Crossword Genius

Ticks abandon old fly (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mosquito

'fly' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'ticks abandon old' is the wordplay.
'ticks' becomes 'mos' (a mo is a very short period of time).
'abandon' becomes 'quit' (quitting is a kind of abandoning).
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'mos'+'quit'+'o'='MOSQUITO'

(Other definitions for mosquito that I've seen before include "possible disease carrier" , "Disease-bearing fly" , "Disease-spreading insect" , "British WWII multi-role combat aircraft" , "Annoying insect" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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