What would you do if you ever gave a bunch of ticks as a gift?

It's not a joke, it was actually what happened with Julian Shepherd, associate professor at Binghamton University in the US in 1976. Shepherd's research was not based on this topic at the time, so he decided to monitor it for 45 years after that .

different qualities

Most types of ticks are found in Africa and North America.

The tick given to Shepherd was Argas brumpti, a type of soft tick that is endemic to the drier regions of eastern and southern Africa.

This tick differs from the type known to Americans on their continent, which has a hard dorsal armor and needs food for long periods and swells severely after eating.

During those decades, Shepherd was writing down what he learned from ticks.

Shepherd recently published his findings in a research study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology on December 13.

'Argas rumpty' is a large tick with females up to 20 millimeters long (Binghamton University)

It is worth noting that there is relatively little research on the "Argus prompti" tick, probably because it does not cause diseases.

So, Shepherd's observations may provide some surprising information about the nature of this tick.

According to the report published by Entomology Today, Shepherd says that "soft African ticks also swell after eating, but not to the same extent as hard ticks. They also eat many fast and few meals instead of meals that last for days."

unique age

Shepherd adds that 'Argas rumpty' is a large tick, with females reaching 20 millimeters in length.

This tick also tends to spread in areas where food is available, such as animal burrows and termite mounds.

According to a report published on the "Science Alert" website, Shepherd kept the tick given to him at a temperature of 21 degrees Celsius and a humidity of 81%, which is the optimal conditions for this type of tick to live.

Although Shepherd kept the ticks at a constant temperature and humidity throughout this period, their feeding was not.

Shepherd initially allowed ticks to feed in rabbit burrows in his lab, but he did not prefer this "rabbit-confusing" situation.

Beginning in 1984, Shepherd had no ready-to-eat source, so he stopped feeding ticks for 8 years.

However, a first group of ticks survived the famine and lived for 27 years, which is 2 to 3 years longer than other ticks in general.

Shepherd describes the longevity recorded for this type of tick as "a record, especially since they lived hungry for 8 years."

"The offspring of this tick is still alive after 26 years," Shepherd adds.

Strange reproductive feature

However, this ability to live for a long time appears not to be the only startling piece of information about this species of tick. The last male tick, dedicated to Shepherd, died in the middle of the eight-year feeding hiatus.

As feeding of the remaining females resumed, at least one of the ticks produced batches of eggs that hatched into both males and females.

Parthenogenesis - a form of asexual reproduction - is rare in this African tick, Shepherd says.

Therefore, Shepherd believes that the offspring of ticks can store sperm for a long time.

This is supported by research on soft ticks, which showed that they store sperm until they are fed.

When the tick is fed, the sperm move up the reproductive tract and fertilize the eggs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

When the tick is fed, the sperm move up the reproductive tract and fertilize the eggs.

"It happened in just a few weeks," Shepherd adds. "It seems that they store them until they get a good blood meal, which is what the ticks I was studying did."

Shepherd concludes that this type of tick "is an exceptional example of the ability to survive and adapt, as it can wait for food for long periods."

So, Shepherd gave a group of researchers in South Africa the same gift he had initially been given to explore the evolutionary affinities of this type of tick.