Gizmodo: Ticks pee all over themselves when they suck blood

Ticks can get overheated drinking warm blood, UC biologist Joshua Benoit explains

Gizmodo turned to University of Cincinnati biologist Joshua Benoit to explain why some ticks have unusual bathroom habits when they feed.

UC assistant biology professor Joshua Benoit is studying tick-borne illness at the UC Center for Field Studies in Crosby Township. TICKSU ,Joshua Benoit , Benjamin Davis, Madison Kimbrel, Alicia Fieler

UC biologist Joshua Benoit. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II/UC Creative + Brand

Benoit, an associate professor of biological sciences in UC's College of Arts and Sciences, has studied ticks at UC's Center for Field Studies and at Great Parks of Hamilton County. He spoke about an independent study by the University of Tours in France published in BioRxiv.

Turns out Hamlet's vengeful phrase "Now could I drink hot blood" isn't far from the mark when it comes to a species of soft tick found in South America. The blood they drink can dangerously raise their body temperature.

"You go from 20 degrees Celsius to 34 degrees Celsius in, like, 10 seconds," Benoit told Gizmodo. "It's pretty abrupt, I mean, [humans] would pass out if we heated up that quickly."

Since ticks can't sweat like we do when we tuck into a hot or spicy meal, the South American ticks cool themselves off with pee instead. The ticks withstand their hot meal through evaporative cooling.

Read the Gizmodo story.

Featured image at top: UC associate professor Joshua Benoit, far left, collects ticks with UC biology students at UC's Center for Field Studies. Photo/Jay Yocis/UC Creative + Brand