fowl ticks in all stages can be foiind in crevices and tinder bark 

 of any large fig tree in which herons roost and nest. 



In Pakistan, Abdxissalam and Sarwar (1953) foiind freqiient para- 

 sitism of vultures and common herons in sixteen kinds of trees in 

 which these birds nest. Other birds and palm squirrels also perch 

 in these trees, but only a young kite was found infested, (Whether 

 smaller birds and squirrels were examined for ticks is not clear 

 from the report). On trees with relatively snooth bark and few 

 cracks, ticks extended down the tnank almost to the ground, but 

 on those with cracked bark they concentrated chiefly in the upper 

 branches near the perches of their hosts, (in the Cairo area, 

 roiigh-barked trees harbor tremendous tick populations from near 

 the roots to the crown). The incidence of ticks in trees harboring 

 vultures and herons was much higher than it was in nearby chicken 

 houses. 



Specimens have occasionally been reported from isolated nests 

 of wild birds and on groiond birds such as quail. Howard (1908) 

 recorded the secretary bird and Bedford (193A.) the gtiinea fowl as 

 wild hosts. Theiler (unpublished) informs me of the following South 

 African records: wattled crane, hadada ibis, and pelican. King 

 (1926) reported the guinea fowl, buff- backed heron, and crow as 

 wild hosts of the larval stage in the Sudan. Speciiosns from gviinea 

 fowl at Khartoum (SGC) probably came from zoological garden hosts. 



Identification of larvae from wild birds that construct iso- 

 lated nests and that do not live close to human habitations should 

 be regarded with suspicion if these larvae have not been identified 

 by a contemporary expert in argasids. Larvae of related species 

 closely resemble those of A. persicus . Wild bird parasites are so 

 poorly known that the presence of argasid larvae on them shoxad be 

 a hint to consider rare or poorly known tick species before con- 

 cluding definitely that those found are A, persicus . The mouthparts 

 of larvae pulled from birds are usually "Broken unless extreme cau- 

 tion is exercised and the body characters are frequently obscured 

 by engorgement so that it is difficult to identify the material. 



Wild Mammal Hosts 



Apparently the only authentic report for the fowl tick from a 

 wild mammal is a note of three adults from a Texas jack rabbit 

 shot in 19O6 (Hooker, Bishopp, and Wood 1912). 



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