MITES OE TICKS. 683 



exactly like a grain of cayenne pepper as it glides across a leaf. It is seldom seen until 

 June or July, and is most common in the autumn, in some places swarming to such an 

 extent that the leaves are actually reddened by their numbers. They are especially 

 plentiful on the French bean ; and I well remember that when I was a little boy I was 

 horribly tortured by the Harvest-bugs, which came from the leaves of the French beans 

 among which I was employed, and, crawling over my shoes, left a scarlet ring of intolerable 

 irritation round my ankles. 



While we are walking through the stubble-fields, the Harvest-bug is terribly apt to 

 make successful attacks upon our ankles ; and in the case of persons endowed with a very- 

 tender skin almost drives the sufferer to the verge of madness. Gilbert White, in his 

 " Natural History of Selborne," tells us that warreners are " so much infested by them on 

 chalky downs, where these insects swarm sometimes to so infinite a degree, as to discolour 

 their nets and to give them a reddish cast, while the men are so bitten as to be thrown 

 into fevers." 



The Harvest-bug does not confine its attacks to human beings, but equally infests 

 horses, dogs, sheep, and rabbits. It burrows under the skin in a very short space of 

 time, and after a little while a red pustule arises, sometimes as large as a pea, occasioning 

 great irritation at the time, and much pain if it be broken or wounded. On account of 

 its red colour, the French call the Harvest-bug the EOUGET. 



THE three other figures represent creatures belonging to another genus. The pretty 

 species in the lower right-hand corner derives its name of " venustum," or beautiful, in 

 consequence of the pretty colouring of its surface. The ground colour of this creature is 

 deep black, upon which are set some patches of rich orange-red, edged with yellow. The 

 little lines arranged round the body are also yellow, and its legs are red. It is moderately 

 large, being about one-sixth of an inch in length. 



The other two species are parasitic upon the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus, and 

 derive their name from the creatures which they infest. The HIPPOPOTAMUS-MITE, or TICK, 

 as it is sometimes wrongly called, is seen in the upper right-hand corner of the illustration. 

 The general colour of this species is pale straw above, and deep liver-red below, the limbs 

 being of the same colour as the upper surface, but rather paler. The lines and streaks 

 upon the body are black. Its body is decidedly convex, and there is a very slight 

 indication of a thorax. Its length is about a quarter of an inch. 



The EHINOCEKOS-MITE has also a convex body, the head and palpi are orange, 

 and the blotches upon the body and the limbs are of the same rich hue. This creature is 

 slightly larger than the preceding. It also belongs to Africa, being found on the Borele, 

 sometimes called the Ehinaster (Rhinoceros bicornis). 



Another species of Ixodes is seen in the succeeding illustration. All these creatures 

 are furnished with suckers, through which they can draw the juices of the animals on 

 which they are parasitic, and with a peculiar barbed modification of the parts of the 

 mouth, which enables the parasite to anchor itself as it were with living grapnels. There 

 is hardly any animal which is not subject to the attacks of these tiresome mites, and even 

 the hard-shelled tortoise itself is not free from them. They fix themselves so firmly with 

 their barbed grapnels that, if they are roughly torn from their hold, they either leave their 

 heads in the wound, or carry away part of the flesh. Under the microscope the head of 

 any Ixodes forms a beautiful object, and is easily prepared by means of Canada balsam 

 and pressure. 



These creatures often swarm in thick woods, and attach themselves for the nonce to 

 the leaves of shrubs, at no great height, waiting for the time when some animal may 

 wander near and become their victim. Sometimes they swarm upon an animal to such 

 an extent that they have been known to kill even a horse or an ox from sheer exhaustion. 

 The French call the Ixodes of the dog, the LOUVETTE, and in America all the mites 

 belonging to this group are known by the name of PIQUES. 



These " ticks," as they are popularly called, are extremely annoying in tropical 

 countries, where they swarm in every forest, and infest every living creature that passes 

 by, provided its skin be sufficiently soft to be penetrated by their beaks. They are small 



