Spiders and Ticks News

June 3, 2025

Top Headlines

Why Some Spiders Are More Venomous Than Others

May 21, 2025 — A new study has revealed why some spiders possess venom that is far more potent than others. By analyzing the venoms of more than 70 different spider species, the team explored whether factors such as body size, prey type, and hunting method, ...

Ancient DNA Used to Map Evolution of Fever-Causing Bacteria

May 22, 2025 — Researchers have analyzed ancient DNA from Borrelia recurrentis, a type of bacteria that causes relapsing fever, pinpointing when it evolved to spread through lice rather than ticks, and how it gained and lost genes in the ...

Once Bitten, Animals Develop Resistance That Shrinks Tick Population

Apr. 30, 2025 — Just in time for tick season, new research is shining a light on how animals develop resistance to tick bites, which points toward the possibility of developing more effective vaccines against the tiny, disease-carrying ...

Social 'Hippie' Spiders Don't Believe in Labels: Study Challenges Long-Held Assumptions About Animal Personalities

Apr. 28, 2025 — Scientists suggest social spiders are more about going with the flow than sticking to a role, after new research challenges the idea of fixed ...

Latest Headlines

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The Antibiotic That Takes the Bite out of Lyme

Apr. 23, 2025 — Piperacillin, an antibiotic in the same class as penicillin, effectively cured mice of Lyme disease at 100-times less than the effective dose of doxycycline, the current gold standard treatment. At ...

More Ticks Carry Lyme Disease Bacteria in Pheasant-Release Areas

Apr. 21, 2025 — Ticks are more likely to carry the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in areas where pheasants are released, new research ...

Researchers Discover Achilles Heel of Lyme Disease Pathogen

Mar. 20, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that an enzyme can serve as an ideal target for developing new therapeutics against Lyme disease, and most likely other tick-borne diseases as ...

New Discovery in Plant-Pest Warfare Could Lead to Sustainable Farming Solutions

Mar. 17, 2025 — Overuse of chemical pesticides has driven resistance in agricultural pests, including the adaptable two-spotted spider mite. Researchers have ...

Stretching Spider Silk Makes It Stronger

Mar. 7, 2025 — When they weave their webs, spiders pull their silk threads. New simulations show stretching during spinning causes the protein chains within the fibers to align and the number of hydrogen bonds ...

Biologists Transform Gut Bacteria Into Tiny Protein Pharmacies

Feb. 18, 2025 — Biologists converted gut bacteria into miniature protein factories that manufacture and release a sustained flow of targeted proteins inside the lower intestines. This technique solves one of the ...

A Mite-Y Use of Electricity

Jan. 28, 2025 — Mites who hitchhike on the beaks of hummingbirds use a surprising method to help them on their journey: electricity. These hummingbird flower mites feed on nectar and live within specific flowers for ...

The Secret to Robust and Reversible Underwater Adhesion: The Answer Lies in Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) Domain

Jan. 23, 2025 — A research team has uncovered the molecular mechanism behind the remarkable underwater adhesion of hairy mussels. Their findings reveal an ...

Breakthrough Could Revolutionize Future of Tick Control

Nov. 27, 2024 — Scientists create potential for genetic tools to control disease-spreading ...

Fossil Hunters Strike Gold With New Species

Oct. 29, 2024 — Paleontologists have identified fossils of an ancient species of bug that spent the past 450 million years covered in fool's gold in central New York. The new species, Lomankus edgecombei, is a ...

New Fungal Species Named in Honor of Sir David Attenborough Making Zombies of Cave Spiders on the Island of Ireland

Jan. 29, 2025 — A recent study investigated the identity of a fungus found on a spider during filming of the BBC Winterwatch series in Northern ...

Lyme Borreliosis: New Approach for Developing Targeted Therapy

Oct. 23, 2024 — Lyme borreliosis is the most common tick-borne infectious disease in Europe. Up to 70,000 new cases are estimated each year in Austria alone. The bacterial infection can cause lasting health problems ...

Dogs Contaminate Ponds With Parasite Medications

Oct. 8, 2024 — Most dog owners didn't know that flea and tick treatments are dangerous to aquatic life, suggesting more awareness could ease the ...

