nymph on the same individual host, and then drop off the host for 

 molting. Thiis on the hare the life cycle requires only two hosts 

 (Brassey-Bdwards 1932). This interesting phenomenon should be re- 

 investigated. 



The long oviposition period is especially noteworthy. Unfed 

 larvae may survive a year, unfed nymphs three months, and unfed 

 adults for longer than a year (Theiler 1%3B). Enigk (1953) ob- 

 served unfed adults surviving up to two years. 



Howard (1908) considered H. rufipes as a two-host tick with 

 one generation a year in South"Africa. He described, illustrated, 

 and discussed the immature stages but did not differentiate them 

 from those of H. truncatum which he apparently did not rear. Jack 

 (1928) noted a'two-host and a three-host type of life cycle for 

 this tick. 



Ecology 



Thorburn (1952) states that on cattle the chief site of in- 

 festation of this tick is in the tail region. Specimens in the 

 present collection are from the flanks, genitalia, udders, and 

 perianal regions. The anal area is mentioned by Matthysse ^1954;. 

 Njinphs are always, in our experience, on the crown of the head of 

 their avian hosts. 



du Toit and Monnig (1942) record the finding of a male at- 

 tached to the hard palate of the mouth of a cow, and indicated 

 that on the farm where this occurred this phenomenon had been ob. 

 served on several occasions. 



H rufipes ranges through the more arid areas of tropical and 

 souther n Africa but only localized populations maintain themselves 

 in the severely arid conditions of northern Africa. It exists 

 where annual rainfall is from ten to thirty inches a year. It 

 may also thrive in irrigated areas with diminished rainfall or 

 where a long, severe dry season occurs between an annual rainy 

 season of approximately forty inches. In the Sudan, it is more 

 comron in the drier savannah and semiarid central areas than m 

 the southern forest and savannah areas; it occurs m the Nile 

 Valley, but is not known in extreme desert conditions. In £^pt. 



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