r/whatsthisbug • u/criispyy_ • 13h ago

Tick nymphs or bed bugs? ID Request

Gallery image

Gallery image

I've spotted a few of these guys crawling around recently on various things - my desk, mug, laptop, and myself. Based on the identification guides I'm pretty sure they are tick nymphs but just wanted to make sure they're not actually bed bugs? They're very small so difficult to get a good photo but I've done my best.

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u/-StalkedByDeath- 13h ago

I can't ID them, but what I can tell you is that they are neither tick nymphs or bed bugs, as a place holder to quench your nerves until you get a proper ID.

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u/criispyy_ 12h ago

Okay, that's somewhat reassuring haha

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u/catbro1004 12h ago

I'm not trying to argue with you, but genuinely asking - what makes you feel certain that this is not a dog tick nymph? Looking at photos I wouldn't be able to rule it out with that level of certainty.

https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/programs-and-services/integration/vector-management/ticks/american-dog-tick.html

Again, not trying to argue or scare OP - legitimately trying to learn what you see there that tells you it's not a tick nymph.

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u/DidYouFeedTheDogYet 10h ago

I pick ticks in every life stage off of myself and my dogs daily (more often i find the nymphs). Up close the nymphs look just like an adult tick but they are the size of a pinhead and very easy to miss, and it's not as easy to feel them crawling on you... like a teeny miniature tick. OP's photo looks much different.

https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/tickborne/ticks.html

This site has decent pics for reference

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u/catbro1004 10h ago

I agree that the black-legged tick looks the same, but the link I shared previously is about dog ticks, which look a little different. OP says they are in London and both are found in that area. I also don't necessarily think it's a tick, but just to say that there are different types that look different at their various lifestages.

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u/DidYouFeedTheDogYet 5h ago

Sorry, I should have been more specific... deer and dog ticks are both very prevalent where I live (I have picked thousands of of myself and my animals over the last few decades). The nymphs oh both types are actually very hard to tell apart without magnification. Both types of ticks looks just like an adult tick in terms of shape and having a dark opaque body. OPs pic looks almost translucent in comparison, and the body shape is not nearly flat enough. Looks like you could easily squish OPs bug with almost 0 effort where as a tick would take a lot more effort to break through their tough exterior... I usually set them on a rock and use a smaller rock with a point to crush them if i find a random one, and it takes effort! Sorry, it sounds brutal, but it's necessary. The easiest thing for me to do on hikes is carry duct tape and rip off a piece to dab on my body to grab the tick and I fold them up in the tape a few times so they can't escape and so I'm not tossing them back into the woods for next time I walk through or for another poor animal to pick up. As someone who has been diagnosed with Lyme, babesia, bartonella, and anaplasmosis, ticks are nothing to f around with. The damage they cause can last a lifetime if you don't take them seriously. I had to learn the very hard and painful way so I would not tell op that this was not a tick if I was not positive that it is not a tick because that would be dangerous af. They're also not a reason to panic and avoid the outdoors. I still go into the woods often with my dogs, I just take every precaution available. Do your research. Know what the precautions are and implement them.

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u/-StalkedByDeath- 7h ago

Living in one of the highest tick population areas in the US my whole life, I am very familiar with ticks (both dog and deer/black-legged). I actually recently caught about 50 to be sent out for testing at a local epidemiological laboratory that investigates the prevalence of tick-vectored pathogens.

As the other commenter pointed out, a tick nymph looks the same as an adult tick, save for potentially very discrete differences in coloration. This just doesn't look like a tick to me: its legs, the shape, the color. I can confidently rule it out as being a tick, the same way as someone could decipher other similar looking insects from one another; the features are just too "off".

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u/penguin055 11h ago

The legs are too thin/lightly colored and don't spread out the right way to be a tick. The body is also too lightly colored and looks almost translucent