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Tick Checks, Classifying Mites, and Mosquito Feeding Preferences

Fairfax, VA – July 1, 2025

In this episode, the NPMA team presents on new research highlighting  tick checks, changes in mite taxonomy, and mosquito feeding preferences. We're joined by special guest Judy Dold of Rose Pest Solutions!

Featured Article Summaries

Mosquito Food Preferences

The Food of Life: Which Nectar Do Mosquitoes Feed On? – An Evidence-Based Meta Analysis    

Adult mosquitoes require a sugar meal in order to survive, and where better to find that than nature’s best sugar source: nectar. While female mosquitoes may also take a blood meal to produce eggs, males will exclusively feed on nectar.  

Few studies have looked at the broad overview of which plant species draw in which species of mosquitoes, but understanding this information can have several benefits for mosquito management. For one, if a certain plant species has been planted in high numbers, it could contribute to the success of that mosquito population in that area. Additionally, with new methods of management that include sugar-based mosquito traps, it’s important to understand if the mosquitoes are being drawn to better food sources elsewhere, making the traps less efficient. Therefore, the question this study asked was simple: which nectar do mosquitoes feed on? To answer this, the researchers combed through research articles that examined floral nectar feeding behavior in the field and the lab.  

 

Photo by: Abhishek Mishra, Wikimedia
The researchers began by performing a search for research articles about mosquito nectar feeding across several databases. After parsing out articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria for the study, the researchers were left with 51 studies that covered four continents and encompassed the years 1948-2022. Most of these studies were based on direct observations of mosquitoes feeding on the nectar of these plants, but a few additionally included plant choice assays, markers on plants and mosquitoes, mass spectrometry, detection of pollen on mosquitoes, and plant DNA extraction from the guts of the mosquitoes. These 51 studies detailed 397 records of 74 mosquito species that were documented feeding on nectar from 145 plant species across 109 plant genera.   

The top plant families that were documented with mosquitoes feeding on them include Asteraceae (the daisies), Rosaceae (the roses), and Fabaceae (the legumes). Within these families, there is clearly some favoritism, as there were 18 species in Asteraceae, 20 plant species in Rosaceae, and 11 plant species in the Fabaceae that featured the most records of mosquitoes feeding on them. The top plant for mosquito species was Harungana madagascariensis, which is native to Africa, and is known as either the orange-milk tree or the blood tree. This tree is favored by 8 mosquito genera across 15 different mosquito species.  

Examining data from the mosquito side of things, the researchers looked at the three major genera that are vectors of disease: Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex. Overall, each of the genera displayed different preferences for plants, with Aedes leading the way with 77 plant species across 58 genera, Anopheles with 18 plant species across 17 genera, and Culex with 16 species of plants across 16 genera. The number one plant for Aedes was Achillea millefolium, or the common yarrow from Asteraceae. For Anopheles, it was Rincus communis, or the castor bean. And for Culex, it was Solidago species, which is more commonly known as the genera that includes goldenrods in Asteraceae.  

While this study provides a great jumping off point for potential areas of mosquito management, there are a few caveats to consider. First, is that the families Asteraceae and Fabaceae are two of the most species-rich and abundant plant families globally, so it’s not surprising that mosquitoes want to take advantage of the most available sugar-high possible. In addition, the researchers noted that there are likely geographical differences in nectar preferences, even within species. For example, Aedes species in North America love Asteraceae and Fabaceae, but in Africa, Aedes species did not show the same preferences.  

Despite the limitations of the data, we can still draw some broad conclusions on where mosquito vectors are getting their nectar from. Aedes are drawn to Asteraceae and Rosaceae, Anopheles are drawn to Asteraceae and Fabaceae, and Culex is drawn to Asteraceae. Mosquito management could therefore start on the landscape level, by selecting plants that are not part of these families could potentially cut down on the ability for the adult mosquitoes to feed and reproduce successfully. In addition, understanding the bloom times of these nectar-giving plants could help dictate the timing of when to perform mosquito management. The moral of the story is that this is just the start of understanding the interactions between plants and mosquitoes- how sweet! 

