Cattle-Fever Ticks. 7 



as a protection from the sun and numerous enemies or shield her 

 from unfavorable conditions. The female tick may be devoured by 

 birds, or destroyed by ants, or may jjerish as the result of low tem- 

 perature, absence or excess of nioisture, and many other unfavorable 

 conditions ; so that many which fall to the ground die before they lay 

 eggs. 



During the spring, summer, and fall months egg laying begins 

 in from 2 to 20 days, and during the winter months in from 13 to 

 98 days, after the female tick has fallen to the ground. The eggs 

 are small, elliptical-shaped, at first of a light-amber color, later 

 changing to a dark brown, and are about one-fiftieth of an inch in 

 length. As the eggs are laid they are coated with a sticky secretion, 

 which causes them to adhere in clusters and no doubt keeps them 

 from drying out. During egg laying the body of the mother tick 

 gradually shrinks, and finally is reduced to about one-third or one- 

 fourth its original size. Egg laying is greatly influenced by tem- 

 perature, being retarded or even arrested by cold weather. In the 

 summer time egg laying may be completed as soon as 4 days after it 

 has begun, or by the end of about a week after the tick has dropped 

 to the ground. It has been observed that if the ticks drop in the fall 

 of the year the egg-laying process may continue for as long as 151 

 days. A tick may deposit from a few hundred to more than 5,000 

 eggs, and when egg laying is completed the mother tick, having ful- 

 filled her purpose, dies in a few dajs. 



After the eggs have been laid they must undergo a period of in- 

 cubation before they are ready to hatch. The period may be as short 

 as 19 days in the summer, or as long as 200 days if the fall and 

 winter seasons are involved. When incubation has been completed 

 there issues from each egg a small, oval, six-leggecl larva or seed tick, 

 at first amber-colored, later changing to a rich brown. After crawl- 

 ing slowly over and about the shell from which it has emerged, it 

 usually remains more or less quiet for several days, after which it 

 shows great activit}^, especially if the weather is warm, and ascends 

 the nearest vegetation, such as grass, herbs, and even shrubs. 



Since each female lays an enormous mass of eggs at one spot, thou- 

 sands of larvse may appear in the course of time at the same place. 

 The young ticks will ascend the near-by vegetation and collect on 

 the leaves and other parts of plants. This instinct of the seed ticks 

 to climb upward is a very important adaptation to increase their 

 chances of reaching a host. If the vegetation on which they rest is 

 disturbed they become very active and extend their long front legs 

 upward in a divergent position, waving them violently in an attempt 

 to seize hold of a host. 



During its life on the pasture the seed tick takes no food and con- 

 sequently does not increase in size, and unless it reaches a host on 



