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ARS Home » Plains Area » Kerrville, Texas » Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory » Cattle Fever Tick Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #409034
Research Project: Integrated Pest Management of Cattle Fever Ticks

Location: Cattle Fever Tick Research Unit

Title: Mechanical devices for census and detection of off-host larval ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) with emphasis on the cattle fever tick

Author
item Thomas, Donald
item GAFF, HOLLY - Old Dominion University
item LEAL GALVAN, BRENDA - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Subtropical Agriculture and Environments
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/19/2023
Publication Date: 12/12/2023
Citation: Thomas, D.B., Gaff, H., Leal Galvan, B. 2023. Mechanical devices for census and detection of off-host larval ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) with emphasis on the cattle fever tick. Subtropical Agriculture and Environments. 74:13-20.2023.

Interpretive Summary: Standard off-host tick census techniques are generally inefficient for larval stages. Also, such techniques expose the investigator to environmental hazards including tick bites. Mechanical devices are an option which were tested under field conditions for proof of concept and in side-by-side comparison to the standard techniques. The tick-vac collected more ticks than the legging technique, but with lower frequency of positive detections. It may have utility for sampling small areas, such as weedy corrals suspected of harboring ticks. Different configurations of tick-bots, robotic vehicles with flags, depended on intensive operator control to avoid obstacles, limiting operation to line of sight. The use of a robot to disrupt clusters of questing larvae was not successful under the conditions of the trial.

Technical Abstract: Standard off-host tick census techniques are generally inefficient for larval stages. Also, such techniques expose the investigator to environmental hazards including tick bites. Mechanical devices are an option which were tested under field conditions for proof of concept and in side-by-side comparison to the standard techniques. The tick-vac collected more ticks than the legging technique, but with lower frequency of positive detections. It may have utility for sampling small areas, such as weedy corrals suspected of harboring ticks. Different configurations of tick-bots, robotic vehicles with flags, depended on intensive operator control to avoid obstacles, limiting operation to line of sight. The use of a robot to disrupt clusters of questing larvae was not successful under the conditions of the trial.