Ticks Can’t Jump

When you find a tick on your skin or clothes… you may mentally retrace your steps, trying to figure out where you picked it up. You didn’t brush against tall grass or touch any plants, so how did it get there? Perhaps it jumped on you from a distance?

How far can ticks jump, anyway? Before anyone considers recruiting ticks for the Nets or the Knicks, let’s burst that bubble: ticks can’t jump. So how do these disease-carrying parasites find their way onto unwitting hosts?

Do Ticks Fly or Just Jump?

Ticks neither fly nor jump. They don’t have wings and their legs are made for gripping… not leaping. They are, however, prolific crawlers and rarely have trouble finding a host on which to feed.

There may be other ways that ticks can find their way onto a host though. In recent months, scientists have published some intriguing (and rather creepy) discoveries on this topic.

Why Can’t Ticks Jump?

A tick’s legs are made for gripping, not leaping. Each of its eight legs ends in a pair of curved claws which help it to grasp onto a host. Between these claws is a sticky pad that facilitates the tick’s natural instinct to crawl upward and latch onto its next blood meal.

The process by which a tick finds a host is called “questing.” A hungry tick crawls up a plant or other surface and waits for a suitable host to happen by. They are wired to sense movement, body heat, scent, moisture, and expelled carbon dioxide.

Once a potential host is detected, the tick stretches out and waves their first pair of legs to make contact with the host. When contact is made, they crawl upwards to a suitable spot where they latch on and start feeding.

Is There a Tick That Can Fly?

No tick species has the innate ability to fly, but recent research suggests that ticks may be able to soar short distances thanks to static electricity. Movement of a human or animal causes friction, which in turn creates a positive or negative electrical charge. This charge can be strong enough to lift a tick off its perch and propel it toward the potential host.

Typically, a positively charged entity is attracted to a negatively charged one and repelled by another positively charged one. A negatively charged entity is attracted to a positively charged one and repelled by one with a negative charge.

In the tick study, however, the polarity of the charge didn’t matter. The ticks were attracted to hosts of both the opposite and the same polarity. This suggests that electrostatic attraction to a host is an inborn tick ability.

East End Tick and Mosquito Control® Keeps You Safe Year-Round

East End Tick and Mosquito Control® keeps your property tick-free all year long. We spray for ticks during the months when they are active and create a wintertime tick perimeter for times when temperatures are warm enough to support tick activity.

We have been protecting Long Island families from tick threats for more than two decades. Contact us online for a free quote, or call us at (631) 289-9700 in Southampton; (631) 324-9700 in East Hampton, or (631) 765-9700 in Southold.