TICKS — BISHOPP 405 



hold pest. ^Vhere dogs are allowed indoors the ticks drop off and 

 crawl upward, hiding in the curtains, around the window casings, 

 and in protected places about the cornices, behind pictures, etc. 

 It is seldom found attached to any other animal than the dog. It 

 drops off the host for each of its molts. Eradication of the tick 

 from a premises, particularly in tlie warmer parts of tlie country, 

 is not an easy matter. It requires constant vigilance and persistent 

 effort. The dogs nmst be treated systematically with derris powder 

 or some other tick-destroying material at least every 5 or 6 days to 

 prevent the ticks from becoming engorged and escaping. The free 

 use of one of the standard fly sprays wdiich consist largely of kero- 

 sene extract of pyrethrum will do much to reduce the number of 

 ticks in living quarters. Infested out-buildings and kennels are best 

 treated by spraying them with creosote oil. 



THE CATTLE FEVER TICK 



The losses in tliis country caused by the cattle fever tick have 

 been variously estimated at from $40,000,000 to $100,000,000 annu- 

 ally. These losses come about in a number of different ways, the 

 more important of which are the death loss and stunting effect of 

 the disease itself, the reduction of milk flow, and general condition 

 of cattle due to blood loss and irritation, the inability to bring 

 in well-bred animals from areas where the disease does not occur, 

 and the adverse effects of the disease on the industry due to the in- 

 ability to move cattle to markets and to feeding areas outside the 

 quarantine line. 



The original area normally infested by these cattle fever ticks 

 covered practically the entire southern United States and a consider- 

 able portion of California. But as a result of eradication efforts tliis 

 area has now been reduced to a relatively small number of counties 

 in Florida and portions of Louisiana and Texas. 



This species is primarily a pest of cattle but it also attacks horses 

 and mules and is occasionally found on deer and a few other animals. 

 It remains on a single host for each of its molts, the developmental 

 period requiring from 20 to 60 days. (See pi. 8, fig. 2, and pi. 9, 

 fig. 1.) The females usually begin laying eggs in 2 or 3 days after 

 they drop off the host. These hatch in about 20 days into seed ticks, 

 which crawl on the grass or shrubbery and await the passing of a 

 suitable host. 



In hot dry weather the seed ticks may perish in a month, but in 

 cooler and more favorable weather they have been known to live as 

 long as 246 days. 



By studying the habits of this tick it has been found possible to 

 destroy it either by systematic dipping of all infested animals at 



