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CHAPTER VII. 

 Insect Pests of Domestic Animals. 



Domestic animals in the tropics are attacked by insects 

 and other pests to an extent perhaps greater than is the 

 case with similar animals in cooler climates. In the small 

 islands of the West Indies, however, certain of these pests 

 are less troublesome than in larger tropical countries and in 

 temperate and sub-tropical regions. The cattle ticks are an 

 example of such pests. In some parts of the world the 

 cattle ticks are the cause of great loss to cattle raisers and 

 estate owners, because of the irritation to the cattle and the 

 loss of blood taken as food by enormous numbers of these 

 parasites, and also on account of the diseases which they 

 transmit from one individual to another. Certain species of 

 ticks also transmit diseases of goats and of dogs. Other 

 pests and parasites injure the host animals principally by 

 feeding on the blood, which they suck by means of the 

 specially adapted mouth parts. 



Fig. 143. Cattle tick. 



Female at the left, male at the riyht. Enlarged. 

 (From U.S. Dept. Agric.) 



