Nick Upton / Castor oil plant (Ricinus communis) with red female and white male flowers, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, June.

Philippe Clement / Female flowers of Castorbean / Castor-oil-plant (Ricinus communis) native to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, July.

Duncan Usher / Sheep Tick (Ixodes ricinus) female engorged with blood, Lower Saxony, Germany

Konrad Wothe / Sheep Tick (Ixodes ricinus) engorged with blood on skin, Bavaria, Germany

Michael Durham / Sheep Tick (Ixodes ricinus) female engorged after a blood meal, northeast Oregon

Michael Durham / Sheep Tick (Ixodes ricinus) male in northeast Oregon

Michael Durham / Sheep Tick (Ixodes ricinus) male in northeast Oregon

Ingo Arndt / Sheep Tick (Ixodes ricinus) or Pasture Tick on leaf, Europe

Konrad Wothe / Sheep Tick (Exudes ricinus) juvenile, Germany

Jussi Murtosaari / White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) male, head portrait, ears covered in Castor bean ticks (Ixodes ricinus), Finland. August.

Paul Harcourt Davies / Castor oil plant (Ricinus communis) ripening fruit and dried 'bean', Ponza, Lazio, Italy. September.