338 The Diseases of Aninals 
TICKS 
Ticks and mites are closely related, to the spider 
tribes. They are not insects. Most of the ticks are 
only partially parasitic; that is, only a part of their 
lives is spent upon the bodies of other animals. 
The most injurious parasitic tick is the southern 
cattle tick (Margaropus annulatus). Fig. 52. This crea- 
ture is important, not only because of the 
losses resulting from its attacks, but also 
because it is the carrier of the germs of Texas 
or southern cattle fever from southern to 
susceptible northern cattle. The southern 
cattle tick is reddish or grayish in color; the 
adult female’s body is about one-third of 
an inch in length, and resembles in shape 
Fig. 52. ; 
ere a small castor bean. It attaches itself to the 
cael uae. skin of cattle, particularly in the regions 
Upper'one,te- gene : 
male; lower, Where it is thin, as between the thighs, on the 
Sones belly, between the fore-legs and on the neck. 
The female, when fully developed and distended with 
blood and eggs, looses her hold on the animal, drops 
to the ground, and deposits a large number of eggs, 
which cover her body. The eggs hatch in from two to 
six weeks. The young ticks, crawling up on grass, 
are brushed off by grazing cattle. They crawl up the 
legs of the animals and attach themselves so firmly to 
the skin that they can be pulled off only with difficulty. 
The southern cattle ticks are found in all the southern 
states. They are more numerous in a brushy country 
than on the high, open prairies. 
