On Wednesday, I sorted through a shipment of ticks containing many larvae on a lint roller sheet. We provided lint rollers in case volunteers found any clusters of newly-hatched larvae on their tick drags, which is what this volunteer had found. I had to switch from the dissecting microscope I’d been using to a compound microscope to get a better view of the larvae! Even with the higher powered microscope though, it was difficult to see the specific physical characteristics that the keys refered to. With the help of Dr. Harrington and some high-powered microscope pictures online, we finally decided that all the larvae were Ixodes scapularis.
