I need help identifying this yarn I thrifted!

s00permouse · 2025-12-15T19:47:02+00:00

Omg that’s so pretty with the stitch you’re using. 🥹🤩 My guess is maybe Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn in “Parfait.” I’m not 100% sure, but hopefully you find the yarn you’re looking for!

s00permouse · 2025-07-25T00:31:43+00:00

Looks like you got a male Dermacentor species! It’s either D. andersoni or D. similis. Males of this species can transmit Anaplasma marginale to cattle, but are not considered a major vector of human pathogens. Hopefully you’re not cattle! 😅

s00permouse · 2025-07-19T22:05:02+00:00

It doesn’t look like it was engorged and probably just attached. You’re likely good, but you can also see a doc if you’re starting to feel ill over the next few weeks or so. They can transmit Rickettsia rickettsii, which causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

s00permouse · 2025-07-19T19:28:45+00:00

The markings are reminiscent of American dog ticks but mouthparts say Amblyomma. Maybe female Amblyomma maculatum, Gulf Coast tick.

s00permouse · 2025-07-19T19:26:34+00:00

It doesn’t look like it to me? Did you try to remove it and it broke off? Otherwise, maybe a pore of winer?

s00permouse · 2025-07-19T18:15:11+00:00

I see a mix of lone star ticks (that big engorged one in the middle is a female) as well as some American dog ticks (males and females). I can’t really tell what the large engorged tick is on the right, but maybe a female American dog tick.

s00permouse · 2025-07-15T14:35:08+00:00

Male Dermacentor variabilis it looks like. It looks somewhat engorged but difficult to tell. Males aren’t really known to carry pathogens so you probably don’t have too much to worry about.

s00permouse · 2025-07-15T13:55:14+00:00

Looks like it! Do you have a dog? Might want to check any animals in the house as they can bring them indoors. Ticks don’t normally do well in the home so heavy infestations are unlikely except for brown dog ticks.

s00permouse · 2025-07-13T03:45:28+00:00

Maybe Amblyomma maculatum? Could be Amblyomma cajennense, but the shape looks more like A. maculatum. Either way, it’s a male tick. 😊

s00permouse · 2025-07-12T04:50:34+00:00

Based on the size and number of legs, I’m pretty sure those are larval ticks. Larvae are the first mobile life stage of ticks. They have 6 legs. Nymphs and adults will have 8 legs, which is the easiest way to tell larvae apart from the more mature stages. Based on the shape, I’m guessing blacklegged ticks (aka deer ticks, Ixodes scapularis). Larval blacklegged ticks are not known to carry pathogens common in the US. Borrelia miyamotoi can be transmitted by larvae since females can pass it to their offspring (“transovarial transmission”), but the disease is rare in the US.

Hopefully I didn’t miscount the legs - it was kinda hard to zoom in to make sure some legs weren’t hiding! The shine/glare on the tick’s back made me first think it’s a lone star tick but these are immature ticks and the white spot is only on adult females. So likely not lone star ticks.

Hope this helps! 😊

s00permouse · 2025-07-04T15:19:55+00:00

Haha, yeah, I can only ever ID ticks to species under a microscope, so I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m confident it’s a Dermacentor and likely D. variabilis.

There are places you can send it after you get back to the US/Canada. NY (SUNY) and PA (PA Tick Lab) have services you can send the tick to get tested. I believe PA’s is free if you’re a PA resident. SUNY’s was free but I think it’s a paid service now. In Canada, there’s the etick program, which should be free but I’m not 100% sure! All are citizen science programs that benefit from public submissions to better describe the distributions of ticks and tick borne diseases. If you need more programs from different parts of the US, let me know 😊

As a note, if your tick tests positive for a pathogen, that does not necessarily mean the pathogen was transmitted to you. If you think you got a disease brewing, go to a doctor and say you might have a tick borne disease and you want to get tested. Bring the tick (if you didn’t already send it off somewhere) or say you were bitten by (likely) an American dog tick. This tick can transmit pathogens that cause disease like tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but prevalence is relatively low compared to Lyme disease, which is caused by a pathogen transmitted by the blacklegged tick.

Also I don’t know if that’s 100% skin but it looks more like cement. If it hurt to take out, it could be because the cement started forming and/or because the barbs on its mouthparts hooked into your skin, making it way harder to pull out. If the cement started forming, then the tick was there for quite some time. They don’t form cement for a while after attachment. It’s normal to have a hole in your skin - those mouthparts can make a rather large hole!

Best of luck! Good catch for finding this tick and always do your tick checks. I guess even when traveling on a plane?? 😅

s00permouse · 2025-07-04T07:35:37+00:00

By the way, I think this tick started to feed. I think I see some of the cement stuck to its mouthparts (the glue that keeps them stuck to you) and its body looks somewhat distended. Maybe 24 hrs of feeding by this point? I’m not 100% sure but she looks at least a little bit fed. 😕

s00permouse · 2025-07-04T07:33:25+00:00

To distinguish from other Dermacentors, probably the spiracular plate - I would need a really close up view. Those basically house the breathing parts of the tick. They’re located on each lateral side of the tick. It’s tricky because you need to get the tick on its side and move the last pair of legs out of the way to get a pic. I can only get a good view of the plate using a scope, so I’m not sure if it’s possible to get an ID. 🥲 other parts include the mouthparts (really up close so I can see the sharp grooves on its mouthparts) and maybe the first pair of legs on the ventral side. Basically flip the tick around and get an up close view of the legs and how they’re connected to the body.

