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Tick
52.5167, 13.3833
Field Notes
Description:
Small tick exhibiting the classic questing pose: he stood at the tip of the leaf and slowly waved his two front legs. I'm thinking male Ixodes ricinus, the castor bean tick, but I'm really not sure.
Habitat:
Botanical Garden
Notes:
This was a lucky find! I was taking photos in the local Botanical Garden when I saw what I thought was a large dark-coloured tick crawling on my hand. Without taking a closer look, I immediately shook it off. Then I second-guessed myself and wondered if I'd overreacted - if perhaps it had just been a beetle. Scanning the ground, I didn't find any sign of it, so I thought to myself "if that really was a tick, I bet there are more" and knelt down to study the undergrowth at the side of the path. Sure enough, right when I was about to give up, this little guy crawled out from behind a leaf and went into questing pose! The whole experience was an important reminder of just how ubiquitous ticks are in cities, even in gardens and public parks.
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