your tick ids
I just came across a series of tick pictures and your identifications. You should know that all of the ticks on those pages were hard ticks. If you can see the mouthpart (hypostome) from a dorsal view, then it is a hard tick. Soft ticks always have their “capitulum” (=hypostome and palps) ventral, and from above it is partially or more usually completely concealed. Of course, that trick only works if the mouthpart is present. On tick issues, you are welcome to use www.tickencounter.org as a resource and a referral. I don’t know how many tick “submissions” that you get, but we are trying to encourage just the type of two-way dialogue that you have established with your clients. The Miami infestation is most likely Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicepalus sanguineus) and you were wise to advise a professional pest applicator. These ticks can infest much like fleas and roaches. They usually just take their blood meal from pets. Hope this is useful. Thomas N. Mather, Ph.D.
Professor & Director Center for Vector-Borne Disease
University of Rhode Island
9 East Alumni Avenue, Suite 7
Kingston , RI 02881
tel. 401-874-5616
fax. 401-874-2494

Hi Dr. Mather,
We are happy to post your letter at the top of our Tick Page and hope that our readership will contact your Tick Hotsite.

Yes, what is THIS bug?
Hello bugman,
Thank you for your wonderful site for people who want to find out what bug they found. I’ve been searching your site in the past month trying to identify the bug we encountered, but no success. After the caught bugs spent a few weeks in a container in the fridge, I was able to put them under a microscope and take some pictures. The last one was caught before it sucked blood. They are about the size of a pinhead, about 1/2 mm. See: http://www.vandeven.us/bug Click on the pics for enlargement. What do you think….? My friend thinks she got this bug while visiting a friend, countryside of Virginia. They were sitting outside in a two-seater swing with cushions that remain outside. They have lots of birds that they feed, and two outside cats. Something itched her ankles and they got up and left. She had a few bites in the two days, but by the time the week was over she had some 200 bites all over, mostly on her ankles, further on legs, waist, groin, and on her sides between armpit and waist. She found a few bugs, but not the 50 or 100 that you would think would cause all those bites. We thought they were chiggers or bedbugs, and we did all that was recommended to get rid of those. But now that I have seen them under the microscope, I see they are neither. They must be some mite, bird mites, maybe??? I hope you can help us resolve this mystery of "the week of 200 bites."
Thanks,
Lianne
Williamsburg VA

Ed. Note: Before we had a chance to answer, Lianne wrote back.
Dr. Barry OConnor replies
Hi Bugman,
I wrote you earlier today about an unidentified bug. I kept searching and found Dr. Barry OConnor mentioned on your site. So I went ahead and sent him my pics and story. Below is his reply. I still don’t understand how my friend could have over 200 bites and find only 4 lone start ticks, but I do think Dr. OConnor is right about the tick. So maybe there was another coincidence that we just never will find out… Thanks, and all the best with your site!
Lianne

Hi Lianne – Your photos are of larval ticks. Although the specimens are damaged, in your area, the most likely species to bite people in this stage is the “lone star tick”, Amblyomma americanum. These are very common in the eastern USA, and the bites are hard to prevent. The bites themselves are painless, but one can develop an allergic reaction after some time that would cause itching. One should do a “tick check” daily after walking in tick-infested areas and remove any that are found. The larvae, sometimes called “seed ticks” are small, but they should still be removed carefully to be sure the mouthparts are not left in the skin. You can’t really rule out chiggers as the cause of most of the bites, especially if they were very “itchy.” The pattern you described would be consistent with chiggers, which should be common as well in your area. Chiggers are quite a bit smaller than larval ticks, and their bite fairly quickly causes the “itchy” immune response. People tend to scratch off the actual chigger before they really get the itch, but by then the damage is done! Lone star ticks only have the “star” in the adult female stage; the white area seen in ventral view in these larvae is the excretory product, guanine, stored in the gut. I hope this helps! All the best! – Barry

Wow Lianne,
Thanks for the fabulous images, marvelous information, and expert opinion.

little black bugs
First found these bugs in the bathroom all over the walls and burrowing in bathroom towels. They are approximately 2mm. A few days later I am starting to find them on the walls in other parts of the house. Maybe they are coming in on the dogs? I live in Miami.

Dear Floridian,
We strongly recommend that you seek professional help. At first we thought this was some species of Soft Tick, Family Argasidae, but people have written in convincing us it is a Hard Tick. Dog Ticks are Hard Ticks in the family Ixodidae. We cannot tell you exactly what species you have, but we did locate information online about the Bat Tick, Carios kelleyi. If you have bats in the attic (we were tempted to say bellfry, but didn’t want to offend you) then that is a good possibility. Another possibility is the Common Fowl Tick, Argas radiatus, which can be found near chicken coops and possibly pigeon roost. Maybe there are birds in the attic. According to Wikipedia: “Soft ticks typically live in crevices and emerge briefly to feed, while hard ticks will attach themselves to the skin of a host for long periods of time.” and “Ticks are second only to mosquitoes as vectors of human disease , both infectious and toxic.” According to the UC Davis site: “Some soft ticks seek hosts by questing on low-lying vegetation, but the vast majority are nest parasites, residing in sheltered environments such as burrows, caves, or nests. Certain biochemicals such as carbon dioxide as well as heat and movement serve as stimuli for host seeking behavior. Soft ticks feed for short periods of time on their hosts, varying from several minutes to days, depending on such factors as life stage, host type, and species of tick. The feeding behavior of many soft ticks can be compared to that of fleas or bedbugs, as once established, they reside in the nest of the host, feeding rapidly when the host returns and disturbs the contents.” Once again, we strongly recommend seeking professional assistance as ticks can bite humans and they do carry diseases. Eric Eaton wrote if questioning the Family: ” Don’t know that the bloated ticks are soft ticks. Remind me more of “regular” hard ticks, though have no idea what genus, species, or even family for that matter. We need to find you an acarologist.”

Your 3/19 tick from Florida is most defintely an engorged hard (Ixodid) tick, as opposed to a soft tick. A slightly clearer picture and we might have a better chance at identifying it. The story about the house being infested with them doesn’t make much sense, since we don’t usually think of ticks “infesting” an area. I also wonder a bit about delusory parasitosis–do you get a number of those in your submissions? Love the site….
Bryon

Thanks for the correction Bryon. We do get Delusory Parasitosis questions, but we only post the best ones. They never come with images though.

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.