==Mimetism?== 
 I know a woman who had a tick attached to her arm for 2-3 days before she realized it. She was trekking in a difficult spot and didn't change clothes for that long, only washing face & hands. When she reached the camp, she finally took a shower and only then she discovered the tick. It was cream-colored, although most ticks we had seen had always been black. So we wondered, when ticks mature on a host, can they "take" the color of the host's skin or hair coat?