From left to right: lone star tick, deer tick, American dog tick.

Ticks are generally despised by most people, perhaps because of their intimately vampiric lifestyle or their potential to transmit disease-causing pathogens. When ticks become a nuisance in patios and backyards or even in buildings, pest management professionals (PMPs) may be called to deal with the problem. Three female adult ticks commonly found in the eastern and Midwestern United States. From left to right: lone star tick, deer tick, American dog tick.

Tick Biology

Ticks are not insects but arachnids, grouped in the same subclass as mites (Acari). Just like mites, ticks have four life stages (egg, larva, nymph and adult), and larvae have three pairs of legs while nymphs and adults have four pairs, but ticks are much larger than mites. Ticks have two body parts: the idiosoma, the main body part that includes the organs and legs, and the capitulum, or mouthparts. In most tick species, all life stages bloodfeed, and a blood meal is required for the female to produce an egg batch.

There are soft ticks and hard ticks. Hard ticks get their name because of the shield-like structure (scutum) on the backside of the idiosoma. The scutum entirely covers the back of the immature stages and the adult male, while on females it covers the front portion of the back. Soft ticks do not have a scutum. A hard tick’s mouthparts can be seen projecting forward, but the soft tick’s mouthparts are partially or completely hidden underneath the body.

Tick life cycles are classified by whether molting occurs on the host after feeding. If molting through all stages occurs on the same individual host, the tick is a one-host tick. In the United States, most hard ticks are three-host ticks whereby each stage feeds, drops off, and molts in the environment, requiring a different individual host for each stage. Soft ticks are usually termed as “multi-host ticks” due to numerous feedings as nymphs or adults. Life cycle length varies among species— and even within species — because of climate and other factors.

Where to Find Ticks

Ticks spend the majority of their lives in the environment. Off-host ticks depend on refuges that provide suitable and stable ranges in temperature and humidity, such as under leaves or rocks, inside rodent burrows or within crevices. The engorged female tick also seeks these refuges to lay her batch of eggs. Some soft tick females can oviposit several times, interspersing each event with a blood meal. But most hard tick females engorge once, drop off the host, oviposit and die.

Most ticks are usually active in the spring and summer months in the northern United States, but in the warmer parts of the country, some species may be active all year. When unfed ticks seek a host, the behavior is called questing. The tick will climb onto a vertical surface, such as a blade of grass, extend its first pair of legs and wait for a host to brush past. Once on a host, the tick finds a suitable site to attach and feed.

For most of the commonly encountered tick species, tick larvae feed on small vertebrates (rodents, birds) and adults seek medium to large-sized vertebrates (ungulates).

Some soft ticks also quest, but most use a feed-and-hide behavior similar to that used by bed bugs and kissing bugs. Most soft ticks are associated with arid habitats or roosting animals and this feeding strategy may be more advantageous in these situations. The ticks hide in crevices, cracks and other protected nooks in the host’s dwelling. While the host rests, the ticks emerge, crawl onto the host, quickly feed and return to their shelter.

Though ticks mostly cause problems outdoors, there are a few tick species that can live in buildings — the common thread among these ticks is that their hosts also inhabit the structure.

Nuisance Ticks

The bat tick (Carios kelleyi) is a soft tick associated with bats throughout parts of North America. The ticks hide in cracks and crevices and feed intermittently on roosting bats within caves as well as in human-built structures. These ticks become a nuisance when their hosts leave or are removed from a house, leaving hungry ticks to wander into other parts of the building in search of a blood meal. A similar problem is observed with Ornithodoros hermsi, a soft tick found in the higher elevations of western North America that feeds on rodents and birds. When the tick hosts leave or die within cabins or similar structures, O. hermsi will feed on people.

Another tick that can inhabit buildings is the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus, a.k.a. the kennel tick). This three-host hard tick is a nuisance to humans and can transmit serious diseases to its principal host, the dog. Once established, it can be a pest of houses, apartments, kennels, veterinary clinics, zoos and other buildings.

Eggs and engorged ticks can be found in cracks and crevices in masonry, building walls or ceilings. Questing ticks are found along baseboards, window casings and curtains, bookcases, inside upholstered furniture and under edges of rugs, draperies and carpeting. If a host is not found, these ticks can survive a long time without a meal — unfed adults can survive about 200 days without a host.

