REMARKS ON THE IXODES BO VIS. 



BY C. V. RILEY, ST. LOUIS, MISSOUKI. 



tt 



IXODES BOYIS, (Riley.) 



A reddish, coriaceous, flattened species, witli tlie body oblong-oval 

 contracted just behind the middle, and with two longitudinal impres- 

 sions above this contraction, and three below it, more especially visible 

 in the dried specimen. Head short and broad, not spined behind, 

 with two deep, round pits. Palpi and beak together unusually short, 

 the palpi being slender. Labium short and broad, densely spined 

 beneath. Mandibles smooth above, with terminal hooks. Thoracic 

 shield distinct, one-third longer than wide, smooth and polished ; convex, 

 with the lyrate medial convexity very distinct. Legs long and slender, 

 pale testaceous red; coxjb not spined. Length of body, .15 of an inch; 

 width, .09 of an inch. Missouri Coll., C. V. Eiley. 



This is the cattle tick of the Western States. Several hundred speci- 

 mens, in different stages of growth, have also been received from Pulvon, 

 west coast of Nicaragua, taken from the horned cattle, and on a species of 

 dasyprocta, by Mr. J. McNeil. They preserve the elongated flattened 

 form, with the body contracted behind the middle, by which this species 

 may be easily identified. The largest specimens measure .50 by .30 of an 

 inch. When gorged with blood they are nearly as thick through as they 

 are broad. In the freshly hatched hexapodous young, and the young in 

 the next stage of growth, the thoracic shield is one-third the size of 

 the whole body, which is pale yellowish, with very distinct crenulations 

 on the hinder edge. The fourth pair of legs are added apparently at the 

 first moult. It is called "garapata" by the inhabitants of Nicaragua. 



