Tropical Fowl Mite in the United States. 



sparrow most if not all of the breeding takes place in the nests. Very 

 few mites are found on sparrows flying around. There are, however, 

 enough to start an infestation. Young sparrows not fledged may have 

 many mites on them, but after they leave the nest they have only a 

 few. Apparently the mite prefers the fluffy down of the hen feathers 

 lining the nest to the feathers of the sparrow. This may also be the 

 reason why few mites are ever found on young or half -grown chick- 

 ens. An attempt to infest a young chick devoid of many feathers 

 proved a failure. Mites may be found on loose feathers (fig. 2) on 

 the floor of the hen house or in shady places in the yard. None was 



Fig. 2. — Hen's feathers infested with the tropical fowl mite. 



found on the grass or in sunny places. Mites on a loose feather placed 

 on a hen's back in the sun were so affected that some of them died 

 before they could get under the hen's feathers. 



On the fowl the mites are most numerous about the vent. They 

 seem to like to accumulate on a few feathers rather than occupy many 

 feathers. Some feathers will have hundreds of eggs, mites, and 

 molted skins mixed with mite excreta. This gives the feathers below 

 the vent in an infested fowl a dirty appearance. In heavy infesta- 

 tions, while the mites are most numerous about the vent, they may be 

 quite generally distributed among the feathers on all sections. In 



