Has anyone seen ticks jump?

The ticks in these videos are larvae of the winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus, a pest of moose, also found primarily on other cervidae such as mule deer, white-tailed deer and elk.

Shown here, larvae on my finger are bathed in carbon dioxide from my breath. All the larvae are active, but one suddenly flips end over end, landing several millimetres from the launch site. We see this phenomenon commonly. In the wild, larvae form in clumps on vegetation. Might they 'flip', as in the video, in hopes of landing on a moose passing by?

If you have observed jumping ticks, we would love to hear from you. Email us at: bill.samuel@ualberta.ca

videos by Dr. Al Shostak

video 1

video 2