Why do ticks attack people and drink blood, and how dangerous is it for human health? Why are ticks dangerous? Why mites are created

Every year the area of ​​distribution of ticks increases, there are more and more of them. Together with them, the number of deadly diseases transmitted to animals and humans by these dangerous predators is growing.

Today it is easy to pick up a tick in a city square or in a park, on personal plot and in the garden. Creatures in chitinous shells are increasingly squeezing the ring around a person.

You can learn about what the tick eats and its habits by reading this article.

About the types of ticks

All mites belong to the order of small arachnids, uniting about 20 thousand species. What does a tick eat besides blood? Some of the ticks below also feed on other types of food.

The largest group of soil mites are shell mites. They live in forest soils and litter. They chew on rotting plant remains with abundant microflora with their gnawing chelicerae. They carry tapeworms that infect livestock.

Small insects that gnaw with their chelicerae are barn mites (or bread and flour mites). They live in decaying plant debris and in the soil. In storage of agricultural products, they cause spoilage of flour, grain and cereals. In people working in such premises, they can cause severe skin irritation in the form of an allergic reaction. The tick feeds on insect tissue.

The best studied is a serious pest of poultry farms. What does chicken mite eat? They are active at night, when they come out of the crevices of the chicken coop and, attacking chickens, suck their blood. It also happens that when mass defeat birds die of anemia.

To learn more about what ticks eat in nature, let's get acquainted with the most dangerous ticks for humans.

Encephalitic mites

Below are the ticks that are the most aggressive.

The encephalitis tick is one of the most common and well-known. It is important to note that the encephalitic tick is not a separate breed (species) of arthropod insects. Encephalitis can infect any variety of ticks, so it is impossible to identify the signs that determine the degree of danger. But it should be remembered that such an infection can lead to death of a person.

By appearance It is impossible to determine whether an insect is encephalitic or not, therefore, when going into the forest, you should take the necessary measures to protect yourself from contact with predators.

It is the ixodid ticks that most often act as carriers of dangerous encephalitis. They also have a second name - hard mites. They owe this name to a hard chitinous coating, which is a kind of protective shell. Ixodes include both dog and taiga ticks.

The habits of forest ticks

What do ticks eat in the forest? The blood of various animals and humans.

As a rule, ticks rarely rise above a meter from the ground, and when attacking a victim, they try to move higher to the softest areas of the skin. Female ticks are more voracious, they can suck blood for 6 days without stopping, while males need 3 days to saturate.

Relatively small, their size in a state of hunger in length does not exceed 4 mm. When sucking blood in large volumes, the size can increase up to 120 times.

The bite of the tick is not felt, because the insect injects a special saliva that blocks pain in humans. In this regard, the tick can quietly feed on blood for a long time.

An excellent sense of smell helps the tick to detect the victim. In order for a predator to climb onto a person, it is enough for the latter to stop in the forest even for a couple of minutes.

About diseases carried by ticks

Knowing what the tick eats, it should be remembered that it is a carrier of various diseases.

In fact, there are many, but 2 species mainly have a real dangerous epidemiological significance: Persulcatus (or taiga tick), which lives in the European and Asian parts of Russia; Ixodes Ricinus (or European forest tick) - in the European part.

Ticks can be carriers of the following diseases:

• encephalitis;
• tick-borne typhus;
• Lyme disease (or borreliosis);
• hemorrhagic fever;
• spotted fever;
• fever Marseilles;
• babesiosis;
• tularemia;
• erlichiosis.

Many of these diseases are dangerous and not very treatable, and some show signs only 10-20 days after the bite.

Important information

After it became known what the forest tick eats and what it can lead to, you should know how to protect yourself from predatory insects, and what to do if the tick nevertheless sticks. Be sure to remember that the part that sticks into the skin (proboscis) is equipped with small "thorns". They are directed towards the back of the tick.

Therefore, if it is pulled along the axis, the "thorns" bristle and dig even harder into the skin, which can lead to the separation of its proboscis from the body of the tick, which can forever remain in the dermis.

To avoid this, the insect should be removed in a circular motion (unscrewed), and not just pulled out. In this case, the spikes on the proboscis will curl up to the axis of rotation, while the head will not come off.

If this could not be done correctly, the suction site (where the head remained) should be wiped with cotton wool moistened with alcohol, after which the head should be removed with a sterile needle as an ordinary splinter.

Conclusion

Ticks are creatures that, if necessary, can in nature for a long time (even months), and in laboratories and for years, do without food.

