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Bad News: Bomb Cyclone Didn't Kill Off Next Spring's Ticks

Ticks--plus bedbugs and stinkbugs--probably survived the Northeast's cold snap.

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Deer tickJohn Flannery

One might hope the upside of the Northeast’s recent bomb cyclone would be fewer surviving bug pests come spring–but that’s unlikely, entomologists say. Ticks survive cold weather by gradually moving water out of their cells, preventing freezing damage, and by insulating themselves under the snow. Bedbugs and stinkbugs likewise employ survival tricks in the cold.

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