102 LIFE HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICAN TICKS. 
bers on quail and meadowlarks. Turkeys ranging over fields where 
wild birds are numerous are quite likely to become infested and thus 
bring the ticks into the poultry yards. 
NATURAL CONTROL. 
On account of the fact that this appears to be principally a bird- 
infesting species, there is undoubtedly a large mortality due to their 
destruction by the host. 
ARTIFICIAL CONTROL. 
This species has not been studied sufficiently to warrant any 
statement regarding control. It has been reported by Dr. Hadley 
that the ticks are exceedingly hard to kill by the application of such 
substances as kerosene and lard. He states that hand picking was 
the only method of control found to be effective against the ticks 
where they appeared as a pest on a farm at Norwich, Vt. A knowl- 
edge of the relation between the wild bird hosts and domestic turkeys 
may possibly suggest some preventive measure. 
Genus RHIPICEPHALUS Koch. 
Only one species of the genus Rhipicephalus occurs in the United 
States and that only in the extreme southern part of Texas. The 
genus, however, is a large one, as many as ten species being recorded 
by Howard (1908) as occurring in Africa alone. The members of this 
genus are also of considerable economic importance, five species being 
known to be active agents in the transmission of African coast fever, 
a highly fatal disease of cattle. One of these five also transmits biliary 
fever of horses, mules, and donkeys. A sixth species transmits ovine 
piroplasmosis in southern Europe, while in the Old World a seventh, 
the species which we have studied and consider here, transmits 
canine piroplasmosis. 
Most of the species drop to pass their molts, but two, R. evertsi and 
R. bursa, pass the first molt while on the host. 
Observations on the biology of the African species have been 
published by Lounsbury (1900b, 1905), Theiler (1905, 1909), and 
Howard (1909). Observations on R. bursa have been reported by 
Motas (1903). 
THE BROWN DOG TICK. 
Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille) (tecanus Banks). 
The common name of Rhipicephalus sanguineus (brown dog tick) 
is taken from its color and the fact that the dog is its principal host. 
