Josek et al.
Fatal attraction: lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) exhibit preference for human female breath over male breath.
Exp. Appl. Acarol. 2019, in press, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-018-00338-0
Ixodid ticks can sense carbon dioxide and ammonia, two major components in human breath. Human breath contains thousands of volatile organic compounds and the composition of breath from males and females differs greatly. The authors constructed a simple apparatus, a tube into which unfed adult female and male lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) were inserted. Female and male human volunteers were placed to the ends of the tube and were asked to breath normally. The ticks, sitting in the middle of the tube, had the choice to move to one of the two sides – attracted either by the breath from a male or a female individual. Overall, the ticks preferred the breath from a female host (42.5%) over a male host (18%) (and 39.5% did not make any choice). However, the cause for the attractiveness of female over male human breath is still unknown. Additional experiments have to be carried out to assess which aspects make a human individual more susceptible to ticks and who may be at a higher risk for exposure to a tick-borne disease.