Ked in Sheep. 
81 
and by the uninitiated has been sometimes mistaken for and 
confounded with the scab parasite or the larva of the ked. 
Though in some districts it gives considerable trouble, it is 
not a widely distributed parasite. It is 
easily distinguished by its larger size, and 
having only six legs, whereas the smaller 
scab mite has eight. It bites skin and wool, 
and injures fleece and causes irritation. 
Treatment is included in that for “scab.” 
Ked. — The name “sheep louse” is, how- 
ever, most commonly associated with that 
ubiquitous insect, the “ked,” or Melophagus 
ovinus (Fig. 5), so often erroneously called 
the “ sheep tick.” This familiar brown 
wingless insect, varying from the size of 
a small pea to that of a small bean, lives 
and breeds in the skin of the sheep. It 
does not lay eggs, but its young are brought 
forth as pupae, which become attached to the 
wool fibres, appearing like small brown 
seeds. This parasite lives on the skin products, and also 
extracts the blood of the sheep after piercing the skin. It is 
so familiar that it is not usually considered injurious. There 
FIG. 5 .— Melophagus ovinus (magnified). 
Fig. 4 . — Trichodectes 
sphcerocephalus. 
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