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DESCRIPTION OF A NEW TICK BELONGING TO THE 

 FAMILY ARGASIDjE. 



By Walter W. Froggatt, F.L.S., Government Entomologist. 



The members of this family are few in number, but they are 

 widely spread over the warmer portions of the globe, where they 

 are very destructive pests to domestic poultry. The three com- 

 monest, closely allied forms, Argas americanus, A. persicus, and 

 A. reflexus, have a wide range over America, Africa, Southern 

 Asia, and Australia, and are popularly known as " fowl ticks." 

 One of these, A. americanus, was introduced into Australia over 

 twenty years ago. The discovery of an indigenous species is an 

 interesting matter. 



Argas lagenoplastis, n.sp. 



Length 2^ lines. Reddish-brown, with the dorsal surface 

 mottled with light yellow; undersurface dull yellow, with the legs 

 very pale yellow to almost white. Broadly oval, flattened on the 

 dorsal surface, with the integument finely rugose and marked 

 with irregular depressions. 



Uab. — Merriwa and Narromine, N.S.W. 



This tick is common in the clay nests of the Fairy Martin or 

 "Bottle-nest Swallow," Petrochelidon (Lagenoplastes) ariel, and is 

 usually to be found under the lining of feathers and grass resting 

 against the clay in the nests containing young birds, and for 

 some time after the nestlings have flown. The tick probably has 

 as wide a range as the host, which nests over the greater part of 

 the southern and eastern coast, north to Port Denison; and far 

 out in the interior. Mr. Masters showed me specimens in the 

 Macleay Museum which he collected in Queensland about forty 

 years ago. 



