The Electrifying Attraction of Ticks to Hosts
Researchers at the University of Bristol have discovered that ticks are attracted to hosts through the static electricity that their hosts naturally accumulate. This mechanism allows ticks to find and attach to hosts that are beyond the reach of their tiny legs, increasing their efficiency at parasitizing. The study suggests that static electricity may be a universal mechanism for animals to make contact and attach onto each other. The findings have implications for understanding host-parasite interactions and could lead to the development of new technologies to minimize tick bites in humans and animals.