A. persicm 87 



Economic Importance: the effect of the bites of A. persicm on 

 fowls, when the birds are attacked by many ticks, may certainly be 

 serious. Thus Riley and Howard (1893, p. 267) published a note by 

 A. Turpe of Kinney Co., Texas, who states that these ticks kill pullets 

 " by creeping in masses under their wings, under their shoulders, and 

 actually suck their lives out until they die." Hoehr (1893, p. 348) 

 wrote from the same locality, stating that he had been acquainted with 

 the pest since 1888 and had seen 25 — 30 °/o of the chickens succumb in 

 a short time on a ranch. " They spread very rapidly. Last year I built 

 a new chicken house, but in 8 days it was literally full." Hoehr lays 

 stress upon its being the young Argas (larvae) that inflict the chief 

 injury. If numerous, they even cover the bird's skin, and kill off old as 

 well as young birds. Railliet (1895, p. 718) states that it kills off 

 fowls in Mauritius (".4. mauritianus"), and Osborn (1896, p. 256) 

 confirms the statements of the American observers. Salmon and Stiles 

 (1901, p. 405) report " We have seen one case from Florida in which a 

 chicken was literally covered with the hexapod stage," and one of us 

 has received a piece of a fowl's skin from Barbados, preserved in alcohol, 

 the skin being crowded with larvae of persicus in all stages of repletion. 

 Hart (1899, p. 180) of Trinidad, states that the infested birds sit down, 

 drop their wings, and show fever. Dressing with petroleum kills the 

 ticks and the birds recover. Fuller (1897, p. 590) of New South 

 Wales, states that fowls may die from exhaustion due to intense tick- 

 infestation. According to Lounsbury (ix. 1903, p. 11) the fowl tick "is 

 regarded by many as the most pernicious poultry pest that we have in 

 South Africa. It is directly responsible for the death of numerous fowls, 

 far more, indeed, than is generally suspected. It also seems to be the 

 worst of poultry parasites in many parts of Australia and in the 

 Southern States of America." Lounsbury, moreover, writes : " Paralysis 

 is commonly attributed to the attack of the ticks but I am not certain 

 that any disease is caused or transmitted by them at the Cape, and I 

 incline to the belief that the victims die entirely from the loss of blood 

 and the inflammation produced by the excessive parasitism. Vast 

 numbers of the creatures take their fill from the legs, and the after 

 irritation and the soreness probably account for the inability to walk 

 often noticed on the part of many fowls in a suffering flock ; and birds 

 thus lamed and thus made unable to mount the roosts at night become 

 doubly troubled by the pest. Young chickens, being also easily acces- 

 sible, suffer more than their share, and it is not uncommon to meet with 

 a whole brood almost black from the presence of adhering larvae. Sad 



