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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

08:53
Tick Artificial Membrane Feeding for Ixodes scapularis
Published on: November 30, 2022
The tick blood meal: from a living animal or from a silicone membrane?
Thomas Kröber1, Patrick Guerin
1Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. thomas.kroeber@unine.ch
ALTEX
|October 20, 2009
Abstract:
An artificial feeding unit with a reinforced silicone membrane to replace host skin provides ticks with a perch over blood with a tick attachment rate of 75-100%. Some 5 mg of an acaricide like fipronil is sufficient to establish survival curves over different doses down to ppb levels in blood. This in vitro feeding assay for hard ticks is more advantageous than in vivo trials on animals.
