SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 97 



closed glass jars in May. It was h()])L'(l that from them we would 

 L;et a quantity of eggs and rear a stock of ticks for future use. No 

 records were kept of the activities of these ticks. Several thousand 

 cqgs were secured and watclicd for liatching. Some of the lots fail- 

 ed to hatch but one in particular hatched very satisfactorily on 

 July 4th, 5th and 6th, thus furnishing a good quantit}' of young 

 larval ticks. 



The young ticks were observed closely in the jars and on July 

 Cyth, about four days after hatching, a few were put on guinea pigs 

 in cages. On July nth more larvae were put on the guinea pigs and 

 again on July 13th. Meantime it was observed that the ticks were 

 not attaching readily but were crawling about the cages and wh^n 

 jnit back on the guinea pigs with camel's hair brushes would crawl 

 out to the tips of the. hairs instead of inward to the skin and were 

 ' 'ften shaken or brushed ofi. On July 17th several hundred ticks 

 were placed in each of four cages which contained each a single 

 guinea pig. 



The cages in which the guinea pigs were kept while the ticks 

 A\ ere feeding were made of a three-quarter-inch frame, covered on 

 the vertical and top sides with ordinary wire fly screening over which 

 Avas placed one thickness of cotton cloth. A lid was hinged into the 

 top and held closed by a button. The cages were twelve inches 

 sciuare and eight inches high. The bottom was covered with one- 



\Ji : /.- ~ ' -V 



X .g. 1. Diagram of pan used under cages to prevent escape of ticks.- 

 The troughs are kept filled with water. 



idurth-inch mesh galvanized sand screening. This cage rests on 

 four screws in the corners which serve as posts. Under the cage 

 IS a shallow pan of galvanized iron to catch and retain the engorged 

 • t'cks as they drop. Around the edge of this pan is a trough filled 

 Avith water to prevent the ticks from crossing. The accompanying 

 tigures illustrate this cage and pan. 



A small ([uantity of excelsior was kept under the cage in the 

 middle of the pan to afiford a means of climbing into the cage for the 

 i^nfed ticks that fell into the pan. The cotton cloth covering pre^ 



