The New York State tick blitz: harnessing citizen science to understand range expansion of ticks

We conducted a community-based science project ( “Tick Blitz”) in the Hudson Valley region of New York State to understand the northward expansion of Amblyomma americanum and Haemaphysalis longicornis. Volunteers were recruited from Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener, Master Naturalist programs and the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management. We provided two informational seminars to educate the volunteers about ticks and describe the methods. Collection “kits” were created consisting of the required tools for tick collection and storage, personal protective equipment, educational materials, and field collection sheets. Volunteers collected ticks from June 13th to June 26th. Volunteers from 14 counties performed collections at 169 sites, capturing a total of 3,719 ticks. H. longicornis was the most abundant species (1991) from seven counties, 404 A. americanum were collected in two counties, 851 Dermacentor variabilis in 13 counties, and 478 Ixodes scapularis in 13 counties. Results support the presence of established H. longicornis populations in Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Suffolk, and Kings Counties of NYS. A. americanum is established in highly populated Suffolk and Kings counties. A post blitz survey provided positive feedback from volunteers including their interest in contributing to meaningful science, understanding where ticks were in their neighborhoods, and being outdoors.