Acarophobia: The fear of ticks.

Ticks are small arachnids, which are not insects but are related to them in the phylum Arthropod. Ticks usually dwell in crevices, emerging briefly to feed. They feed by latching onto an animal host, embedding their heads into the animal's skin and sucking its blood. Ticks are divided into two groups, hard-bodied and soft-bodied, both of which are capable of spreading diseases. Ticks are associated with phobias because people fear them because they are responsible for at least nine known diseases in humans in the United States. They are fearful that the contact with the insect will automatically result in the contraction of a disease. It is irrational for one to think that all ticks are carriers of a disease.