This is due to their inactivity and, in connection with this, a rather economical expenditure of the body's energy reserves.

Ticks in most people are associated with dangerous bites, infectious diseases and other troubles. But, like any living organism in the ecosystem of our planet, nature needs ticks. From the point of view of biological balance, these arachnids bring almost more benefits than harm.

The greatest danger to humans is ixodid ticks, which feed on blood and are carriers of dangerous diseases. At the same time, these arachnids are indispensable in the ecosystem, since they act as a regulator of natural selection. Weak animals after the bite of such a tick die, giving way to the strongest, and those, in turn, develop immunity. Thus, in nature, the numerical balance of individuals is maintained.

Here is a vivid example of how an obvious good for nature at the same time has an extremely negative effect on a person. Therefore, the question of the benefits and harms of ticks should be considered in more detail, because the answer to it is completely ambiguous.

Is there any benefit from ticks?

The concept of "benefit", of course, is inseparable from human culture, therefore, despite the biased attitude of people towards ticks, the latter provide tangible assistance in various industries.

In addition, ticks are an important link in the ecological system, helping to produce natural selection and maintain balance, and they are also part of the food chain, for example, birds and frogs eat ixodid ticks with pleasure.

What harm do they bring?

The most dangerous for both people and animals are. And in the first place among them is the taiga (encephalitic) tick, which is a carrier of encephalitis, borreliosis, ehrlichiosis and other equally dangerous diseases. Since these arthropods feed exclusively on blood, infection occurs after a bite, along with saliva, viruses and pathogens of terrible diseases enter the body of the victim.

In addition to blood-sucking arachnids, human health can be threatened by subcutaneous, scabies and other mites, which are carriers of such unpleasant diseases as scabies, dermatitis and others.

Why do we need ticks in nature? Apparently then, in order to occupy the ecological niche clearly assigned to them and fulfill their direct duties, which appeared in them in the process of evolution.

Surprising is the fact that many varieties of ticks are absolutely unpretentious to living conditions. They can settle almost everywhere, even in fresh and marine waters.

What diseases are spread by ticks?
The Sanita-S company has been fighting ticks for many years. We studied not only the behavior of these insects, but also a wide range of those infectious diseases that they can provoke:

1. Encephalitis. This is usually a neuroinfection that occurs with very serious symptoms, including the occurrence of deafness, paralysis of the limbs, convulsions, and respiratory failure. If a case of an encephalitic tick bite is diagnosed late, then a fatal outcome is also possible. The disease occurs in three main forms: febrile, meningeal, focal. The highest risk of infection is in the spring-summer period, when insect activity is quite high. It is during this period that the professional fight against ticks should be carried out at a particularly active pace.

2. Northern piroplasmosis. The disease proceeds mildly, with virtually no pronounced symptoms, but this is typical only for those people who have a properly functioning immune system. Fatalities are also not uncommon, and they are usually preceded by fever, abdominal pain, and yellowing of the skin. The main treatment is antibiotic therapy.

3. Hemorrhagic fever. This is an acute viral disease, the occurrence of which is provoked by blood-sucking mites. The infection enters the body through insect bites or through wounds on the skin. During the illness, intestinal bleeding, lesions nervous system, improper functioning of the kidneys, headaches and muscle pain. Immunoglobulins are usually used for treatment.

In fact, this is just the tip of the iceberg ... There are many more diseases caused by tick bites or interaction with these insects. Fortunately, on the territory of Russia and in particular the Moscow region, only some of them are common, but this does not mean at all that the fight against ticks is not relevant.

Company specialists "Sanita-S" tick control will be carried out using the most effective chemical and other preparations. We guarantee that after processing a land plot or a specific premises dangerous insects won't be back any time soon. But in order to protect yourself from ticks as reliably as possible, you need to periodically take preventive actions ( wet cleaning, the fight against cluttering the territory, mowing grass and weeds, timely collection of fallen leaves and its removal from the territory of the site).

There are over 50,000 varieties of ticks. They are divided into herbivorous and pathogenic. Few people know that these arthropods are not only carriers of various infections, but also pests, since they cause damage agriculture and food industry.

Most of the ticks are saprophages (predators) that benefit by destroying other pests. They also feed on soil organic matter, which contributes to its decomposition to humus.

What types of ticks do not benefit, but harm nature

The first signs of the appearance of ticks on garden plot are

• cobwebs on plantations;
• growths;
• indistinct light spots.

