3T) FORTH AMERICAN FEVER TICK AND OTHER SPECIES. 
many cases from 5,000 bo 10,000 seed ticks were placed od the animal, 
hiii only from l to 20 adults ever developed. Prof. II. A. Morgan 
made the suggestion, based upon the observations made by liim in 
Louisiana, thai the ration the steer was receiving was responsible for 
this remarkably small proportion developing. At his suggestion we 
changed the ration. The steer had been receiving dailj 1.7<i pounds 
of corn chops and 5 pounds of prairie hay. The inspection tag on the 
chop- guaranteed not less than 9 per cent protein crude and not less 
than 1 pci- cent fat crude. At Professor Morgan's suggestion the 
corn chop- were eliminated. Immediately a much larger percentage 
of seed tick- developed to adults on the animal, although hi.- general 
condition did not seem to have been changed materially. While 
before a do/en adult- from many thousand seed tick- was the maxi- 
mum, after the change in the ration hundred- developed from no 
larger numbers of seed tick- applied. 
ENEMIES OF TICKS. 
At one time it was supposed that sowbugs may sometimes he 
important factors in the destruction of tick e<^>. A number of 
observations have shown that the greatly preferred food of these 
i-opod- is vegetation either live or decayed. In laboratory experi- 
ment- ArmadiUidium vulgan was found to feed on dead tick- and 
also to devour the eggs whenever no other food was provided. Thirty- 
eight so whuL r <. furnished with S97 tick eggs, consumed 366 at the rate 
of :; eggs per day each. In another case two sowbugs devoured 159 
t ick eggs at the rate of 15 each per day. These results hardly seem to 
substantiate the impression that sowbugs may be of considerable 
economic importance. It should be emphasized thai the experiments 
referred to were conducted in the laboratory, and the sowbugs were 
deprived of other food. Under natural conditions the result- might 
have been quite different. 
The little "fire-ant " (Solenopsis geminata Fab.), which ha- recently 
keen found to l»e acquiring a special taste for the boll weevil, undoubt- 
edly destroys many engorged tick- that have dropped to the ground. 
Experiments performed by placing tick- in the immediate vicinity of 
nests of thi- ant -how that under Mich circumstances they must 
invariably be killed. The nests of this ant are found throughout the 
pastures in the South, and the total of the work done by them must 
he considerable. 
A number of dipterous larva.' have keen found feeding upon tick 
and an undetermined species o\' Phoridse has been bred. 
At one time we were inclined to believe that a chalcidoid parasite 
»»f the rattle tick had keen reared. Early in 1906 such a parasite 
wa- found in a pill box with the remains of an engorged tick placed 
there the fall before. Upon sending the specimen to Dr. L. O. How- 
