408 HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



southwestern part of the United States that persist in 

 attacking man whenever they get an opportunity. The 

 bites of these ticks are said to be very painful and it would 

 seem that the bite of one of them, at least, Ornithodoros 

 turicata, causes inflammation and other disorders. 



Ticks are abundant in woods and fields, especially 

 farther south and often attach themselves to man. They 

 immediately bury the rostrum in the flesh and often 

 cause swelling and even tumors to form. Riley gives 

 an instance of this kind that happened in Pennsylvania. 

 A small girl who had been playing among the leaves in a 

 wood complained of a pain in her arm. The next day 

 an examination showed that a swelling had formed on the 

 arm with a dark spot in the center, looking like a splinter. 

 The child was taken to a physician, who found that the 

 swelling was caused by a tick that had almost embedded 

 its body in the flesh. The tick was removed with con- 

 siderable difficulty and proved to be nearly one-quarter 

 of an inch in length. Riley judged from the description 

 that it was Ixodes unipunctata. 



The writer recalls an instance of his youth in which a 

 so-called wood tick became fastened to his neck with the 

 rostrum embedded in the flesh. The irritation caused by 

 the presence of the tick and the pain accompanying 

 its forced removal are still vividly remembered. Probably 

 the ''wood tick" was a young tick of the genus Ixodes. 



The "Miana bug" or "Malleh" of Persia is a tick, 

 Argas persicus, of which many long and certainly exag- 

 gerated accounts have been written. It is, however, 

 undoubtedly a serious pest in certain portions of Europe. 

 It is said that they inhabit houses, like our common bed- 

 bugs, sucking the blood of human beings whenever the 



