49 
ticks, and perhaps is of unrivaled dimensions. The American cattle 
tick is a mere pigmy in comparison. ‘The bont female measures up 
to an inch in length, three-fourths of an inch in width, and half an 
inch in thickness. After engorgement she drops from her host and 
secretes herself. In soft sand she may burrow an-inch or two down- 
ward, while in harder soil or in rubbish she may rest content after 
burying the forepart of her body. She lays her eggs in a compact 
mass anterior to herself in this retreat and dies at her post after the 
completion of the task. Exceptionally large-females probably deposit 
as many as 20,000 eggs; a careful estimate on one batch of eggs 
obtained in confinement placed the total number at about 17,500. 
Oviposition, incubation, and all the other periods in the life cycle off 
of the host vary in duration with the temperature of the surround- 
ings. Development in these stages proceeds all through the year, but 
is many times more rapid in summer than in winter. The winter 
season in the area infested is mild and dry, without snow and with but 
few hard frosts. The young ticks ascend the grass, bushes, or other 
support above them and there patiently await a host. The passage of 
animals in their vicinity, by means not yet satisfactorily determined, 
arouses their attention and incites them to run about clawing the air 
with their forelegs. Attachment to a passing object is secured by the 
waving legs, but a large proportion of the tiny creatures are brushed 
off again almost immediately. Such unfortunates must, perforce, 
await other opportunities. If the passing object prove a host those 
that contrive to maintain their hold soon find the skin and inserting 
their rostra proceed to gorge themselves on the blood. The opera- 
tion of engorgement ordinarily requires about six days. Except as 
regards the duration of the different periods, the habits of the bont 
tick from the dropping of the female to the engorgement of the larva 
coincide with those of the American cattle tick; thereafter, however, 
there are differences. The bont larva when replete with blood with- 
draws its rostrum, drops from the animal and undergoes its metamor- 
phosis in hiding on the ground. Sixteen days or longer, according to 
the temperature, pass before the larval skin ruptures and the eight- 
legged, flat-bodied nymph appears. The nymph seeks a host not alone 
through patient waiting and waving of its claw-armed forelegs but by 
running about on the ground when an animal is near. Engorgement 
is again completed about the sixth day and the tick then bears a super- 
ficial resemblance to the gorged female of the common cattle tick; it 
is, however, shorter and relatively broader and of a different shade of 
blue. Voluntary dropping and, after an interval of eighteen days or 
longer, a second molting follows. The tick has then reached the adult 
stage. ‘The sexes, which were indistinguishable in the earlier stages, 
may be told ata glance when adult. They have similar dimensions, 
but the markings and colors are dissimilar, and the shield of the male, 
