It does n’t matter if they ’re wood check mark , cervid ticks , or lone star check — most mass attempt to void the rakehell - sucking parasites at all cost . But if you ’re the rare person who ’s interested in seeing ticks up close , the U.S. National Tick Collection at Georgia Southern University is the place to go .
According toSmithsonian , the aggregation boasts more than 1 million tick specimens constitute most of the 860 known species of thearachnid . The diverse salmagundi includes intimate names — like theAmerican pawl tick , which is active throughout most of the country — as well as more obscure instance likeIxodes uriae — an Antarctic ticking that feed on seabirds . Some specimen are more notable for their unparalleled backstories than their scientific labels : One tick in the collection was remove fromTheodore Roosevelt ’s pet dog .
Unlike some other check mark collections , the U.S. National Tick Collection has never stayed in one station for very long . It ’s had multiple home plate , including Montana State University and the National Institutes of Health ’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories . It was donated to Smithsonian ’s National Museum of Natural story in 1983 , and it ’s presently at Georgia Southern University on loanword .
Though already massive , the aggregation is still growing thanks to acquisitions and fieldwork by entomologists . Having a comprehensive catalogue of check at their disposition allows scientist to analyse the disease the parasite spread out . In 2018 , almost 60,000 cases of tickborne sickness , including Rocky Mountain spot febricity , babesiosis , and Lyme disease , were reported to theCDC .
maintain in jars of inebriant and stored in cabinets , the specimen in the U.S. National Tick Collection do n’t present the same health threats as their live similitude . The collection is available for bookman , researchers , and the public to see byappointment only .
[ h / tSmithsonian ]
