Black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) are indisputibly blood-sucking, disease-transmitting parasites, but they are also marvels of mechanical engineering (in a non-teleological, Darwinian sense, of course).
![Comparison of black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, before and after a blood meal](https://travelswithmusti.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Tick-comparison-11.jpg)
The critter on the left is a female black-legged tick (also called a deer tick) in her fasting state, and on the right is another individual after completing a meal of Musti’s blood. For scale, the unfed female is about the size of a sesame seed, growing to the size of a coffee bean after a full meal.
Tagged: black-legged tick, blood meal, deer tick, Ixodes scapularis