Please help identify

[Heatherc]

This is one of the smallest insects I have seen, as I was laying in bed and scrolling on my phone it crawled across my screen. I had to zoom in 10-14x to get these pics.

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[Chuck]

Tick

[kevinkk]

you zoomed in too far. It looks like a tick, I think I saw one view that had 4 legs on one side. Aren't ticks seasonal? Maybe not.

[Heatherc]

It was really hard to get a clear pic of it, it was so small. With the naked eye it was about the size of the period on here. Had it not been on my phone screen I would have never seen it. I’m an er nurse and highly paranoid of bed bugs, we do get patients with them from time to time. And worked myself up thinking what if it’s one. I do live in Louisiana and it’s still pretty hot here so ticks are still active.

[Chuck]

Not bedbug. Tick

If you’re an ER nurse you should know not to panic.

Go check yourself for circular “target” shaped red area It doesn’t look engorged, so I’m guessing not bite. There is plenty of info on the internet.

If you have cats, get rid of them.

[Papilio_indra]

I don't think that it is a tick, possibly a very small weevil. It looks like it has antennae, which ticks don't have.

[kevinkk]

That's what I thought it looked like! Most likely far too small after reading the post however.

[Chuck]

I don't think that it is a tick, possibly a very small weevil. It looks like it has antennae, which ticks don't have.

You may be right. Second photo does almost look like there's something on the head. The shape looks to me like a tick. I guess we will never know.

[Heatherc]

But not a bedbug?

[adamcotton]

Definitely not a bedbug, those are very different in shape and are not that small.

Adam.

[bandrow]

Greetings,

I'd agree that it is likely a species of weevil - the last image shows an elongate rostrum and one can see the elbowed antennae, neither of which is presemt in ticks.

What is the mesh material in the bottom image, and could you measure the span of a cell in that? That would give a better estimate of the beast's size...

Cheers!
Bandrow

[Heatherc]

That is actually the bed sheet, the beast is actually on a piece of paper I grabbed when I initially spotted it.

[bandrow]

Okay - if you can measure the width of a cell in the bed sheet, we can estimate the size of the insect. That won't provide a definitive ID, but will add info to narrow it down to some candidates.

[Heatherc]

I have added the requested measurement of the sheet, please let me know if this is sufficient.

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