KEPORT ON ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
The human 
tick 
Scaly leg in 
fowls 
Pest of millet 
and maize 
2‘2 2 
The Human Tick 
( h'liitliiidui’os Alldnoiii 
Plate XXVT., fi^- 5 
The human tick, OniitJKuldros udi-ii/iii/i, has been taken at Fatasliia — twenty-two miles 
west of Omdin-inau — -by Mr. N. Wilkinson, and at a well situated about twelve miles 
north-east of Khartoum North. A single specimen was among some insects given me by 
Dr. Crispin, collected in the neighbourhood of Port Sudan. 
Normally this tick feeds by night, but probably those that live by wells get many of 
their meals from travellers resting during the heat of the day, for they can then be seen 
actively running about in search of a host. If touched they at once feign death. 
The life-history of O. Kuriijiii/i has been described by Christophers.' 
The eggs are deposited in a mass on the soil, and hatch in about a week. The 
six-legged larvie, unlike those of cattle ticks, are inactive, but moult after three or four days 
aud become active eight-legged nymphs. They are then ready for a meal. 
In many respects the habits of the human tick resemble those of the fowl tick, Aryas 
persicns. 
Scaly Leg 
Sarcoptei) mu fans, Rob. 
The condition among fowls known as scaly ley is due to a small mite, Sarrnpfes niutaii.s, 
Rob. It is common in the northern parts of the Su<lan, but appears to attract little 
attention. A number of the fowls exhibited at the Berber Province Agricultural Show this 
year were suffering from this disease. 
Turkeys and pigeons are also liable to the attack of this parasite. 
The mite lives under the scales covering the anterior parts of the legs and toes of fowls, 
where it sets up acute irritation. \ quantity of white powdery matter forms under the 
scales, lifting them up, and the leg assumes a rugged unhealthy appearance. The symptoms 
become more aud more jironounced as the number of mites living under the scales increases, 
lameness ensues, and the fowl, instead of spending the day actively searching for food, 
mopes in solitude. Its health naturally suffers from this, and in time it probably falls a 
victim to some comparatively trivial conqilaint which, were it in robust health, it would 
be able to withstand. 
Treatment.. — Diseased fowls should be isolated and the perches they have been using 
either disinfected or destroyed. The treatment usually recommended is that of soaking the 
affected legs in warm water, removing the encrusted scales and painting with carbolic acid 
ointment. Another method in vogue among poultry keepers in England and said to be 
effective is to apply paraffin liberally to the diseased parts, after having well soaked the 
legs in hot water—as hot as can be borne by the hand. 
Anmmai.s iN.Tuuiors td Fakm and (tAkiien Ciiors 
I. Animals in.iukious to Corn 
The Dura Stem B o k e k 
Scsa.iiu'd rrefica 
Plate XXVII., tigs. 1, 3, 0 
This is one of the worst pests from which dura and maize (dura shami) suffer in this 
country. Sugar cane is also attacked, but to a less extent. 
^ Uliristophers, “Anatomy aud Histology of Scienlijic Menioirs hij Oificcn^ of thr Medical and 
Sanitary l>Tpari mcnts of ihr (lovcmninit of India. No. 23. 
