vidiials hatched from vmfertilized females. Oviposition in tin- 

 fertilized females was much delayed and the interval between 

 hatching and molting of their progeny much prolonged. All prog- 

 eny were females, but when these were mated with normal males 

 both sexes were represented in the subsequent generation. 



According to Cunliffe, 0. moubata and 0, savignyi may copu- 

 late but the resulting eggs are unfertile, "This is contradicted 

 by recent, unpublished findings of Dr. G, E, Davis who writes 

 (correspondence) as follows: "I have found that the interbreeding 

 of these two species not only results in progeny but in fertile 

 progeny when the products of the first interbreeding are allowed 

 to interbreed among themselves". 



The foregoing is a reasonably complete though brief summary 

 of what is known about the life cycle of 0. moubata . Before leav- 

 ing this subject, attention shovild be called to the additional 

 temperature and humidity studies discussed under Environmental 

 adaptability below for these factors exert considerable influence 

 on the life cycle , 



Ecology 



Environment and Domestic Habitats 



The ecology smd distribution of 0. moubata , as summarized in 

 the paragraphs below, has always been considered in the light of 

 domestic populations. The significance of the increasingly more 

 numerous reports of the eyeless tampaji in large animal burrows 

 from the Sudan to South Africa awaits to be determined. Should 

 it eventually be found that these two populations are a single 

 biological entity that has happened by chance to occupy one or 

 the other habitat, the concltisions of early workers, who believed 

 that man has been wholly responsible for carrying this tick out- 

 ward from its primitive range in the East African lowlands, will 

 have to be modified. 



The arid environment preferred by domestic populations of 

 0, moubata restricts their presence to dry, permanent huts and 

 "structiires where people gather. In its probable original area, 

 the Somali Arid District and possibly the East African Lowland 



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