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Tiny, annoying, tough: 10 fascinating facts about ticks

14/6/2024

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

Hardly any other animal is as annoying and disgusting as the tick. But few are as interesting and hardy. Here are ten things about ticks that may surprise you.

I grew up in a tick hotspot. On tick bite maps of Switzerland, our area always glowed deep red. The evening tick check by our parents after we’d spent the day outside was part of everyday life when we were kids. Same with the dog, who brought home several specimens in his fur every day during the warm months.

According to Suva, there was an average of 10,000 tick bites per year from 2012 to 2016, but this figure rose to 14,000 from 2017 to 2021. However, the number of unreported cases is likely much higher: «According to my calculation, we’re looking at 100,000 to around 150,000 cases of Lyme disease per year. This would require around three to four million tick bites,» Werner Tischhauser, Vice President of the Swiss Tick League, recently told Tages-Anzeiger (page in German).

These days, the whole of Switzerland is a red tick risk area due to climate change, with the exception of the cantons Ticino and Geneva. We all live with these pesky beasts. And we know a lot about them: where they lurk, which parts of the body they prefer to bite and how we should remove them. But many people, including myself, know very little about the animal itself. I realised this when I was googling tick info recently and got stuck on a completely different question. Isn’t it crazy that the arachnid has its nose on its front leg? Then I delved even deeper into the tick rabbit hole… What can I say: as disgusting as the critter is, it’s also fascinating.

1. The tick’s nose is located on its front leg

Ticks don’t have a real nose. Instead, they have a special organ on their front leg – Haller’s organ. Once the tick has assumed its hunting position, it uses it to sniff out its surroundings. It often stretches its front legs upwards to better perceive scents. Then, it attacks its victim in a flash with the claws on its front legs. According to Zecken.de (page in German), a few fractions of a second is enough.

2. The tick anaesthetises you

The tick first tears the skin with its scissor-like mouthparts, then digs into the wound with its proboscis, a kind of piercing tool. This is why it’s technically a sting, not a bite. Ever wondered why you feel absolutely nothing? Well, the tick releases an anaesthetic with its saliva as soon as it bites. This also prevents the puncture site from becoming inflamed.

First the tick tears open your skin, then it stings the wound with its proboscis. Proceeding to gorge itself.
Source: Shutterstock/Evgeniyqw

3. A tick can survive for years without food

Once a tick has gorged on your blood, it’s taken care of. And for a long time, too. Under certain conditions, it can then survive for up to ten years without further food. However, this only applies to the so-called leather tick under laboratory conditions, as Zecken-stich.ch (page in German) clarifies. Under normal conditions in the wild, a tick can starve for about two to three years after a blood meal.

4. Ticks can survive a washing machine cycle

A tick is so tough it can survive on clothes in a washing machine, as shown in studies carried out by US insect researcher John Carroll in 2007. A large proportion of the critters he put in his washing drum even survived a 60-degree wash cycle. The only thing they didn’t survive was the tumble dryer – but only if the highest temperature setting was used.

5. Freezers do nothing to a tick

Berlin biologist Hans Dautel also carried out the washing machine stress test (article in German) and obtained a similar result to his US colleague – and he also froze ticks in a freezer compartment. The results: half of the adult ticks were still alive and well after 24 hours at a temperature of –8° Celsius. Some nymphs – i.e. young ticks – even survived at –13° Celsius. If you really want to exterminate a tick, you must freeze it for at least 24 hours at –20° Celsius.

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6. A tick will even survive being flushed down the toilet

A popular method of disposing of ticks is flushing them down the toilet. Bad idea! It’ll build a kind of air bubble around itself and can survive under water for up to two weeks, as German virologist Gerhard Dobler explains in an interview with MMW – Fortschritte der Medizin (page in German). «This way they don’t drown in the toilet and can crawl back up again.» He recommends burning the tick after removing it. Or disposing of it in a tied garbage bag or sealed jar.

7. After mating, the male tick dies

Looks like ticks are indestructible, then. No wonder even dinosaurs suffered tick bites (page in German). But there’s one thing that brings them down, at least the males: mating. After mating – the male climbs under the abdomen of the female as she sucks on a host – the male dies immediately. Meanwhile, the female continues to drink to recharge her batteries for the upcoming egg laying. In doing so, she gains up to 200 times its normal body weight. After laying her eggs, she dies too.

For mating, the male climbs under the female’s belly. Following the fun, the male dies immediately, and the female continues sucking.
Source: Shutterstock/Henrik Larsson

8. It’s always tick season

Due to milder winters, tick bites are no longer only possible in summer, but also increasingly during the winter months. The arachnids are active from 7° Celsius. The infectious disease transmitted by ticks is called tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).

9. A tick bite is legally an accident

If you experience flu-like symptoms or reddening of the skin after a tick bite, you should see a doctor immediately. This is considered an accident because, by legal definition, it’s «a sudden, unintentional harmful effect from an unusual external factor on the human body». According to Ch.ch – an information website from the federal government, cantons and communes – Switzerland is the only country in Europe where accident insurance covers tick-borne diseases.

10. Ticks hate giraffes

Ticks aren’t picky. Humans, cats, dogs, mice – they’ll claw at any mammal. The only thing they aren’t keen on is giraffes: they can’t stand them. According to research by US chemist William Wood (in German), one of the reasons giraffes emit their foul stench is to keep parasites such as ticks away.

It’d be great if we had the giraffe’s ability too, wouldn’t it? With tick sprays, we try to imitate them at least to some extent. Anyway, I covered my daughter in twice as many sprays as usual this morning before she went to her forest playgroup. Because as fascinating as ticks are, I did feel repulsed during my research and while looking at various pictures. And so, spray spray spray!

Header image: Shutterstock/Afanasiev Andrii

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Katja Fischer

Senior Editor

Katja.Fischer@digitecgalaxus.ch

Mom of Anna and Elsa, aperitif expert, group fitness fanatic, aspiring dancer and gossip lover. Often a multitasker and a person who wants it all, sometimes a chocolate chef and queen of the couch.

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Tiny, annoying, tough: 10 fascinating facts about ticks