This indicates that the trees are under threat of destruction.

There are several types of ticks, some of them are not indifferent to coniferous trees and shrubs, such as boxwood or pine. There are varieties of these arthropods that live only on broad-leaved tree species. In nature, there are superfamilies of garden herbivorous mites

• gallic;
• brown;
• cobweb.

They settle on fruit and berry crops.

Garden mites are small arachnids. Males are smaller than females, their length is from 0.03 mm to 10 mm. The body is divided into two parts, the abdomen and the cephalothorax. Has it round shape and covered with bristles. The tick has two pairs of eyes. It moves with the help of 6 pairs of appendages. It sucks juice from plants and fruits with the help of piercing-sucking mouthparts.

There are more than 1200 species of spider mites in nature. These are very small insects leading a hidden lifestyle. Males range in size from 0.3 mm to 0.6 mm, and females up to 1 mm. You can recognize the defeat of this type of tick by changing the color of the leaves on the plant, which become brown-brown. Then they curl up and fall off. This type of pest can destroy 80% of the crop. It is also a carrier of gray mold and various viral infectious diseases of agricultural plants.

Gall mites differ from other brethren in the absence of hind legs. Most often, this variety can be found on cherry plum, plum and pear. Outgrowths form on the leaves of trees, where the tick lives. Affected branches are cut and burned.

The brown mite mainly settles on horticultural crops. Most often it can be seen on apple trees. Color - red-brown. This species reproduces very quickly. By the end of summer, there are many pests on the tree that dehydrate it. As a result, the apple tree dries up.

The benefits and harms of ticks

Ticks can be found everywhere, even in Antarctica. They live both on land and in water. They are able to move long distances, despite their tiny size. They are mainly found in bird nests, burrows, residential and utility rooms. Some species even live under the skin and in the respiratory system of mammals.

But not all species are dangerous to crops or humans. There are groups of ticks that bring tangible benefits.

• Exterminate plant pests.
• Recycle their leftovers.
• Participate in the process of soil formation.

There are species of these arthropods that are used to make certain types of cheese. But this is where the benefits of ticks in nature end.

Thus, the tick, despite the small list positive properties, is an indispensable link in nature. It serves as an excellent food for birds, frogs, lizards, ants.

In the fight against them, biological agents are practically useless, since ticks multiply very quickly. Therefore, one has to apply chemicals to protect crops, plantings and their health.

Why do we need ticks in nature?

Ticks help natural selection and play an equally important role in the evolutionary process. Who can survive after a tick bite is considered a strong individual and gains some immunity and knowledge. The fittest survives, and ticks help to identify the fittest.

Ticks in nature are an integral part of the food chain. Ants like them very much and they eagerly eat them. Ixodid ticks serve as a delicacy for such a family of beetles as ground beetles.

So it’s impossible to say that ticks only suck blood and spread diseases. They are eaten, they receive nutrients other animals.

And the biologist and Andryukha and I think that ticks are not needed for anything, appendicitis is also not particularly needed. Here are ticks, whether they exist or not - this is just the imperfection of nature. By the way, I'm a doctor.

In nature, everything exists for a reason, but for a purpose.

Here are the mites, which live mainly on animals, feed on dead parts of the skin. It turns out that they thus clean the skin.

Well, I think that ticks are needed in order to destroy already sick animals. This is natural selection. Like on the whole planet, a hare eats grass, a wolf eats a hare, well, something like that. Well, I still have a version. There is a macro and micro world. Ticks, when bitten, inject microbes into the blood, the body of that animal begins to secrete antibodies that begin to kill these microbes. Or maybe even a new organism appears in the environment. They interbreed and get a new organism inside one big one. Although I am not a biologist, I will not say.

Most likely there is a scientific explanation for any fact, but in nature nothing happens just like that. If ticks exist, then they are needed for something. As a complacency, I believe that their disappearance may give rise to an invasion of other, more dangerous creatures, maybe the existence of ticks prevents something more terrible.

If you approach from a scientific, evolutionary point of view - then there is nothing. It's just that this type of organism is sufficiently adapted to survive, therefore, once accidentally formed from some other, it continues to exist to this day.

And if you approach with a religious one, then there may be different variants mite uses:

1 For example, to punish some sinner or by striking him, to prevent the evil deeds he is plotting.

2 As soon as possible send to paradise the righteous man who suffers unjustly on Earth.

3 To slay one animal so that several others can feed on its body.