NOTE: Rousselot (1951>1953B) records specimens from the cane 

 rat, Thryononys swinderianiis . These specimens should be checked 

 against R. simpsoni . In the same reports he states that the short- 

 haired rat, Praomys jacksoni , is a host in the Belgian Congo. Uix- 

 less this note refers to parasitism liy an immature stage, this 

 animal would be a most unusual host. Santos Dias (1952C,1953» 

 1954) states that one nymph along with many males has been taken 

 from a forest dwarf buffalo. 



BIOLOGY 



Life Cycle 



It cannot be determined whether the life cycle data presented 

 by Rousselot (1953B, p. 92) under R. simus senegalensis concern 

 this subspecies or the subspecies simus ; other remarks under the 

 same heading refer obviously to the subspecies simus . Unfortvinate- 

 ly, no clues to the life cycle of R. simus senegalensis in natvu:e 

 are available. Rousselot (1953B, p. 91^ claims that this is a 

 three-host subspecies. 



Ecology 



This is a tick of West African higher rainfall areas. Popu- 

 lations that range into East Africa appear to be confined to 

 animals found in forests, in more heavily vegetated savannah, 

 and in the vicinity of lakes. The Boma Plains buffalo on which 

 some Sudan specimens were taken was probably a migrant, for the 

 Boma Plains are too arid for many months of the year to allow 

 this tick to survive. 



According to Unsworth (1952) , in Nigeria the subspecies 

 senegalensis "appears to have approximately the same distri- 

 bution as . . . simus , but it is not so common". 



disea.se relations 



It is claimed that specimens of R. simus senegalensis nat- 

 urally infected with Q fever (Coxiella burnetii j have been found 

 in Portugese Giunea. 



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