Image of Lone Star Tick

Description:

"We are vying for the tiniest critters uploaded for the Big Thicket Mini-BioBlitz...and here's something VERY ""mini"": Larval Lone Star Ticks (Amblyomma americanum) about 0.5mm in diameter. [If this doesn't give you the heebie-jeebies, you don't have a pulse.] We were just starting our hike onto the Beech Woods Trail when we met a couple of Texas A&M University field researchers, Mackenzie Tietjen and her field assistant Julio, who were just finishing a collecting transect right along the trail we were about to hike. She displayed her catch of the day (3rd image) and confirmed the identity of these ""seed ticks"". I don't think I ever recovered from this observation the rest of the weekend. I was continually sensitive to just about any slight itch. Thankfully, our dog Elli was the only family member who managed to collect a tick, and just one: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4481018"