40 IXODOIDEA^ OR TICKS^ OF THE UKITED STATES. 



cattle, horses, dogs, fox, and man. It apparently is not common ex- 

 cept in certain localities near the Gulf coast. It is very readily known 

 by the spurs at apex of metatarsi, a character not previously noted by 

 writers. 



Amblyomma americanum Linnseus. (PI. VI, fig. 1.) 



Male. — Body usually a pale brown, or yellowish brown, with -sev- 

 eral small yellow spots — two on the posterior border of shield rather 

 close together, one on each side margin in front of the former, and a 

 pair in front of middle of shield, behind and rather inward from 

 the eyes. Sometimes the anterior of these spots are indistinct, but 

 the posterior pair are nearly always distinct. Legs slightly paler 

 than the body. Capitulum broad, its posterior angles acute; palpi 

 not very long, second joint about one and one-half times as long as 

 last joint. Dorsum elongate, broadest in middle, surface rather 

 evenly, densely, and minutely punctate; lateral furrows not reach- 

 ing to eyes; festoons distinctly limited. Legs short, IV (PI. VI, fig. 

 2) pair but little if any larger than I, all hairy beneath; coxa I (PI. 

 VI, fig. 3) with two spines, the outer the longer, a flattened tubercle 

 on coxse II and III, IV with a slender spine behind about as long as 

 width of the joint; stigmal plate (PI. VI, fig. 3) long, semielliptical, 

 its tip slightly turned up, surface with many minute granulations. 



Length of male, 2.4 mm. 



Female. — The shield is brown, reddish brown, or almost black, 

 often paler in front, on the posterior lobe a large prominent yellow- 

 ish spot; legs more or less brownish yellow. Capitulum (PI. VI, 

 fig. 4) rather narrow, hind angles rounded, porose areas elliptic, 

 divergent, and well separated; palpi slender, second joint twice as 

 long as last. Shield pentagonal, about as broad as long, broadest 

 much in front of the middle, apex nearly truncate, its surface densely 

 punctate ; body without hairs ; legs very slender, no spurs at tips of 

 any metatarsi ; coxae armed as in the male, except that the spine on 

 coxa IV is barely longer than the tubercles on coxa; II and III. 

 Stigmal plate (PL VI, fig. 1) subtriangular, its surface minutely 

 granulate. 



Length of female shield, 1.7 mm. 



Specimens come from various places in the Eastern States — Wash- 

 ington, D. C. ; Falls Church, Va. ; Cape Charles, Va. ; Chapel Hill, 

 N. C. ; Bee Spring and Smiths Grove, Ky. ; Springfield, Willow 

 Springs, and St. Louis (Packard's type). Mo.; Florida; Agricultural 

 College, Mich.; Shreveport, La.; Austin, Kerrville, Llano, Dallas, 

 Mountain Home, and Hockley, Tex. Marx recorded it from Lab- 

 rador and Sanborn from Massachusetts. Fitch recorded it from 

 New York, and it was described by Linnseus from Pennsylvania and 

 New Jersey. 



