308 Genus Ixodes 



light of the evidence above presented.' It is established that the male 

 fertilizes the female by means of sperm atophores which are received into 

 the spermatheca, and from this point the spermatozoa pass up into the 

 ovaries and fertilize the eggs (Bertkau, 1881, p. 147 ; Samson, 1909, 

 p. 216, and ourselves). The entrance of the spermatophores would 

 necessarily be facilitated by the dilatation of the female sexual orifice 

 brought about by the entrance into it of the male mouthparts. It is 

 interesting to mention, in this connection, that we once observed a male 

 Ixodes tenuirostris with its mouthparts deeply embedded (as in coupling) 

 in the body of the female to one side of the anus outside the genital 

 groove. It is conceivable that the female had received some injury at 

 this point and that the male had mistaken the wound for the vulva. 



Note: We append a description of the process of copulation in 

 Ornithodorus moubata as recently observed by Nuttall and Merriman, 

 since it bears directly on this subject. See Appendix I, p. 318. 



Oviposition. 



Frisch (1724, p. 42, judging from a footnote in Fischer's translation 

 of Gene" (1849, p. 17), wherein Frisch is quoted verbatim) appears to 

 have been the first to observe oviposition in Ixodes, the " Hunds-Laus " 

 as he calls it. Frisch wrote , " Das Geburtsglied ist nicht ganz unten 

 am Bauch, sondern etwas gegen die Mitte desselben. Es lasst das 

 Weiblein im Eierlegen zugleich einen hellen Saft aus dem Maul (!) womit 

 es die Eier am Leibe behalten, und bis an das Maul hinaufziehen, ja 

 theils gar iiber dasselbe auf den Halsschild bringen und in einem 

 Klumpen beisamen behalten kann, in denen es also steckte und darinnen 

 starb." Chabrier (1807, p. 367), who observed oviposition in a pinned 

 $ ricinus, considered that the eggs were extruded through the oral 

 aperture and it is not difficult to understand how the mistake arose in 

 view of what actually takes place. He cites (p. 368) a communication 

 from Kalm, who observed oviposition in " Ixodes americanus " and 

 oelieved the eggs issued from the edge of the scutum. Chabrier, who 

 subsequently examined this species, convinced himself that there was 

 no opening at the edge of the scutum from which eggs could issue. 

 Muller (1817, p. 278) likewise observed oviposition in a pinned specimen 

 of ricinus. The tick began to lay eggs 44 days after it was collected. 

 He saw the ovipositor protrude eggs. 



The process of oviposition in /. ricinus was first clearly observed 

 and fully described by Gene" (1844, pp. 767-777). He described how 



