110 



AXJ^ALS OF THE TkANSVAAL MuSEUM. 



MAEGAR0PU8 AATNULATUS, var. AUSTRALIS, {FULLER), 

 Bhlpicephahis australis, Fuller (1899). 



Rhipicephalus annulritus, (Curtice), var. australis, (Fuller), (Neumann^ 

 190F 1901). 



Margarupus aniiulatus, (Curtice), var. australis, (Fuller), (Xeumanu, 1907). 



Plate ]I, figures p to s. 



Male (VI, p, (j) differs from decoloratus as follows : — A little smaller,, 

 more regularly oval in outline, less contracted in front ; hairs much more 

 abundant. iNo indications of caudal festoons ; caudal prolongation small 

 and conical, sometimes wanting ; h3q30stome with eight rows of teeth ;. 

 mandibles with transverse process of inner apophysis tricuspid (F/, r) 

 spines of coxae I more deeply separated ; articles of legs relatively more 

 slender ; oval stigmatic plates not pointed on caudal extremity. 



Female differs from decolorat us as follows : — Slightly smaller when en- 

 gorged, tending to a globose form and not elongate ; dorsal shield a third 

 smaller and relatively wider, usually yelloMdsh in the middle ; eyes not so^ 

 apparent. Bostruiu very short ; mandil)les as in male ; hypostome with 

 eight rows of teeth. 



Hosts. — Same as decoloratus, cattle, horses, deer, buffalo, etc. 



Distribution. — Australia, Borneo, Sumatra, Singapore, and southern 

 districts of Cape Colony. 



Lounsbury mentions this tick as occurring in the south-east districts, 

 of the Cape Colony, very commonly on cattle. There was some doubt in my 

 mind as to whether it was really australis or not, until I received some 

 specimens from Kingwilliamstown, C.C., along with decoloratus. They 

 certainly conform to the characters given for austrcdis. This variety also- 

 transmits redwater of cattle. M. annulatus is an American species, and 

 was first described in 1821 by Say as Ixodes annulatus. Since then there 

 has been a difference of opinion by various w^orkers as to whether this 

 species should belong to the genus Bhipicephalus, or form a separate genus 

 by itself. In 1891 Curtice proposed to form a genus Boophilus for its 

 reception. This was adopted by most American authors, but when 

 A'eumann prepared his " Eevision de la Famille des Ixodides (1907), he 

 placed it in genus Bhipicephalus^ considering that the characters were 

 not distinctive enough to form a separate genus. He, how^ever, gave it 

 the rank of a sub-genus, so that BhipicepJialus was composed of the sub- 

 genera F uripicephrdus and Boophilus. In 1906, however, he received some 

 specimens of a tick from South Africa^ the characters of the males 

 of which w^ere very peculiar, but the females of which were so similar in all 

 essential characters to those of B. annulatus that he came to the conclusion 

 that these two species were worthy of being raised to a separate genus, and 

 called it Margaropus. 



Jn various parts of the world there are ticks closely resembling 

 annutcdus^ so much in fact that they are distinguished with difficulty and 

 were once thought to be identical with annulatus. In each case these ticks 

 transmit Texas fever, or reclwater. 



