White and Gaff examined existing research on these tick-management methods as well as several others: habitat modification, controlled burns, broadcast acaricides, deer removal, deer fences and even a semi-autonomous robot known as “TickBot” that lures ticks toward acaricide as it patrols a prescribed path. A device known as the “4-poster” works similar to the rodent bait box, attracting deer with food placed in the center of four posts with rollers laden with acaricide that the deer rub against while feeding.
Lone star ticks, meanwhile, commonly feed on larger animals such as deer. Both are tailored well to blacklegged ticks and American dog ticks, which commonly feed on rodents. For instance, bait boxes attract rodents and bring them into contact with acaricide (a tick-targeted pesticide), while tick tubes provide acaricide-laden nesting material for rodents.
Host-targeted methods aim to reduce the tick population via the animals that ticks feed on. “For example, lone star ticks are not known to feed on rodents, so bait boxes and tick tubes would not be an effective control measure for this species.” “Most of the host-targeted methods…are tailored more toward one or two specific species of ticks because of tick-host preferences,” says White. To a casual observer, a tick is a tick, but entomologists and public health professionals know different tick species behave in different ways. No single method works perfectly, and one simple factor plays a key role in how well any particular tick-management method might work: Which tick species is it best suited for?Īs part of a new special collection on Integrated Tick Management in the open-access Journal of Integrated Pest Management, Alexis White and Holly Gaff, Ph.D., of Old Dominion University have written a guide to tick control technologies that delineates their varying levels of effectiveness against the three dominant disease-carrying tick species in the eastern half of the United States: the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) and the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis). Using repellent and conducting frequent tick checks, especially after venturing into wooded or brushy areas, will help in avoiding ticks of all varieties.īut, for managing ticks more broadly, such as in yards and park spaces or at the community or regional level, the problem gets more complicated.
In any part of the United States where ticks are present, awareness and personal protection are the first steps to avoiding tick bites and the potential disease pathogens they transmit.
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