SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT Or STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 101 



for we feel that definite knowledge as to whether the ticks drop dur- 

 ing the night or day may be of much value in future work. 



It seems probable that it would be of value to the engorged tick 

 to drop from the host at a time when it would be left in or near 

 the sleeping place of the host, in order that wher* ready to feed 

 again it would have a greater chance of finding a host. The adult 

 tick in nature probably deposits on an average of about three 

 thousand eggs and it is clear that only a very small part of the seed 

 ticks hatching from them ever come to maturity. In fact the pro- 

 duction of such a large number of ova is doubtless Nature's plan 

 of ofif-setting the small probability that any individual will find a 

 host. It therefore seems reasonable to conclude that since a given 

 ii'dividual tick must find not one, but three hosts in order to come to 

 niaturity, a plan that facilitates the finding of the succession of hosts 

 a nocturnal habit of the hosts. 



A habit of dropping from the host during the day may indicate 

 a noctural habit of the hosts. 



The engorged larvae as they were recovered from the pans un- 

 der the cages were placed in small pill boxes and put on a piece of 

 sand screening over wet sand in a shallow pan. After a few days 

 they became inactive in the manner characteristic for these ani- 

 mals. Under our indoor conditions the duration of this quiescent 

 stage seems to be about two weeks. The shorter period recorded 

 ^\as thirteen days, and the greater number molted inside of three 

 week. Larvae that had dropped before being fully or nearly fully 

 engorged failed to molt into the next stage. This was also true 

 of. ticks in the quiescent stage following nymphal engorgement. 



Unfed nymph ticks were put on guinea pigs in cages on Aug- 

 ust 8th, nth and 17th respectively, from sixteen to forty-five being 

 used. Daily records were kept of the dropping of the engorg^id 

 ticks. The minimum duration of feeding was four days. In cage 

 No. I it was noticed that the ticks for the most part became attach- 

 <.' 1 during the first day, August 8th. On August 12th two were re- 

 covered from this cage and on the following day, seven. From 

 observations in this and other cages it was evident that the nymphal 

 ticks remaiiied attached for from four to seven days. 



The engorged nymph ticks were placed in pill boxes over wet 

 5and. On September 22nd those that had dropped on August 12th 



