will bite. and are easy to locate and remove. Finding 
and removing those that do not bite is a tedious task. 
Bites of larvae are irritating for as long as 10 days. 
Nymphs and adults usually congregate in ground litter, 
or on vegetation. They cling to passing animals or crawl 
over the ground to attack hosts that lie or stand nearby. 
Nymphs and adults are most abundant from March to 
July: some may be encountered until September. Larvae 
are most abundant from July to September. 
The black-legged tick is found along the east coast. 
The larvae and nymphs feed on various rodents and 
reptiles. The adults feed on deer. cattle. sheep. hogs. 
dogs. and other large animals. They will bite people. 
Long mouth parts make their bites especially painful. 
The adults are most abundant in the fall and early 
winter. 
American dog ticks and black-legged ticks usually con- 
gregate along game trails, paths, and roadways. where 
they wait on vegetation and attach themselves to animals 
and people that pass by. 
Larvae and nymphs of wood ticks may live for a year 
without feeding, and the adults for 2 years. 
Control in Outdoor Areas 
Control wood ticks in infested outdoor areas by using 
DDT. toxaphene. chlordane. or dieldrin. DDT is the 
insecticide most widely used for this purpose. 
Lindane gives good initial control. but it usually remains 
effective for a shorter time than DDT, toxaphene, chlor- 
dane, or dieldrin. 
The selected insecticide can be applied as a spray or 
as a dust. Sprays are sometimes more difficult to apply 
than dusts. especially if the area to be treated is large and 
the growth of brush is heavy. 
RATE OF APPLICATION 
Dusts 
Dusts are sold in different strengths and are ready to 
use when purchased. 
To treat lawns or similar areas where the vegetation 
and ground cover are relatively thin. apply a 10-percent 
DDT dust, or a 5- or 10-percent toxaphene, chlordane, or 
dieldrin dust: apply it at the rate of 20 to 25 pounds per 
acre. To treat wooded or brushy areas. apply 40 pounds 
of one of these dusts per acre. 
Apply lindane at the rate of 0.2 to 0.4 pound per acre. 
The amount of a commercial product that you must apply 
in order to get the proper dosage depends on the per- 
centage of active ingredient in the product. For example. 
you would apply 1-percent lindane dust at the rate of 20 
to 40 pounds per acre. 
Sprays 
Apply DDT. toxaphene, chlordane. or dieldrin in sprays 
at the rate of 1 to 2 pounds of the actual insecticide per 
acre. Apply lindane at the rate of 0.1 to 0.2 pound per 
acre. 
PREPARING A SPRAY 
To prepare a spray, mix an emulsifiable concentrate or 
a wettable powder with water. (Do not use oil solutions; 
they will burn the vegetation.) The amount of concen- 
trate or powder that you must use to get the proper dosage 
depends on the percentage of active ingredient in the 
product you buy. The table below shows ‘the percentages 
most commonly found in retail products and the amount 
of each product that is needed in a spray mixture prepared 
for treating | acre. 
| 
its : : | Amount of purchased 
Insecticides, and forms in which | product to mix with 
they may be purchased 95 wallonsohntee 
DDT, TOXAPHENE, CHLORDANE, 
AND DIELDRIN | 
Emulsifiable concentrate: 
40-percent=—2 = === eee ee | 3 quarts. 
o0= percents" == 2 = eee noes | 2. quarts. 
6o-percent==== = eee eee | 1% quarts. 
Wettable powder: | 
25-percent=2=-2e asses & ee ele 8 pounds. 
50-percent= ssa 5= see uee Coens | 4 pounds. 
LINDANE | 
Emulsifiable concentrate: | 
20-percent == a sees eee | 1 pints. 
25-percenta= = see Sewers aa ae ] pint. 
Wettable powder: | 
25-percent- 2. == le pounee 
The amount of water needed depends on the per-acre 
output of your spraying equipment and the kind of vege- 
tation on the area to be sprayed. It takes 15 to 25 sallons 
of spray per acre to spray lawns or similar areas, and 50 
gallons or more per acre for thorough coverage of wooded 
or brushy areas. 
APPLYING THE INSECTICIDE 
Before applying the insecticide. make a quick survey 
by dragging a white flannel cloth over the ground and 
vegetation. Use a square yard of white flannel cloth 
tacked along the front edge to a stick. Examine it for 
wood ticks frequently. This will show whether you need 
to treat the entire area or only those parts of the area 
where ticks may be concentrated. 
Apply the insecticide as soon as ticks become annoying. 
Apply it to the ground, to surface litter, and to vegetation. 
Treat the vegetation to a height of about 2 feet. 
One application may be effective for an entire season: 
but if ticks again become annoying, it may be necessary 
to repeat the treatment. 
If you spray. wet the ground, litter, and vegetation 
thoroughly. Shake the container occasionally to ke sep the 
insecticide well mixed with the water. If you dust. be 
sure to get the dust well distributed. 
Do not apply insecticides for tick control to crops or 
grazing areas. 
