Donkeys may provide natural tick repellents

Researchers have discovered that donkeys naturally secrete a chemical, (E)-oct-2-enal, which effectively repels blacklegged ticks. This natural repellent shows promise as a safer and more sustainable alternative to traditional tick control methods like DEET, potentially offering protection for humans and animals and opening avenues for a new generation of eco-friendly pest control strategies.

Read the full article at https://www.paperleap.com/blog/articles/donkeys-hold-the-key-to-natural-tick-repellents-0cccu4

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the paper Leap podcast, where a science takes
the mic. Each episode, we discuss cutting edge research, groundbreaking discoveries,
and the incredible people behind them, across disciplines and across
the world. Whether you're a curious mind, a researcher, or
just love learning, you're in the right place before we start.

(00:21):
Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an insight.
All the content is also available on paperleap dot com. Okay, ready,
let's start. It started with a puzzle on a quiet farmyard.
Why did the donkeys never seem to get ticks? While deer,
dogs and humans all battled the tiny parasites, the donkeys

(00:44):
stayed mostly untouched. Now scientists think they found out why,
and their discovery could change how we protect ourselves from
tick bites. If you've ever pulled one of those stubborn
bloodsuckers off your leg after a hike, you know just
how unsettling they can be. Beyond being gross, ticks are

(01:05):
also dangerous. They spread lime disease, bobesiosis, and a growing
list of other infections. In the United States, the black
legged tic scientific name Oxodes scapularis, is the number one
culprit for human bites, especially in the Northeast and Midwest.
For decades, the go to protection has been deeped, a

(01:28):
synthetic chemical invented in the nineteen forties. It works, but
it isn't perfect. Some people dislike it, smell or feel
ticks and mosquitoes can sometimes tolerate it, and concerns about
overuse have fueled interest in alternatives. What if instead of
inventing new chemicals in the lab, we borrow tricks from

(01:49):
nature itself. That's exactly what a team of researchers from
the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the United States Department
of Agriculture explored in their study published in Close One,
which takes inspiration from an unlikely source donkeys. Donkeys, it
turns out, secrete a natural oily substance on their skin

(02:10):
that ticks don't like. One of the key ingredients in
this oily sebum is a chemical called ecto two enal.
Scientists call it an alomone, a chemical a species gives
off that repels other creatures. For ticks, It's like a
warning sign, don't bother trying to feed here. This natural

(02:30):
form of chemical apostitism A fancy word for warning signals
in the animal world is common in insects, but until
now no one had shown it could work against black
legged ticks. The research team, consisting of Stephen Rich, Eric Siegel,
Sophia Goodnow, Lucy Thompson, Sarah Nicholson, Elizabeth McLoud, Andrew Lee,

(02:53):
and Guang Sioux decided to put ECTO two anal to
the test against ixod's scapularis in the lab. To put
ticks to the test, the scientists placed them onto filter
paper treated with either ethanol, a neutral control basically no
repellent det the gold standard, or ECTO two anal, the

(03:15):
donkey inspired candidate. Then they watched how the tics behaved,
using tracking software to measure their movement, hesitation, and willingness
to cross treated zones. Here's what they found. Ticks hated
both date and ECTO two anal. They slowed down, wandered
in circles, and often refused to cross the treated area.

(03:37):
Males were especially sensitive. Male tics exposed to ectotuinal were
even more repelled than when exposed to DT Females were tougher.
Both repellents worked on them, but the effects were less dramatic.
The donkey chemicals sometimes lasted longer. In some trials, ticks
stayed repelled for over eight minutes. The full experiment when

(04:00):
while ethanol treated ticks walked right across in seconds. Most importantly,
this was the first demonstration that a natural vertebrate emitted
chemical can repel black legged ticks. This research can inspire
the creation of new tools for tick prevention. Deet isn't
going anywhere, but having new repellents could give people more options,

(04:22):
especially natural compounds that might feel safer for daily use.
Imagine bug sprays, treated clothing, or pet collars infused with ectotuenol.
The study could also provide insights on how to offer
protection for animals. In fact, ticks don't just bother humans,
they plague livestock, pets, and wildlife. A donkey inspired repellent

(04:46):
could help keep ticks off deer, dogs, or cattle, cutting
down the chances they spread disease. Also, learning from non
host signals is important to uncover what attracts ticks. Some animals,
like donkeys or certain dogs breeds just don't get as
many ticks. Understanding and copying their chemical defenses could lead

(05:06):
to a new generation of repellents designed around nature's own
warning systems. More broadly, relying on natural chemicals offers a
path toward a greener pest control Instead of spraying more
synthetic insecticides, which ticks can evolve resistance to semi chemicals
like ectoto an al could offer a more eco friendly alternative.

(05:28):
As this was a lap study, we don't yet know
how well ectotounol would work outdoors on skin or over
hours instead of minutes. Ticks are stubborn and in the
wild they follow strong host cues like carbon dioxide and heat.
Would they ignore a donkey scented signal if a juicy
human was nearby. That's a question future studies need to answer,

(05:51):
but the early results are promising and they show just
how much we can still learn by paying attention to
the subtle chemical conversations happen in between species. We don't
know whether in the future hikers might spray on a
donkey inspired tick repellent before heading into the woods. However,
this study is the first step in that direction. The

(06:13):
idea that we can borrow natural do not disturb signals
from animals to keep ourselves safe is both elegant and hopeful.
As the authors point out, much more research is needed,
especially on how these chemicals work, whether they can be
formulated into safe products, and how different life stages of
ticks like nymphs, the main spreaders of lime disease respond. Still,

(06:37):
the takeaway is simple. Sometimes nature already has the answers,
we just have to notice them, and in this case,
the humble donkey may have handed us a powerful new
tool in the fight against ticks. That's it for this
episode of the paperlely podcast. If you found it thought provoking, fascinating,

(06:58):
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