this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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Arachnology

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Found it on my son's hair after a 10min visit to our veggies garden. My guess is that it might be a tick but we are not in an area of lime disease and although it's an open, rather unkept, field the only mammals I see around are 2-3 stray(?) cats.

The photo was done using a stereoscope+smartphone. The dark lines underneath are .4 to .5 mm.

Any pointers would be welcome.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'll second southsamurai and agree with Rhipicephalus sanguineus, the brown dog tick. Shape of the capitulum checks out, it has visible eyes, similar body and so on.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Visible eyes? Capitulum? Would not know where to look for that. Is there any online resource where I can learn on that?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wikipedia is a good starting point, then you have this

https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1756-3305-3-26

And you can also search online for how to ID ticks, you have visual guides and such

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Thanks! Had seen that paper once you guys pointed me to R. sanguineus and I had a chance to shower the kid.

I also found this site useful for ticks anatomy, on TicksSafety.com.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Also! Might be a bit late now, but I would recommend a thorough search for other ticks on your child. I've found ticks on myself a few times and it's never pleasant, these buggers latch onto your skin and you don't feel them.

You might need a very strong repellant the next time you go into the garden, the DEET ones are effective against ticks. Apply on the neck, waist and shoes as well as on any other exposed skin areas. Stay safe!