Loved this phrasing:

«Lone star ticks are aggressive and can speedily follow a human target if they detect them. “They will hunt you, they are like a cross between a lentil and a velociraptor,” said Sharon Pitcairn Forsyth, a conservationist who lives in the Washington DC area.»

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/29/lone-star-ticks-increase-climate-crisis

(Also, the tick bombs: 😱)

…

Wait. Why would juvenile ticks have alpha-gal?

«”There is a current theory that ticks make alpha-gal themselves. Studies have shown that some ticks carry alpha-gal in their saliva and intestinal tract,” said Dr. Mozena. Though, this theory isn’t fully developed yet.

Alpha-Gal: Another Reason to Beware of Ticks While Hunting Spring Gobblers | Virginia DWR https://share.google/u0bw6THAj7Fxb7s8E

Why would insects produce a mammalian sugar? Because they have somehow ingested and incorporated a gene that does so.

I’m willing to believe that, because I’ve seen it before, or something like it (cf. Golgi bodies). But it’s still amazing. The connections in the biological world go beyond our common understanding.