A tick that survived up to 27 years in the laboratory immediately set a new record for the tiny parasite. Also, according to Associate Professor Julian Shepherd at Binghamton University in New York, female ticks can also store male sperm, reproducing at four years after the last male tick in the body. the experimental group died.
Argus Brumpti is a tick native to eastern and southern Africa. Researcher Shepherd said he received the ticks from Kenya in 1976, and kept them in an incubator for many years.
The gift he received after a business trip included 6 male ticks, 4 female ticks and 3 pupae. He was completely surprised when he discovered that blood-sucking ticks had survived for decades. This is also the first time science has noticed the remarkable survivability of parasitic animals.
“I have always been fascinated by living things’ ability to adapt to their environment – in this case, a dry environment, without drinking water for long periods of time, a lifestyle with distances [giữa hai bữa ăn] is very big,” researcher Shepard said in the press release. Before having to live in isolation in 1984, these mites sucked the blood of rabbits and lab rats to survive.
Male mites go 4 years without food. The females lived four more years than the males before being fed by Mr. Shepard. One of the mites in the first litter spawned, laying eggs even though the last male tick had died 4 years earlier. Mr. Shepard speculates that the male tick’s sperm has been stored in the female’s body for a long time. This is also the first time science has witnessed the remarkable ability of blood-sucking ticks to survive and reproduce.
An ancient blood-sucking tick preserved in amber, it still carries the bacteria lyme disease.
Many other animals can also live long without food. For example, water bears, microscopic creatures can live up to 30 years without eating. One can also mention the olm lizard that lives in a cave without light and lives well without nutrition. Some large crocodile species can also live up to a year without eating.
These “longevity” ticks have been sent to a laboratory in South Africa for further research. “Discovering how these animals overcame challenges could help us understand more about how other species, including humans, can overcome similar adversities.“said researcher Shepard.
His research was published in the Journal of Medical Entomology.