Article by Laura Rosenwald, BCE

References

Eva Herreros-Moya, Marianne Sinka, Angela F Harris, Julian Entwistle, Andrew C Martin, Kathy J Willis, The food of life: which nectar do mosquitoes feed on?—An evidence-based meta-analysis, Environmental Entomology, Volume 54, Issue 2, April 2025, Pages 352–366, https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvaf009

Classifying Mites

The Gnathosoma is a Bad Character Rather than Evidence for Mite Monophyly     

As pest control professionals, we end up with a pretty broad working knowledge of pest IDs. There are several different taxonomic groups that you need to know to fill out your bug know-how. By the numbers, most of the pests we encounter are insects, in the class Insecta. Other than that, rodents are probably the next most common taxon.  

That brings me to our taxon of focus today. To give a bit of a refresher, I'll orient us to the taxonomic group that we will be discussing. In biology, we typically start by looking at the largest scope and narrowing it down further and further as we get into more details. We always start in the kingdom Animalia that contains all the animals. The next level is Phylum. Most pests are in the phylum Arthropoda. Now this is where we branch off a little. The next level down from phylum is class. Class Insecta is the one we know and love, but here we will be talking about class Arachnida. These are all the arachnids or the eight-legged creatures. This includes spiders, ticks, and mites.  

The next lower grouping that we have gone with for many years, was order Acari. This was classically referred to as containing the mites and ticks in one neat little box. Meaning that anything mite shaped was related to each other at this higher level. But some acarologists thought something about this wasn’t adding up.  

The main supporting part of the argument for the relatedness of all mites was something called the gnathosoma. This is a fancy term for their mouthparts, a compact feeding apparatus that is next to the main body. It gets a bit complicated and is best understood by looking at a diagram which is shown in the picture below, but the moral of the story is that there are smaller parts of the gnathosoma that scientists had been looking at that weren’t as similar to each other as they used to think. Imagine if an alien came to earth and looked at the mouth parts of an elephant and an anteater and said, “Well its long and snout-like, these must be very closely related.” Perhaps not the best analogy.  

 

The traditional view of mite mouthparts is that the palps are always fused together, forming all of the underside of the gnathosoma. But this is an incorrect generalization. Many if not most mite species have separate palpal coxae. (Image courtesy of Samuel Bolton, Ph.D.)
It turns out the presence of the gnathosoma, while universal across mites as we know it, evolved separately in two different groups of arachnids. This means that in the old tree of life, there are two different branches of mites as we call them that are not as closely related as we once thought. It means that one section of mites, the parasitiformes, is more closely related to horseshoe crabs than they are to the other group of mites, the acariiformes. In the group of parisitiformes, we have the ticks and some mites (like varroa mites) which are more closely related to other chelicerates, like horseshoe crabs. In the acariformes, we have things like dust mites, chiggers, and spider mites.  

This means that those whom we have been lumping in together for years have not been actually evolutionarily correct. How did we get things so wrong for so long? Folks saw some fused parts of the gnathosoma (the mouth) and figured it was wildly unlikely for that fusion to happen twice along the evolutionary tree. It turns out the two groups of “mites” actually didn’t have that fusion, the parts were in fact separate. They were operating under a false assumption. Advanced microscopic techniques shed light on this and lead us to where we are and what we now know.  

 It may seem nitpicky, but scientists asking these questions help expand our understanding of the world around us. And for the PMP, why should you care? As pest control technology and science develops, we may discover that certain treatments are more effective on the different groups of mites. There may come a time in the future where this differentiation has day to day implications. But for now, you can go about your life with the knowledge that mites aren’t real, taxonomy is ever changing, and nothing is ever quite as it seems.   

