Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
DOI
10.1016/j.ttbdis.2025.102577
Publication Title
Ticks and Tick Borne Diseases
Volume
16
Issue
6
Pages
102577
Abstract
Amblyomma maculatum Koch (Acari: Ixodidae), Ixodes scapularis Say, and Dermacentor variabilis Say are three hard-bodied ticks responsible for vectoring pathogens that cause most human tick-borne diseases in the United States of America (USA). Tick surveillance is critical to elucidate high-risk areas for targeted vector control and public health interventions. Despite tick-borne diseases having a higher annual incidence compared to mosquito-borne diseases in the USA, tick traps used for surveillance are grossly under-developed compared to the suite of sophisticated mosquito traps available on the commercial market. This study sought to identify potential prospective tick trap improvements by evaluating the relative attraction of three medically important tick species to odor attractants in a laboratory setting: carbon dioxide, ammonia, deer musk, and rodent musk. This study found that carbon dioxide gas and rodent musk had limited attraction to all three tick species and across life stages. Conversely, this study did find that deer musk and ammonia demonstrated favorable attraction for I. scapularis and D. variabilis across multiple life stages, suggesting standard tick trap techniques might be improved using low-cost and practical alternate attractants. Future field-based studies of these odor attractants, both singularly and in combination with the standard dry ice, are warranted to evaluate potential increased efficacy for broad tick species vector surveillance methods.
Rights
© 2025 The Authors.
This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.
Data Availability
Article states: "Data will be made available on request."
Original Publication Citation
Kelman, P., Chavers, T., Owens Pickle, E., Sonenshine, D., Nolan, M. S., & Gaff, H. (2025). Tick responses to diverse chemical attractants to enhance tick surveillance methods' efficacy. Ticks and Tick Borne Diseases, 16(6), Article 102577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2025.102577
Repository Citation
Kelman, Pamela; Chavers, Tyler; Pickle, Emily Owens; Sonenshine, Daniel; Nolan, Melissa S.; and Gaff, Holly, "Tick Responses to Diverse Chemical Attractants to Enhance Tick Surveillance Methods' Efficacy" (2025). Biological Sciences Faculty Publications. 674.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/biology_fac_pubs/674
ORCID
0009-0002-4144-1665 (Kelman), 0000-0001-9370-918X (Sonenshine), 0000-0002-4034-2684 (Gaff)
Supplementary Materials