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Bugs naturally
Hi,
I found your site (great!) while looking for a picture of a bug that I found today. It was actually on my dog, not embedded, but just in his fur. I thought maybe it was an engorged tick, but if it is, I’ve never seen one like this before. It is very soft and squishy, and a gray color. The dents you see in it are the ones that I put in it when I brushed it off the dog. Do you happen to know what it is?
Thanks for your help.
Jo Sheehan

Hi Jo,
There are Hard Ticks, Family Ixodidae, and there are Soft Ticks, Family Argasidae. Dog Ticks are Hard Ticks. You have found a Soft Tick. I don’t know the species, but Soft Ticks can be just as troublesome. Now, this is just a guess, but there is someting in a tagline at the end of your email mentioning llamas. Soft Ticks like the Spinose Ear Tick, Otobius megnini are large, up to 1/3 inch, and constricted in the middle with pockmarks. They are pests of livestock and horses. This would include llamas. They feast primarily in the ears. Your specimen looks well fed.

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