THE RED MITE. 



and flat when they first settle themselves on their victim, but they suck the blood with 

 such vehemence and industry, that they speedily swell and redden, until at last, 

 when fully gorged, they are as large as broad beans, and as easily crushed as ripe 

 gooseberries. 



In these countries, after a walk in a forest, every one is obliged to undergo a 

 thorough inspection from head to foot in order to rid himself of the ticks. When 

 found, they must by no means be pulled away, as their barbed heads would then 

 remain in the wound, and cause a festering sore. The proper method of detaching 

 them is to touch them with oil, when they immediately begin to work their way out of 

 their holding places, and may then be removed and killed. Sometimes a tick is only 

 to be found by the pain which it causes. A dull aching pang, for example, shoots at 

 intervals up the arm, and the experienced forester at once begins to look for a tick 

 somewhere about the roots of the fingers. The creature in such a case is usually very 

 small, not very much larger than a cheese-mite, but it still has strength enough to make 

 its presence felt. 



Even in our own large forests, the ticks are numerous and unpleasant. In the New 

 Forest, for example, they are far too plentiful to be agreeable ; and after a day's walk 

 in the wood I have often been obliged to serve numbers of ticks with an oily notice of 

 ejectment. 



THE figure in the upper left-hand corner 

 of the illustration represents the FLOUR- 

 MITE, a creature that is but too well known 

 to millers and dealers in corn. Although 

 it is a very tiny creature, it contrives to 

 travel over the loose flour with consider- 

 able speed. The well-known cheese- 

 mite is closely allied to the Flour-mite. In 

 these creatures the body is covered with 

 numerous stout hairs, which are capable 

 of movement, so that each hair must have 

 at least two muscles, together with their 

 tendpns. Despite, therefore, of the minute 

 size of these mites, their structure is not a 

 jot less complicated than that of many 

 larger beings, and possesses a wonderful 

 series of organs of which the higher 

 animals are destitute. 



The little vesicle at the end of the foot 



is a beautiful object in the microscope, especially if the mite can be kept alive while 

 imprisoned under the field of the instrument. In these creatures the females are larger 

 than their mates. The eggs of this mite are oval, very white, and covered with a sort 

 of brown network. 



Just below the Flour-mite is given a much magnified representation of the BEETLE- 

 MITE. This genus is a very large one, containing a great number of species. Most 

 persons who have been accustomed to see the common Watchman-beetle (Geotrupes 

 stercorarius) in its wild state must have noticed the frequency with which the under 

 part of the body is infested with certain pale yellow mites. This particular species is 

 here represented. Sometimes the beetle is so covered with the mites that its whole 

 body swarms with them ; but, as a general fact, they confine themselves to the under 

 surface. Many other insects are victims of mites belonging to the genus Gamasus, the 

 humble-bee being very conspicuous in this respect. 



Closely allied to the beetle-mite is the terrible RED MITE, so called by the bird- 

 fanciers, in allusion to its color when gorged with blood. When hungry it is of a light 

 yellow color, but when it has fed, the blood shows its ruddy hue through the transparent 

 skin of the mite. It is a very small creature, and lives mostly in the crevices of the cage 

 during the day, coming out to feed at night. I always used to destroy them by inserting 



FLOUR-MITH SCARLET MITE. 



'Acarus farinas. Trombldlum hlrsutlssimum. 

 BEETLE -MITE. Ixodes thoracicus. 



Gamasus coleoptratorum. 



