I have had the same impression with Rhipicephalus sanguineus in Pianosa.
We were aware of the massive presence of this species there and we often looked at the bare ground to see if there were some of them “running” in our direction. But after walking beside the trees along a path we found some ticks on our heads.
Most definitely. Picture this, a calm day, canoeing through a small lake in a provincial park in Ontario. I see an insect float down from the sky and land on my leg. I look down, it’s a black-legged tick. Happened just this past year.
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Let’s not forget that ticks are mites, and mites are arachnids. Some plant-pest mites do produce web-like silk structures, which is why they are commonly called spider mites, or sometimes just red spider. Are ticks known for a fact to lack spinnerets?
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A bit off topic, but fleas are closely related to Diptera (flies), so perhaps they once had wings! I don’t think any Arachnids have had wings, but I’ve been wrong once or twice before 
. So I’m not sure Arachnids could develop wings.
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I have definitely seen ticks on the underside of tree leaves in Ohio when we lived there. Ticks feel the heat coming off our heads, or is it the CO2 we exhale (I can’t remember if it’s one or the other or both) so the advantage of height increases their chance of finding a human blood source. To get on larger dogs of course they could possibly come from bushes that a dog would pee against. Since I have long hair, I always wear a wide brimmed hat when hiking outdoors, while keeping my hair tied up underneath the hat. Going out for a full day means a cotton skirt with long sleeves, and pants legs tucked inside boots or socks. I also use DEET very sparingly on my face, neck, and hands.
Here in North Carolina we have mosquitoes all day long! Those nasty Asian Tiger Mosquitoes are around during the day and love the English ivy in my neighbors yard. The very tiny mosquitos that bit me in Oklahoma would fit through window screens! There was no avoiding those! Thank goodness I was only visiting! As a child, a tick was found in my ear and I did not like that at all! A babysitter had to remove it as I’m sure she didn’t want it crawling into my eardrum. Neither did I! The 3 dog ticks I found alive in our upstairs bedroom quickly went into alcohol for my collection! 
“I love bugs! Anything creepy or crawly or fuzzy; Anything wacky or slimy or buzzy! Yes, I love, I love, oh I love bugs! (applause sign blinks! 
)
Now back to your regular scheduled broadcasting…
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To add more details: I experienced this in Virachey National Park in Cambodia in early February and only at elevations above 500 m. Each evening after hiking we would relax in our hammocks and each time for several days in a row small ‘seed ticks’ would fall from above by the dozen.
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Hmm… how do you tell seed ticks from chiggers?
I thought chiggers were too small to see?
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Yeah, pretty sure you can see the actual organisms. But you can definitely feel their effects for weeks, in my experience…
yeahhhh i only had an experience with chiggers after a really wet year in california where they were prolific in one area i was doing vegetation monitoring in. noooooooooooooot fun
Thank you this makes so much sense!
Sounds like someone in tick research needs to study the lonestar behaviour! It would be very interesting especially because when it occurs here is the hight of ‘tick season’ and I wonder if it is a behaviour / strategy developed out of high competition at the grass/ground level.
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