Article by Ellie Sanders, BCE

References

Bolton Samuel J. 2025The gnathosoma is a bad character rather than evidence for mite monophyly Proc. R. Soc. B.29220250368http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.0368  

https://entomologytoday.org/2025/05/07/mites-made-up-taxon-analysis-debunks-classification-acari/ 

Tick Checks

Tick Spotting: Using Mannequins to Evaluate Individual Efficacy at Detecting Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae)   

Ticks represent the fastest growing arthropod disease threat in the US. And for good reason. Several tick species found throughout the US can spread dangerous, and sometimes deadly, diseases including Anaplasmosis, babesiosis, bourbon virus (which isn’t as fun as the name would suggest), ehrlichiosis, heartland virus, and the most notable of them all…lyme disease. Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi and Borellia mayonii), primary vectored by the tick Ixodes scapularis. Otherwise known as the black legged tick or the deer tick. Lyme disease is the most common and fastest growing tick-borne disease in the US, with an estimated 476,000 individuals diagnosed with the illness each year.  

A critical component of tick-borne disease transmission is the tick’s ability to attach to the host and remain attached long enough to begin feeding. And all this can take time. Luckily, this process can be disrupted or avoided all together with a simple tick check to find and remove these tiny parasites before any harm can be done. Tick checks are free, easy to administer solo or with a buddy, and can literally be life-saving if performed correctly. Unfortunately, ticks are some of the best “hide and seek” players on the planet, with a body type and structure that has been evolutionarily designed to help them avoid detection. And, those challenges are further exacerbated when dealing with smaller immature ticks who are even more difficult to locate. As a result, the effectiveness of tick checks can vary wildly depending on several factors with the most notable of those being the ability of the individual administering the inspection.   

To better understand the factors that may impact the success of a tick check, researchers conducted a series of experiments where they asked 207 participants to complete a demographic survey asking for age, location, and level of concern for ticks,  then sked to conduct tick inspections on life-sized mannequins. Each mannequin had shoulder-length brown hair and was dressed in jeans, a white t-shirt, and running shoes. And, 16 dead & preserved black-legged ticks of various life stages were attached to the clothing on each mannequin. Participants were given 5 minutes to perform a tick check on a mannequin and asked to mark every tick they found.  

 

Figure 2 from Tick spotting: using mannequins to evaluate individual efficacy at detecting Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) . Front and back of mannequin model MK - F61 as presented to participants in 2022. Locations of Ixodes scapularis ticks are symbolized with triangles, circles, squares , and pentagons to represent larvae, nymphs, adult males, and adult females, respectively. Symbols with a horizontal line indicate that the tick was covered with either hair or clothing. The number next to the symbol is the tick numerical identifier.
After analyzing the results, the researchers found that the life stage of the tick, where it was located on the mannequin, and what color clothing the tick was on all significantly impacted the success of the tick check. Participants were 3 to 4 times more likely to find adult females versus nymphs, with participants only able to detect 42% of tick nymphs on average. Ticks above the waistline were 3x more likely to be detected, ticks on the white t-shirt were 3x more likely to be detected than those on the dark jeans, and ticks covered by hair or clothing were 2x more likely to be missed. None of the demographic survey results were associated with the participants likelihood to detect ticks.  

This simple but informative study did a great job at pointing out some key factors that impact the success of tick checks. Smaller ticks are harder to find, and ticks hidden behind clothing, hair, or on a darker surface are easier to overlook. This research also provides more data to support our industry recommendations on the importance of wearing light-colored clothing if you’re going to spend time in areas where ticks may be active. Lastly, from a PMP perspective, this study gives great guidance on a simple and effective way to protect our client’s public health. Providing client education on ways to improve the effectiveness of tick checks can be an easy addition to your tick service. A quick overview of where to look, what to wear, and underscoring that thoroughness is key when it comes to finding ticks can make all the difference in helping to protect your clients from becoming another tick-borne disease statistic.  

Article by Mike Bentley, PhD, BCE

References

Tela Zembsch, David Jansen, Xia Lee, Emily Oberle, Rosemary Philip, Lyric Bartholomay, Susan Paskewitz, Tick spotting: using mannequins to evaluate individual efficacy at detecting Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), Journal of Medical Entomology, 2025;, tjaf053, https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjaf053

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