122 
Amals of the Tkahsvaal Museum* 
This tick has been found to he concerned to some extent in the 
transmission of East Coast fever ; it also transmits biliary fever of the 
horse, mule, and donkey. It is able to withstand very dry and desert 
conditions, and is found even in the Karroo. Unlike most other ticks, 
it passes its first molt on the host, and the second off the host ; that is, it 
visits two hosts during its life-cycle instead of three, 
RHIPICEPHALUS OCULATUS. NE UMANN. 
The Eyed Tick. 
Rliipicephalus oculatus, Neumann (1901). 
Plate VIII , figure b ; Plate IX, figure b ; Plate X, figure c. 
Male. — Body narrow, regularly widened from front to rear ; 3 mm. 
long (rostrum included). Shield {VIII, b) reddish brown in colour ; covers 
all oi the dorsal surface ; cervical grooves long, very divergent ; lateral 
grooves deep, commencing at a little distance from the eyes, stopping at the 
outer festoon • a median posterior groove ; festoons short ; punctuations 
numerous, fine, sub-equal, distinct and not coalescing ; eyes small, hemi- 
spherical, shiny, in an orbit. Ventral surface brownish in colour ; anal 
plates elongate {IX, b) triangular, inner edge longer than outer edge ; 
secondary plates weak, spinniform ; no caudal prolongation ; stigmatic 
jfiates elliptical, dark coloured, very long caudal prolongation, extending in 
a postero-clorsaL direction • sexual opening opposite coxae II. Rostrum, 
with base wider than long ; lateral angles near the anterior third of the 
length ; the posterior angles prominent ; a line of punctuations parallel 
to the posterior margin ; mandibles with process of inner apophysis trans- 
verse, bidentate on outer edge, outer apophysis with two teeth, terminal 
one weak, basilar tooth strong ; , hypostome with six rows of teeth ; palpi 
short and stout, article I and II prolonged backward on their ventral 
surfaces, all three articles having a fringe of hairs on their medio-ventral 
edges. Legs slender ; coxae I bidentate ; coxae II, III, and IV, each 
with two teeth on their posterior margins ; tarsi II, III, and IV terminate 
by two consecutive spurs. 
Female. — Body of variable length. Shield elongate, oval {X, c) ; longer 
than wide ; dark brown in colour ; cervical grooves extending to the posterior 
third of the length ; lateral grooves well developed, reaching the posterior 
margin ; punctuations mostly small, sub-equal, occasionally coalescing, 
a very few larger ones in the median and lateral areas ; eyes 
small, shiny, hemispherical, in orbits, behind the middle of the length of 
the shield. Dorsal surface of body with four anterior grooves and three 
posterior grooves. Ventral surface : stigmatic plates oval, with a posterior 
dorsal projection; anus near posterior third ; sexual opening opposite 
first intereoxal space; festoons indistinct; Rostrum like that of male; 
outer apophysis of mandibles with three teeth. ' Legs slender as in male. 
Hosts.— Cattle, Lepus sp. (Damaraland). 
Habitat. — Damaraland, Transvaal, German East Africa. 