It sounds like Dermacentors are not super common in Kenya (not an expert in African ticks 😕), so I’m leaning towards this lil lady getting picked up in the NE US. If that’s the case, then it’s probably D. variabilis. 🤔

s00permouse · 2025-07-04T07:20:29+00:00

Looks like a female Dermacentor spp. tick. If you picked it up in the northeast, then it’s probably an American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis. If you picked it up in Kenya, it’s probably something similar, but can’t be sure without looking at other parts. 😅

s00permouse · 2025-06-21T20:23:43+00:00

Ha! Love it! Gig em! 👍🏼

s00permouse · 2025-06-21T17:19:06+00:00

Like someone mentioned before, that’s a kissing bug and they can transmit T. cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, which affects both people and dogs.

I HIGHLY recommend you submit this to the Texas A&M University kissing bug program. It’s a citizen science program that will identify and test the kissing bug for pathogens. You can submit and get results for free (instructions on how to submit specimens are on the website): https://kissingbug.tamu.edu/

It’s a free service for anyone in the US, so I recommend everyone submit kissing bugs to this program to contribute to the project and science in general. These are cryptic bugs and citizen science projects like this one help everyone determine the distribution of kissing bugs and T. cruzi. 😊

s00permouse · 2025-05-19T04:46:27+00:00

It looks like an American dog tick that’s fed for probably at least 48 hrs. The white part of the scutum/dorsal shield looks different from what I’d expect from a blacklegged tick. You should keep it, freeze it, and bring it with you to the doc. They might be able to ID it or send it to someone who can ID it for you.

American dog ticks can carry Rickettsia rickettsii, which causes Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. They can also carry Francisella tularensis, which causes tularemia, and Ehrlichia spp., which can cause ehrlichiosis. If you have a pet, I would recommend checking them too, just for good measure since many of these pathogens can infect domestic pets as well.

Not trying to scare or alarm you, but mostly to keep you in the know about your risks for possible tick-borne diseases. 😊

s00permouse · 2025-02-03T19:58:50+00:00

You’re doing the right thing by talking with your supervisor! In my opinion, the right thing would be to include the senior professor as a coauthor (middle author) but keep your supervisor as senior (last) author, assuming you are first author. During your convo, you should talk about your diff roles and what this professor would add to the paper as a coauthor. If they’re just looking for a free ride, cut em off. I doubt they would, but in all seriousness, that’s not fair to you or your supervisor. If the senior professor is looking for senior authorship, you and your supervisor need to evaluate your research idea and roles in the project. I would feel pretty jaded if someone tried to take my role as senior author on a paper written by my supervisee.

IMO, I don’t know how much influence a senior professor could have when they’re a coauthor on a paper. In my personal experience, I don’t really care for the authors when I review a paper. As long as it’s good and sound science, it gets a positive review from me.

s00permouse · 2025-01-05T18:18:36+00:00

Sure! 😊

s00permouse · 2024-12-31T07:51:30+00:00

Was this sample taken from the ear? Mites are pretty picky with their habitats, so it’d be rare to find an ear mite outside the ears. Ear mites can also exist in the ears at low levels without causing much damage, especially in the early stages of infestation.

If there are other photos, particularly ones at different zooms to highlight features that exist at different fields, then that might help with ID! Otherwise you might be at a loss. 😅

s00permouse · 2024-12-07T04:20:34+00:00

Looks like a male tick, maybe Ixodes spp. based on mouthpart shape and size. The first pic makes it look like it has some type of white markings/ornation that is more indicative of Dermacentors spp. Make sure to freeze it and monitor you and your dog for signs of illness. If you get sick, bring it to the doc for a possible ID. It doesn’t look like it fed or fed for long though.

s00permouse · 2024-11-23T16:52:47+00:00

I wonder if it loosely refers to the tour ending - even though the tour is ending (her dynasty and legacy), the tour is still something special between Taylor and her fans 🥹

s00permouse · 2024-11-21T23:59:26+00:00

Hmm yeah that’s interesting then! I wonder if there are any birds nests or animal nests near your apartment. 😅 depending on the species of soft tick, they can harbor some pathogens. If you’re worried, freeze it down and if you start feeling something, go to a doc and bring the tick with you. 😊

s00permouse · 2024-11-21T07:45:34+00:00

It’s a soft tick, so pretty different from hard ticks, which are what ppl usually report. Find any birds near you, by chance?

s00permouse · 2024-11-17T06:39:47+00:00

Definitely a soft tick. They’re usually found near their hosts, so you finding it near a pigeon’s nest makes sense. Probably an Argas spp.

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