some specimens vary in roundness, flatness, development of the 

 ventral muscleplate, and sharpness of the lateral groove. Com- 

 parison of many specimens of this genus preserved in alcohol with 

 those preserved as dry specimens shows that those preserved in 

 alcohol frequently develop a coppery sheen due to chemical change. 

 Theiler has made similar observations in this respect. The obscu- 

 rity of the color pattern and its overlay with a basic color in 

 some specimens in any extensive collection of amblyommas from 

 even a single host is taken for granted by most students. Using 

 the above mentioned criteria, proposed by Schulze, large collec- 

 tions of A. variegatum and A. lepidum from single herds of cattle 

 have been^examined . It has been found that each collection con- 

 tains no less than four '"species'" and up to seven '"species'". 



Comparison of SudaJi specimens with others from various parts 

 of Africa and of the type specimens of A. nuttalli in British 

 Museum (Natural History; reveals no significant differences to 

 obtain between any of them. 



It is for these reasons that it has been proposed (Hoogstraal 

 1954B) to consider A. werneri werneri Schulze, 1932(A), as a syno- 

 nym of A. nuttalli TSSnitz, 1^(5^ 



It is also of some interest to consider the status of A. 

 werneri poematium Schxilze, 1932, described on the basis of two 

 males from a young rhinoceros, at the Amsterdam zoological gardens, 

 from East Africa. This subspecies was distinguished by '"a wonder- 

 ful metallic, copper, partly greenish gloss (with) brown elements 

 of the conscutum bordered in copper'", in one of the two specimens, 

 but in the other '"the structiore producing the metallic coloration 

 was in greatest part destroyed, only in a few places did the 

 greenish coppery sheen show up'". The size of these specimens was 

 also larger than that of the subspecies werneri . 



I have seen a male specimen taken from a Somali tortoise 

 0^'17691, Rocky 1-lountain Laboratory, Hamilton, determined as A. 

 werneri by Dr. E. Stella). This tick answers the description of 

 A. w. poematium but has a somewhat rugose scutum suggestive of 

 injury during molting or during an inimatvire stage. The specimen 

 resembles a teneral individual, i.e. one that has been preserved 

 shortly after molting while still bloated and before the colors 

 are fast. 



- 238 _ 