Most tick infestation problems that a PMP will need to deal with will be in backyards, acreages and other outdoor areas. As long as ticks can survive the local climate and find shelter and hosts, they can establish in the peridomestic habitat.

The spinose ear tick (Otobius megnini) is a one-host soft tick found in some parts of the southern and western United States. It primarily infests the external ear canal of wild and domesticated hoofstock, but can infest humans, cats and dogs as well. Off-host stages are usually found under rocks and other refuges. Another soft tick, the pajaroello tick (Ornithodoros coriaceus), is found in hillside scrub oak habitats from Mexico to southern Oregon. The tick is associated with the bedding areas of deer, cattle and other large mammals, and will feed on humans that rest near these areas.

From left to right: lone star tick, deer tick, American dog tick.

The American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) is found throughout most the United States, except for some areas in the Rocky Mountain region. This hard tick is commonly encountered along roads, paths, trails, in forests and on grass and other low vegetation. Its close relative, the Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni), is found in mountainous areas of the western United Sates.

The deer tick or blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) is found throughout eastern and midwestern U.S. forests and woodlots. It may well be the most commonly encountered tick in some parts of the northeast and upper Midwest. Adults principally feed on deer, and local tick density is correlated with deer numbers. The tick is the vector for the agents that cause Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis and human babesiosis. The western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) is the primary vector of Lyme disease and human granulocytic anaplasmosis in the West Coast.

The lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) is also a forest-associated tick species. This tick is common in the Gulf Coast states. Its distribution stretches from the Gulf Coast and north along the eastern seaboard and the southern portion of the Midwest. The tick has a wide host range, and once locally established, it can become abundant. This tick can transmit the agents of tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, and Southern-tick-associated-rash-illness (STARI), which has similar initial clinical signs as Lyme disease.

Its relative, the Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum), is found in the Gulf Coast, Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas. Adult ticks principally feed on cattle, but may attach to humans and dogs.

Tick Control Methods

Tick avoidance and control require an integrated approach in which ticks are considered along with their requirements for life — hosts and shelter. If the goal is to reduce an individual’s risk of being bitten, several measures can be taken.

Avoid tick-infested areas, particularly during those times of the year when ticks are most active. Consider creating barriers, both physical and chemical, against tick attachment. Encouraging the use of long-sleeved shirts and pants, as well as using DEET, picaridin, IR3535 or treating clothes with permethrin, would fall into this barrier-creating strategy.

PMPs are most likely to be consulted when ticks are a problem within or around homes, businesses and other facilities. Tick control at this level begins by identifying where the problem is occurring, whether inside a structure or outdoors. Controlling indoor tick problems focuses on preventing ticks from feeding on hosts and killing off-host ticks to prevent future re-infestation.

To get rid of bat ticks, for example, a residual insecticide should be used in tick hiding places, and bats need to be professionally removed and prevented from entering the affected building in the future. Likewise, control of brown dog ticks requires that dogs no longer be a meal for ticks by using canine acaricidal products, coupled with residual acaricide applications that eliminate off-host ticks.

Several products are labeled to deal with ticks indoors, most of these being either pyrethrins or the longer-lasting pyrethroids (beta-cyfluthrin, bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin,
permethrin, tau-fluvalinate, tetramethrin, phenothrin, tralomethrin).

Control of outdoor ticks is typically more difficult and expensive than dealing with indoor infestations. Complete eradication is likely not feasible, but a substantial reduction is a realistic goal.

In the outdoor environment, area-wide applications of pyrethrins and pyrethroids (bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, esfenvalerate, lambda-cyhalothrin, permethrin, tralomethrin) can be used. Regrettably, because of DDT’s history, many in the general public perceive area-wide applications with insecticides to pose a threat to their health and the environment, even in the face of potentially acquiring a tick-borne disease. Pyrethrins may be coupled with piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and with either insecticidal soap or diatomaceous earth to increase their efficacy and reduce non-target toxicity. If used by themselves, biological agents (parasitoid wasps, bacterial and fungal agents, tick predators) may decrease tick numbers, but not to a level that is likely amenable to the client.

