102 Biology 



ORNITHODOROS CORIACEUS. 



Effects of bite and feeding habits : two females bit Mrs Z. Nuttall 

 through her clothing and inflicted painful wounds, " their bites were 

 intolerably sharp and painful, and both wounds bled a good deal — but 

 notwithstanding, there has been intermittent irritation ever since" 

 (this persisted after 4 months, and the seat of the bite was still dis- 

 coloured and the puncture covered by a scab). Eight months after 

 the bite was inflicted there remained a nodule which occasionally 

 itched. The natives of Tehuantepec, Mexico, fear this tick for the 

 reason that the bites are severe and often do not heal for a long 

 time. The females immediately proceeded to feed, on arrival in 

 Cambridge, when placed upon a fowl. They fed for 45 minutes and 

 1 hour 40 minutes respectively, and drew a large amount of blood. The 

 bites caused intense ecchymosis, measuring about one inch in diameter. 

 Whilst feeding the palps did not penetrate the wound as once observed 

 in 'the case of 0. savignyi, but both specimens exuded clear fluid as 

 observed in 0. moubata. 



ORNITHODOROS TURICATA. 



Effects of bite : the " turicata," as the Mexicans call it, may cause 

 serious injury by its bite. According to Duges (1876) it has been 

 known to be fatal to pigs. This author also states that chickens fed on 

 turicatas died about the third day. The effect of the bite in man is 

 especially bad if the turicata's capitulum is torn off, and, where this 

 occurs, Duges recommends the use of the cautery, otherwise it causes 

 severe itching, and an ulcer forms at the spot bitten, and this may persist 

 for months, or there may develop erysipelatoid dermatitis, lymphangitis, 

 the formation of bullae containing serum about the puncture, at times 

 gangrene, subcutaneous abscesses, etc. In three cases he reports general 

 symptoms following the bite. In two of these a vein had been punctured 

 by a turicata. One patient had difficulty in speaking and swallowing, 

 swelling and numbness spreading over the whole body, accompanied by 

 vomiting and diarrhoea. In another patient all these symptoms subsided 

 within an hour, when an urticaria made its appearance, accompanied 

 by profuse perspiration. Duges says people are reported as having died 

 from the bites of turicatas, the noxious effects of which he attributes to 

 a venom, a peculiar idiosyncrasy existing in certain individuals. 



