7 2 



SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



(a 2 ) HAEMALASTOR C. L. Koch, 1844. 



Synonyms: EschatooepTialvs Frauenfeld, 1853; 

 Sarconyssus Kolenati, 1857. 



Kostrum long ; palpi claviform (fig. 10) in the 

 male, flat and caniculated in the female. Ad-anal 

 groove contouring anus in front and open behind. 

 Peritremes circular. Irregular chitinous thicken- 

 ings both above and below in the male. Very fine 

 striae or parallel grooves on the female. Legs 

 generally very long. 



Seven species of this genus are described. They 

 are mostly parasitical on bats, and inhabit holes 

 and caverns. It is very possible that one of the 

 species, H. vespertilionis, widely distributed on the 

 Continent, may be found in this country. 



(b) Anal groove encircling anus behind. 



(¥) APONOMMA Neumann, 1899. 



No eyes. Base of rostrum generally pentagonal ; 

 palpi long. Body of male either wider or nearly as 

 wide as long ; beneath naked. Dorsal shield cover- 

 ing the whole body, and generally with green metal- 

 lic marks. The shield of the female shorter and 

 scarcely any longer than wide, ordinarily marked 

 with three green metallic spots in a triangle. 



This genus is exotic, and it is almost exclusively 

 parasitical on snakes and saurians. Twelve species 

 are described ; not any are British. 



(If-) AMBLTOMMA Koch, 1844. 



Synonym: Ixodes Latreille, 1795. 



Eyes usually flat and but little apparent ; some- 

 times brilliant; placed on the outer edge of the 

 shield. Kostrum long. Anal groove open in front 

 joining the sexual grooves. Dorsal shield often 

 marked with coloured designs. No ad-anal shields 

 on the male. Peritremes generally triangular, with 

 rounded angles. Eleven marginal posterior indenta- 

 tions nearly always present, especially in the male. 



Professor Neumann describes no less than 86 

 species of Amblyomma, mainly from tropical and 

 sub-tropical climates. One species, A. liebraeum, 

 known at the Cape as the "bont" or variegated 

 tick, is the carrier of "heartwater" in sheep, which 

 Mr. Lounsbury says "is gradually rendering the 

 splendid veldt of the infected districts useless for 

 sheep farming." Not any British species. 



(£ 3 ) HYALOMMA Koch, 1844. 



Eyes generally round and brilliant (fig. 5), some- 

 times flat and little noticeable. Rostrum long. 

 Anal groove open in front, joining the sexual 

 groove, with another extending from the anus to 

 the posterior margin (fig. 7). Body elongated 

 oval. Colour brown, more or less dark. The male 

 has two pairs of ventral shields, two of which are 

 ad-anal and large, with two others outside, added 

 to which are often two accessory ones, or lamellae, 

 behind the ad-anal shields (fig. 7). 



Only three species are described by Professor 

 Neumann, one of which — H. aegyptium Linn. — is 

 known at the Cape as the " bont-legged tick," 

 where it attacks small stock and ostriches, as well 

 as cattle and horses, and is considered second 

 only to the " bont tick " as a pest to farmers. It 

 is known probably all over Africa and the greater 

 part of Asia. No less than thirty synonyms are 

 given for this species, showing the great confusion 

 there has been in the nomenclature of ticks. 

 No British indigenous species is known, but one, 

 H. syriacum, has been taken on imported tortoises. 

 Mr. Pocock mentions it as having been found at 

 Feltham in Surrey, and another was sent me last 

 year by Mr. F. Noad Clarke, a distended female, 

 which he had exhibited at the South London Ento- 

 mological Society in June 1899. 



Hyalomma syriacum Koch. 



Synonym : Hyalomma affine Neumann, 1899. 



Female, fasting. Length. 6 mm. when distended 

 up to 13 mm. ; shield oval, and but little longer 

 than wide, each anterior angle prolonged to nearly 

 half way up the palpi ; - punctuated sparsely but 

 deeply ; eyes small ; body reddish-brown. Two 

 very minute dorsal spiracles behind the shield. 

 Coxae of front legs divided with two blunt spines 

 or tubercles ; the other haunches with two small 

 tubercles at the outer edge of each. Tarsi short 

 and thick, and suddenly attenuated at the end, 

 which in the three posterior pairs is furnished 

 with a small hook. Male. Length, 6 mm. ; shield, 

 reddish-brown, bare, anterior angles projecting 

 little; grooves at the neck short and deep, none at 

 the sides ; punctuations sparse, equal, and large ; 

 underside reddish-brown, sometimes yellow ; anus 

 a little behind the orifice of the stigmata; anal 

 shields wide and short ; peritremes short and 

 comma-shaped (fig. 7). 



Rhipicephalae. 



Synonym: Conipalin Canestrini. 



The Rhipicephalae are characterised by their 

 palpi, which are short and more or less conical or 

 subtriangular — not, or but slightly, longer than 

 broad (fig. is). The upper face of the base of the 



Piu. 18. lihipicephalus annulatus. 



rostrum is triangular and elongated transversely 

 in Hacmapliysalis and Dcrmacentor, whereas in 

 Rhipicephalus it is hexagonal, and in consequence 

 is provided with salient lateral angles. The under- 



