. This interesting fact has been confirmed by clinical studies.
28. With a tick bite, saliva with special substances that have anesthetic properties enters the wound and prevents blood clotting.
29. An adult ixodid bloodsucker can live for 2 years without food.
30. A tick that lives in the Kingdom of Cambodia has hind legs that resemble the structure of a flea's limbs. With these long legs he is capable of jumping high, for which the local population calls him “kadot-khai”, which means “jumping egg” in Khmer.
32. Science knows more than 200 species of ticks that prefer to feed on the blood of reptiles.
33. Ticks are one of the most tenacious organisms on earth. They survive in a vacuum and under the beam of an electron microscope, at least the mite Haemaphysalis flava definitely does.
34. Before sucking, ticks can crawl over the victim’s body for up to 40 minutes, choosing the most suitable place.
Tick attack on a person
36. Having analyzed data from Rospotrebnadzor over the past 5 years, it becomes obvious that every year about 500,000 Russians visit medical institutions with complaints of tick bites.
37. From 23 to 37 Russians die every year after contracting tick-borne infections.
38. Scabies, demodexes and ear mites, which spend their entire lives on the host, multiply constantly. Their fertility is much more modest than that of large ticks: the female lays up to 30 eggs in several stages. This low reproductive rate is explained by comfortable conditions and high speed development.
39. In red beetle populations, females predominate, since these insects can reproduce parthenogenetically. That is, the female makes clutches from unfertilized eggs, as a result the new generation may also consist of females. But as soon as the surrounding conditions change not in better side, red beetles find a male and begin sexual reproduction.
40. This interesting evolutionary mechanism allows one to maintain useful traits under favorable conditions and acquire new traits under unfavorable conditions.
Grasshopper tick
41. Haymaking ticks. Members of this family are distinguished by their relatively large sizes of 1-2.5 millimeters and long, thin legs. Their habitat is forest and field. Representatives of the species are predators, in some cases feeding on plant pollen and fungal spores.
43. These are scabies itch, demodex, chicken feather mite. During the day their activity is weak, but at night they move vigorously, feed and begin to reproduce. It is this fact that explains the repeated increase in itching during scabies at night.
44.Dust moths camouflage themselves in dust, which they eat. Bed mites They live next to the sleeping area of humans and four-legged pets, as well as directly on linen, in mattresses and pillows. Their feces contain a special substance that irritates human skin, provokes itching, and therefore increased separation of the epithelium.
45.Plant pests usually settle under leaf blade or hide in an unopened bud. They also set up breeding grounds there. Because of the cobwebs that cover the plant affected by the pest, it is very difficult to see not only the eggs, but also the adults.
Dog tick
47. Taiga and dog ticks do not attach immediately. They can wait several hours until the victim falls asleep in order to calmly choose a sweet spot. In addition, they mask the moment of suction with the help of special anesthetics released into the skin along with saliva.
49. The smallest tick measuring 0.08 millimeters is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
50. Carriers of dangerous diseases have many natural enemies. Birds that eat insects are not averse to snacking on arachnids. Frogs and lizards also eat them with pleasure. Natural enemies of ticks are red forest ants and ground beetles. IN natural ecosystem ants control the dynamics of increasing the number of bloodsucking ants. Formic acid has a detrimental effect on ticks. Ground beetles are polyphagous predators; they hunt small insects, but they also eat arthropods with pleasure.
Perhaps we should start with the fact that ticks are not insects, as many people believe, but arachnids. They constitute the largest subclass of arthropods, with more than 48,000 species described.
The length of ticks is usually small, from 0.2 to 5 mm. The body can be whole or divided into two parts (abdomen and cephalothorax). By type of feeding, most ticks are saprophages or predators, but there are also species in which omovampyrism occurs, when hungry ticks attack their well-fed relatives.
Tiny Reds spider mites feed on plant juices. When there is a mass infection, a cobweb stretches between the mites, for which they got their name.
Science knows more than 200 species of ticks that prefer to feed on the blood of reptiles.
The smallest tick measures 0.08 mm. The largest are ixodid ticks. Once saturated with blood, some individuals reach a length of 3 cm.
Ticks are most active before rain and in cool weather.
Ticks are one of the most resilient organisms on earth. They survive in a vacuum and under the beam of an electron microscope, at least the mite Haemaphysalis flava definitely does.
Contrary to very popular belief, ticks rarely fall from trees. Most species live in soil, leaf litter or grass.
Before attaching themselves, ticks can crawl over the victim’s body for up to 40 minutes, choosing the most suitable place.
Among blood-sucking ticks, as a rule, only females stick for a long time. They feed for 6-7 days and then leave to lay eggs in a secluded place. Males practically do not eat, but they also stick to the skin in search of a female.
Microscopic mites can be found in almost any bed, pillows, blanket or mattress. It is almost impossible to remove uninvited guests on your own, so the only way to get rid of them is to contact the Disinfection Center, a service specializing in the destruction of ticks, insects, fungus, rodents and other nasty things.
Ixodid ticks are considered the most dangerous, in addition to the fact that they feed on blood, these small animals are carriers of dangerous diseases in animals and humans (pyroplasmosis, anaplasmosis, encephalitis).
Animals often have skin diseases caused by microscopic mites; depending on the type, the disease is called differently (demodectic mange, sarcoptic mange, cheyletiosis, etc.).
With a tick bite, saliva containing special substances enters the wound, which have anesthetic properties and prevent blood clotting.