SOME INVERTEBRATA FROM ST. KILDA 85 



Ixodes borealis, Kram. and Neum.--The most interesting 

 creature in the collection is a tick, of which there are several adult 

 females, and a few nymphs. Mr. Waterston informs me that some 

 of these were taken from Puffins and Fulmars caught by himself on 

 the cliffs. They also occurred on the stones and loose turf where 

 these are frequented by the birds a fact well known to the natives, 

 who dread the bite exceedingly. Curiously enough, though he often 

 got ticks on his clothing when climbing about the rocks, he was 

 never once bitten. These ticks, he adds, " swollen almost beyond 

 recognition," are found on the young Fulmars attached to the bare 

 skin at the angles of the mouth, below the bill, and in the corners 

 of the eyes. They there penetrate so deeply into the soft young 

 tissue that it is difficult to dislodge them. 



The accompanying figure is from one of the less distended 



Ad. 9, x 12. 



of the St. Kilda specimens. Colour dark reddish-brown, inclining 

 to yellowish in middle of shield (richer or duller according as the 

 specimen is in spirit or dry) ; legs, palps, etc., pale yellow, more or 

 less tinged with green ; body, except shield, clothed with short 

 whitish hairs ; hypostome of rostrum with two rows of teeth on 

 each side; length including rostrum 3^ mm. The length of the 

 largest example is fully 6 mm. The nymphs are rounder, nearly 

 glabrous, and about 3 mm. in length. 



On consulting Prof. G. Neumann's " Revision de la famille des 

 Ixodides," l I came to the conclusion that the specimens before me 

 were referable to the species designated by him Ixodes putus 

 (Cambr.), and of which he makes Ixodes borealis, K. and N., a 

 synonym. Hyalomma puta was described by Pickard-Cambridge in 



1 Memoires de la Societe Zoologique de France, 1896-1901. 