Combining several acaricidal, biological, host-based and environmental strategies may prove the difference in reducing tick numbers in the outdoor habitat.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Due to a significant increase in adverse incidents, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking a series of actions to increase the safety of spot-on pesticide products for flea and tick control for cats and dogs.

Immediately, EPA will begin reviewing labels to determine which ones need stronger and clearer labeling statements. Next, EPA will develop more stringent testing and evaluation requirements for both existing and new products. EPA expects these steps will help prevent adverse reactions. In dogs and cats that can include skin effects, such as irritation, redness, or gastrointestinal problems that include vomiting or diarrhea, or effects to the nervous system, such as trembling, appearing depressed or seizures—from pet spot-on products.

“EPA is committed to better protecting the health and safety of pets and families in all communities across our nation,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. “New restrictions will be placed on these products, and pet owners need to carefully read and follow all labeling before exposing your pet to a pesticide.”

Following the 2008 increase in incident reports, EPA received additional information from the pet spot-on pesticide registrants and others and began an intensive evaluation of these products. Today, EPA is reporting the results of this evaluation, and taking steps to address the spike in reported incidents.

Among immediate actions that EPA will pursue are:

• Requiring manufacturers of spot-on pesticide products to improve labeling, making instructions clearer to prevent product misuse.
• Requiring more precise label instructions to ensure proper dosage per pet weight.
• Requiring clear markings to differentiate between dog and cat products, and disallowing similar brand names for dog and cat products. Similar names may have led to misuse.
• Requiring additional changes for specific products, as needed, based on product-specific evaluations.
• When new products are registered, granting only conditional, time-limited registrations to allow for post-marketing product surveillance. If there are incidents of concern associated with the product, EPA will take appropriate regulatory action.
• Restricting the use of certain inert ingredients that EPA finds may contribute to the incidents.
• Launching a consumer information campaign to explain new label directions and to help users avoid making medication errors.

In addition, to improve the regulatory oversight of pet products, EPA will require more standardized post-market surveillance reporting on adverse effects, require submission of more sales information so the agency can better evaluate incident rates, and bring up-to-date the scientific data requirements on pre- and post-market testing so they are more in line with the Food and Drug Administration’s requirements.

Flea and tick products can be appropriate treatments for protecting pets and public health because fleas and ticks can transmit disease to animals and humans. While most people use the products with no harm to their pets, the agency’s analysis determined that smaller dogs tend to be disproportionately affected by some products and that the exposure of cats to some dog products is a concern.

People should carefully follow label directions and monitor their pets for any signs of an adverse reaction after application, particularly when using these products for the first time.

EPA recommends that owners consult a veterinarian about the best way to protect their pets from fleas and ticks or whether pesticides are needed, especially before using any product on weak, aged, medicated, sick, pregnant or nursing pets, or on pets that have previously shown signs of sensitivity to pesticide products.

EPA is coordinating these actions with Health Canada as Canada also identified similar concerns about the use of spot-on flea and tick products last year, and with the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.

The EPA’s report on the evaluation of products and incidents is available at: epa.gov/pesticides/health/petproductseval.html. For additional information, visit epa.gov/pesticides/health/pets.htm.

SHS Pest Control provide pest extermination and management services in Rhode Island and SE Massachusetts. Servicing both residential and commercial properties. Please review the contents of our Pest Facts Blog for information on common pests in the New England area. We offer seasonal prevention plans, year round protection plans, emergency services or pest control services when needed. Our preventative and protection plans are backed by our “Lifetime Warranty Program”.

Our pest control technicians are licensed, insured and trained in the most advanced methods of Integrated Pest Management Technology. We are Green Pro Certified, offering green and organic treatments. Our work is Guaranteed to done right the first time or we will do it over at NO additional charge.

If you are experiencing a pest control problem don’t hesitate to contact us.
Email The Bug People or Phone 401 849 0068.

We will also inspect and install a monitoring system for termites which will allow us to detect termites in or around your home before they can do structural damage. As always web dusting is included.

This is a great plan for the homeowner who wants to be proactive and stay one step ahead of the pests.