All the latest news stories from Tick Encounter Resource Center surrounding ticks and tick-borne diseases.
News
|| FAQ
|| Events
|| Current Tick Activity
All’s Quiet ... except for the larvae!!
Date: 9.14.2009
September is typically one of the quietest months (in warm weather) for human tick encounters. That is, except for the nearly microscopic larval stages of deer ticks and Lone Star ticks (sometimes called seed ticks). Billions of these tiny bloodsuckers are actively host seeking and feeding now. While larvae hatch from eggs pathogen-free, they can become infected with disease causing agents (like the ones causing Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis) if they take their blood meal from a pathogen-infected animal. Once infected, they can carry the pathogens through the winter (and their transformation into nymphs) until they emerge as infected nymphs next spring. Don’t be caught off guard -- You can plan your Spring 2010 tick control actions now!
6 Useful Facts To Know About Larval Ticks:
Be sure to check out the new tick identification chart for seasonal tick activity in your region.
Go to Tick Identification
Current Tick Activity in the Northeast United States
September update: Lone Star Tick Larva, also known as Seed Ticks, are beginning to emerge this month. Deer Tick Larvae are feeding on rodents. Rodents carry disease causing pathogens. By the beginning of September, there will be billions of these Deer Tick Larvae getting ready to molt into Nymphs! Watch a short video about this process on YouTube.
Are you concerned about the serious health threat caused by ticks?
Would you like to make appropriate tick-borne diseases prevention programming more widely available? If you answered yes to these questions, please consider supporting the Tick Encounter Resource Center at the University of Rhode Island. Proceeds help support tick-bite prevention programs.