Debate Settled

Today we visited the Natural History Museum (Erik for the second time), where we settled a debate that originally came up on our trip to Peru. What kind of creature are ticks? Are they insects? Arachnids? Some other unique class of bug (or arthropods as we learned creepy crawlies with exoskeletons are called)? As it turns out, a tick is in fact an arachnid because it has two body segments (head and abdomen), 4 pairs of legs, and lacks wings and antennae. In fact, within the arachnid family, ticks are most closely related to mites, as opposed to spiders or scorpions. Now we just need to know who is related to fleas and lice.