Ticks
TICKS - Some of their more common names are wood ticks, brown ticks, seed ticks, and dog ticks. Ticks are blood sucking parasites of animals and birds and they can also feed on humans. Diseases known to be transmitted by ticks are Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Tick paralysis, and Relapsing Fevers to name but a few. They tend to be in wooded areas, nests, animal burrows, but they will infest homes and yards if introduced or nearby.
BIOLOGY- Ticks belong to the order Acarina. They have 4 different stages of development: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. This development can take years to complete. Some ticks are long lived, possibly many years. Hard ticks lay an egg mass on the ground, sometimes numbering in the thousands, whereas the soft tick will lay multiple batches of eggs numbering 20-50 eggs after blood meals. The larvae are referred to as seed ticks and they possess 6 legs. Ticks are different from other insects in 3 ways: the head, thorax, and abdomen are fused into one body region; they have no antennae; and in the nymph and adult stages they have 4 pairs of legs (larvae have 3 pairs). There are two main groups of ticks: the hard tick and the soft tick. The hard tick is like it says that it has a hard shell called a dorsal shield or scutum covering its body, whereas the soft tick does not and it will get very big and plump when it is engorged on blood. Soft ticks are mainly pests of birds whereas hard ticks are much more abundant and transmit more of the diseases accordingly.
CONTROL - To survey an area for ticks you can use the tick drag method. Simply take a white piece of cloth and drag it behind you as you walk through the suspected area, then look at it for ticks. You can also collect them off of it for identification if needed. To protect yourself you can use repellents, stay out of known infested areas, tuck pants into your socks when walking, and check yourself over every few minutes to remove them before they become attached. To remove ticks simply grasp it as close to the skin as possible and gently pull while slightly increasing the pull till it lets go. You do this to help prevent the head from coming off in the wound which can cause an infection. Then dispose of it, sanitize the bite and wash your hands. If you feel ill after a tick bite see a doctor. For outdoor treatments, first try to remove any ground cover that could be making your area favorable for ticks, then you can use granular insecticides to treat the yard such as Talstar EZ or PL Granular Insecticide. You can also use liquid concentrate residuals to spray the yard such as Onslaught and Demand which are microencapsulated for extra long residual, also Suspend SC, Talstar Pro, and Evercide or Conquer are good choices too. Just do not forget to treat all cracks and crevices in any concrete, structure, and to spray up a couple of feet onto vegetation because ticks will climb onto vegetation and wait to latch onto a host. So if you choose to use a granule then also treat these additional areas with a liquid too. To treat the inside you can use residual liquid insecticides such as Onslaught and Evercide to treat flooring and upholstered furniture if the infestation is severe, if not then just spot treat around edges and cracks and crevices. There are also aerosols such as Precor 2000 and Ultracide that have a special nozzle to treat the flooring and furniture. You can also use environmentally friendly and safer pesticides such as EcoPCO WP-X and EcoEXEMPT Granules for the outside. For the pet we offer Petcor, a spray that contains an adulticide and Precor for long lasting control of fleas, ticks, lice, and mosquitoes for up to 63 days. This spray is good for dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens.
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