Images not to be used by the tobacco industry. Hedgehog tick (Ixodes hexagonus) lower leg and claw, coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Ticks are parasitic arachnids. The claw can help the tick grasp vegetation or its host. Ticks feed on the blood of a variety of animals and can transmit a number of diseases. The hedgehog tick is potentially a carrier of Borrelia, the bacterium responsible for Borreliosis, which is also known as Lyme disease. Magnification: x300 when printed at 10cm wide.