Rates of a Tick-Borne Parasitic Disease Are on the Rise

Oct. 8, 2024 — Rates of babesiosis, a tick-borne parasitic disease, increased an average of 9% per year in the United States between 2015 and 2022 and four in 10 patients were found to be co-infected with another ...

Spinning out a New Biomaterials Startup Is Harder Than You Think

Oct. 2, 2024 — Spider silk, long prized for its strength and elasticity, has created something of a furor in the biomanufacturing world as businesses look for ways to cheaply scale up production for silks, which ...

Spinning Artificial Spider Silk Into Next-Generation Medical Materials

Sep. 24, 2024 — It's almost time to dust off the Halloween decorations and adorn the house with all manner of spooky things, including the classic polyester spider webs. Scientists have made their own version ...

Ancient Gene Gives Spiders Their Narrow Waist

Aug. 29, 2024 — An ancient gene is crucial for the development of the distinctive waist that divides the spider body plan in two, according to a new ...

Tarantulas Have Surprising Partnerships With Other Species and Their Hairiness May Be a Defense Mechanism

Aug. 22, 2024 — A new study reveals that tarantulas are often on friendly terms with amphibians, reptiles, and even army ants, which are known to feed on spiders. The researchers suggest that the dense hair covering ...

Will Climate Change Lead to the Extinction of a Newly Discovered Tarantula Species?

Aug. 21, 2024 — Biologists have discovered a new species of tarantula from the Madrean Sky Island biodiversity hotspot in southeastern Arizona. This remarkable new species is endemic to the Chiricahua Mountains and ...

Spider Exploits Firefly's Flashing Signals to Lure More Prey

Aug. 19, 2024 — Fireflies rely on flashing signals to communicate to other fireflies using light-emitting lanterns on their abdomens. In fireflies of the species Abscondita terminalis, males make multi-pulse flashes ...

Scientists Map DNA of Lyme Disease Bacteria

Aug. 15, 2024 — Researchers have produced a genetic analysis of Lyme disease bacteria that may pave the way for improved diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the tick-borne ...

Ancient Arachnid from Coal Forests of America Stands out for Its Spiny Legs

May 17, 2024 — The spiny legged 308-million-year-old arachnid Douglassarachne acanthopoda was discovered the famous Mazon Creek ...

Spider Silk Sound System

May 16, 2024 — Researchers have investigated how spiders listen to their environments through webs and found that the webs match the acoustic particle velocity for a wide range of sound frequencies. Playing sound ...

Plants Utilize Drought Stress Hormone to Block Snacking Spider Mites

May 3, 2024 — Recent findings that plants employ a drought-survival mechanism to also defend against nutrient-sucking pests could inform future crop breeding programs aimed at achieving better broadscale pest ...

How the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Enters Our Cells

Mar. 28, 2024 — Researchers have identified how the tick-borne Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells. The results are an important step in the development of drugs against the deadly ...

New Testing Approach Improves Detection of Rare but Emerging Powassan Virus Spread by Deer Ticks

Mar. 26, 2024 — Researchers have come up with a new, more accurate method for detecting in ticks the emerging Powassan virus, which can cause life-threatening neuroinvasive disease, including encephalitis and ...

Research Uncovers a Rare Resin Fossil Find: A Spider That Aspires to Be an Ant

Mar. 22, 2024 — Spiders that disguise themselves as ants live in many locations around the globe but until now most had been able to avoid detection from fossil researchers as well as ...

Experts Warn Climate Change Will Fuel Spread of Infectious Diseases

Mar. 20, 2024 — Infectious diseases specialists call the medical field to be ready to deal with the impact of climate change on spreading diseases, such as malaria, Valley fever, E. coli and Lyme ...

A Protein Found in Human Sweat May Protect Against Lyme Disease

Mar. 19, 2024 — Human sweat contains a protein that may protect against Lyme disease. About one-third of the population carries a genetic variant of this protein that is associated with Lyme disease in genome-wide ...

Giant Antarctic Sea Spiders Reproductive Mystery Solved

Feb. 18, 2024 — Instead of carrying the babies until they hatched, as in most species of sea spiders, one parent (likely the father) spent two days attaching the eggs to the rocky bottom where they developed for ...