i 
t¢ 
=? 
ell OT A ee a ee eee 
PPA 
THE FOWL TICK. 47 
This individual, after assuming the flattened shape, measured only 1.5 
by 1 mm. 
Egg.—The average size of 10 eggs measured was 0.72 by 0.65 mm. 
Spherical, dark brown, shining, smooth. 
HOST RELATIONSHIP. 
This tick is principally a parasite of poultry. <A single larva was 
collected by Mr. J. D. Mitchell on a meadowlark in southern Texas, 
and Mr. F. C. Pratt found a few larve on a wild turkey at Sabinal, 
Tex. That it may occasionally be found upon mammals and possibly 
engorge upon and be disseminated by them is shown by the fact that 
three adults were removed by Mr. J. D. Mitchell from a jack rabbit 
shot in Maverick County, Tex., in May, 1906. 
Lounsbury has found Argas miniatus in South Africa commonly 
to attack geese, ducks, and turkeys, and he states that it has 
been reported to attack canaries and ostriches. It is well known 
in Persia as the Miana bug. Nuttall and Warburton found this tick 
to engorge on rats and mice, but with difficulty. 
In the larval stage these ticks remain attached to the host for several 
days before dropping fully engorged, but in the nymphal stages and 
as adults they engorge in a comparatively short time, a few hours at 
the most, and nearly always at night. The larve appear to prefer 
the portions of the body where the feathers are sparse, particularly 
beneath and on the underside of the wings. 
Larve placed in a bag on the scrotum of a bovine and left for 24 
hours failed to attach. An attempt to engorge larve on pigeons was 
also unsuccessful. On one occasion a single individual of a num- 
ber of adults applied to a guinea pig attached and became partially 
engorged. 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
(Fig. 1.) 
This tick was originally described by Koch from Demarara. In 
this country (see fig. 1) it has been found to be a very common 
species in certain sections of southern Texas, and appears to be so at 
certain points in Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The 
Marx collection contains specimens from Iowa. It is very probable 
that this and other records of the occurrence of this tick in the Cen- 
tral States are based upon specimens introduced into that region, the 
infestation being only temporary. A careful study of the normal 
distribution of the species in Texas shows that the limit of its eastern 
range practically coincides with the division between the Lower 
Sonoran and Austroriparian faunas. It is widely disseminated in 
the tropical regions of the New World, having been reported from 
Mexico, Panama, Jamaica, Cuba, Barbados, Antigua, Martinique, 
Trinidad, Colombia, British Guiana, and Brazil. It is also found in 
many parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia. 
