#soft tick

Researchers with Baylor College of Medicine and Texas A&M AgriLife Research collaborated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, SCINet project and Ag100Pest Initiative to assemble the first genome for a soft tick, Ornithodoros turicata. Their findings were published in G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics. Populations of this tick are found in Florida, and in regions from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and into the southwestern states and Mexico. It is the vector of a pathogen causing human relapsing fever and has agricultural significance as a potential vector of African swine fever virus.

@ghostibus submitted: Found this dude taking a walk on my pillow. Not sure if I should be concerned or not. He looks nice enough, hopefully. I live in northern Italy.

Bat Tick (Carios kelleyi)

...a species of soft tick that is distributed throughout parts of North America, mainly Canada and the United States although it has also been found in Costa Rica. Like other soft ticks this species is a parasite of bats, as suggested by its name. Although they are also known to parasitize other animals including humans. Unlike other members of Argasidae C.kelleyi larvae are slow-feeding and take weeks to engorge.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Arthropoda-Chelicerata-Arachnida-Acari-Parasitiformes-Ixodida-Argasidae-Carios-C.kelleyi