April, '13] BISHOPP AND KING: SPOTTED FEVER TICK 203 



As has been indicated in the foregoing statements, and previously 

 discussed in other articles, ^-^ the greatest activity of adults occurs in 

 the spring and early summer. This is especially true in regard to 

 their feeding. This spring feeding habit is not only shown by adults 

 which mature in the early part of the season, but also by those indi- 

 viduals which hibernate as adults having molted from nymphs the 

 previous season. While the former class of individuals does not show 

 any desire to feed during the summer or fall, those individuals which 

 have hibernated show a tendency to remain active later in the summer. 

 This habit has been observed in large cage experiments in the Bitter 

 Root Valley as well as in cages at Dallas, Texas. It was formerly 

 supposed by many that the factor which limited the season of adult 

 activity to the spring and early summer months was that the over- 

 wintering adults either obtained hosts or died before about July 1. 

 This is not true, as we have found hibernated adults to pass to the 

 ground in July and remain inactive till the following spring when they 

 again appeared for feeding. During the past summer, at Viewpoint, 

 Oregon, Mr. H. H. Hatch, who kept careful watch on the activity of 

 ticks, observed them to become very scarce the last of June and remain 

 so throughout the summer. In September, however, a slightly 

 greater number of adults was found. Throughout this period no 

 individuals more than one-half engorged were observed on hosts. 



Distribution and Hosts 



Little additional information has been secured on the general dis- 

 tribution of this species since the publication of articles on this subject 

 by Bishopp^ and by Hunter and Bishopp.^ Our knowledge of the 

 extent of infested territory in California has been increased by the 

 receipt of specimens from Madeline, Lassen County. 



The host relations of this tick have been discussed in a number of 

 publications. As has been pointed out by Hunter and Bishopp,'' the 

 mountain goat serves as a host for a considerable number of the adults 

 of this species. Immature stages may also develop on this animal. 

 However, it has been found that a number of small mammals occur 

 on the mountains inhabited by the goats and act as host for the 

 immature stages. The question of the mountain goat acting as a 



iHooKER, W. A., BiSHOPP, F. C. and Wood, H. P. — The life history and bionomics 

 of some North American ticks— Bull. 106, Bur. of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1912, p. 178. 



^Bull. 105, Bur. of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1911, p. 26. 



'BiSHOPP, F. C. — -The distribution of the Rocky Mountain spotted-fever tick — 

 Cir. 136, Bur. of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1911, p. 4. 



4Bull. 105, Bur. of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1911, pp. 15-17. 



«Bull. 105, Bur. of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1911, pp. 28-29. 



