1900] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 337 



for a few days; rapid distentioii follows arid it soon tails off voluu- 

 tarily for the second time- The duration limits of this host period, 

 as shown by the thousand or more individuals reared under obser- 

 vation, are four and one-quarter and eight days ; as in the case of 

 the larva, most of the "drops" occurred on the sixth day. The 

 distended nymph roams about until a suitable hiding- place is found, 

 which, where possible, is in the cover of the soil or plant stems, and 

 then it settles down to moult. Incubation at 100 to 103 degrees has, in 

 the case of two large batches, indicated the minimum period from 

 the drop to this moult to be twenty-four days. The maximum 

 limit has not yet been determined, but exceeds eleven weeks at a 

 temperature averaging 65 degrees. 



The sex, which in the larval and uymphal stages appears indis- 

 tinguishable, is clearly indicated by the colors, markings and other 

 characters in the adult. So distinct are the markings and so thin 

 the old skin, that the sexes may be separated two or three days be- 

 fore the moult actually takes place. In general appearance the 

 adult is as different as can be from the earlier stages, and therefore, 

 until these studies were made, it is not strange that the different 

 stages of the species failed to be associated with one another. 



After its second and final moult the tick again seeks its host, and 

 in its quest it now does relatively much more traveling and less 

 resting than as a larva o'- nymph. The male fastens to a beast with- 

 out much hesitancy, but the female is very reluctant to attach her- 

 self except in front of or close by one of the opposite sex. Almost 

 or quite invariably the female does the courting. She will 

 not, however, take notice of a male prior to the latter's attaching 

 himself, and neither will the male give her encouragement. For a 

 number of days, the minimum of which appears to be four, the male 

 continues unattractive, and although a female may come up and 

 touch him with her fore legs she passes him by. Then an entire 

 chano-e takes place in his behavior, and on the approach of a fe- 

 male he is thrown into wild excitement. He brings his body at 

 right angles with the skin of the animal and waves his eight legs 

 frantically. His would-be-mate rushes up, is caught by the waving 

 legs, and in a few seconds the pair is in close embrace, the limbs of 

 cai-h entwining the other. The female then proceeds to penetrate 

 the skin of the host just in front of where her mate is attached. 

 Sometimes several females dispute over one male; and in such a 

 case the unlucky ones may settle down, even to half a dozen in num" 

 ber, around the pair. 



A few days after mating in this manner the female begins to 

 swell, at first slowly and then more rapidly ; by about, the fifth day 

 she may be half distended. Full detention is generally attained on 

 the seventh or eighth diy and the tick then tails. Development 

 may, however, be complete in six and one-half da> s. or may nut In- 



