AMBLYOMMA: BIONOMICS 621 



Coxae II and III without spurs ; sometimes the posterior border has a 

 tuberosity. Coxa IV twice as long as broad, with a projecting spur. 

 Tarsi not terminating abruptly. Festoons dark. Length 5 to 5'5 mm. ; 

 width 4'5 mm. (Neumann) 



Female. (Fig- 6) Scutum triangular, nearly as broad as long, with 

 a straight posterior border ; eyes dark and situated towards the anterior 

 fourth. Punctations numerous and large. Usually a well-marked light 

 posterior spot on the scutum. Porose- areas oval. Coxa IV with a 

 spur as broad as long. Length 5 to 24 mm. ; width 4 to 15 mm. 

 (Neumann) 



This species is found in Abyssinia, German East Africa, Zanzibar, 

 Mozambique, Madagascar, Reunion, Mauritius, Angola, Congo, Guiana, 

 Togo Land, Benin, Senegal, Guadelope, Guatemala, Ivory Coast and 

 Antigua ; it is parasitic on cattle, the horse, sheep, and sometimes 

 on man. 



As far as is known at present the life processes of the ticks of the 

 genus Amblyomina are relatively simple; Amblyomma hebraeum, the 

 ' Bont tick ', the life history of which has been studied 



bv Lounsbury, is a good example. This observer has Relation to Disease : 



., , . r r , Bionomics and Life 



carried out a long series or reeding experiments in p roce8888 of Ambly- 



connection with the transmission of the parasite of omma hebraeum 

 heartwater. He has shown that the infection does 

 not pass through the egg of the tick, but that when it is ingested by the 

 larvae it is transmitted by the nymph and possibly by the adult. The 

 adult hebraeum almost always fixes itself on bare parts of the skin of its 

 host ; such places as the shoulders, the genitals and udders are favourite 

 sites. The larvae and nymphs also prefer these parts to any others, but 

 in the case of Angora goats they may be found attached among the long 

 hairs on the sides and backs of the animals. The adult is never found 

 on the backs of cattle, as it is apparently unable to climb through long 

 hair. It always buries its mouth parts deeply into the skin, recalling the 

 habits of the ' Bont leg tick ', the popular name for Hyalomma aegyptium. 

 Both the larvae and nymphs drop off when replete with blood, so that 

 this tick, like most others of the genus whose habits are known, requires 

 three hosts in order to complete its life processes. Its mating habits are 

 peculiar, as the female searches for the male, which remains attached at 

 one spot ; this is quite unlike the habit of the other Ixodini, as the male 

 usually moves about on the skin of the host and searches for the female. 

 In the case of hebraeum, as Lounsbury points out, it is not uncommon to 

 find one male surrounded by a dozen or more females each waiting to be 



