Com nw n Parasites 



9 



During egg laying the female takes no nourishment, gradually re- 

 duces in size to about one-fourth her former size, and at the end 

 of egg laying dies. 



The young ticks which hatch in a variable length of time, depend- 

 ent upon conditions of temperature and moisture, remain somewhat 

 quiet for a few days, and later showing greater activity and crawling 

 upon grass or other herbage, await the coming of a host. In this 

 stage the young tick is red or brown in color, has six legs and is 

 known as larva or "seed" tick. 



During the time the seed tick re- 



,. mains on vegetation it takes no nour- 



J/jilL Zft^ ishment and does not grow ,and unless 



a host appears within a certain space 

 of time it dies of starvation. Experi- 

 ments have shown that in the colder 

 portion of the year young ticks may 

 live as long as eight months without 

 food. 



The development of the young tick 

 proceeds quite rapidly after it attaches 

 itself to its host, the cow. After at- 

 taching itself to the skin of a cow in a 

 favorable location such as on the tail, 

 at the base of the tail, inside of the 

 thighs, or on the dewlap or escutcheon, 

 and beginning to suck blood, it grows 



! Ticks. ., .,. , ., , , ., 



quite rapidly and moults, or sheds its 



skin, in from five to twelve days and appears nearly white, having 

 eight legs instead of six. This is the nymphal stage of development. 



Young Tick 

 ready for sec- 

 ond moult. 



Female Tick after 

 second moult. 



In this stage the 

 young tick increases 

 in size to some ex- 

 tent. The male tick 

 remains brown in 

 color and does not 

 increase in size in 

 proportion to the 

 female. The second 

 moulting, or shed- 

 ding of the skin, oc- 

 curs in from five to 



twelve days after the first moult. The ticks are now sexually ma- 

 ture and the female increases rapidly in size and becomes engorged 

 with blood and eggs. 



The length of time the tick remains on the cow, i. e. from seed 

 tick to engorged female ready to lay eggs, is from twenty to sixty 



