50 
Colouration in Ticlis 
the latter also preserve the essential characters. The markings are 
lost, however, in specimens that are not adequately preserved soon after 
they die, this being doubtless due to putrefactive changes within the 
body of the tick. Collectors should, therefore, kill and preserve their 
specimens as rapidly as possible by placing them in 60®/o spirit or 
drying them. Formalin, whilst preserving the colours fairly well, has 
the disadvantage of rendering specimens brittle. 
If we compare the colouration of A. variegatum </ when alive 
(fig. 1) and preserved dry (fig. 2) we see that the black markings turn 
brownish, the coppery markings yellow, and that a great deal of the 
brilliant green between the black and coppery markings is lost; the 
beady eyes change from black to pale yellow and they appear larger. It 
is worth noting that when dried specimens are placed in alcohol they, in 
a measure, resume the tints seen in living ticks, but the colours become 
“ metallic ” so that the light areas appear like burnished copper bordered 
by green possessing a metallic sheen ; the eyes are pale and translucent 
and the black or blackish-brown of the living tick turns to a chestnut- 
brown. Corresponding changes are observable in the ornate scutum of 
the $ (figs. 3 and 4). 
Similarly, if we compare a living and a dried specimen of 
A. splendidum (figs. 5 and 6), we see that the chief markings are 
retained, although the colours are altered. The beautiful pink coloura¬ 
tion seen in most of the light portions, the pale green markings midway 
along the lateral folds, the white markings on eight of the festoons, all 
change to a pale yellow; the brilliant I’ed central spot enclosing the 
two black dots which indicate the foveae, appears shrunken and dull; 
the emerald green lines bordering the black and the violet tint of the 
median part of the dorsum are replaced by a more general greenish 
colouration; the brownish lateral folds grow dull and the dull greyish 
• eyes grow bright yellow. When dried A. splendidum are placed in 
alcohol they, as in A. variegatum, resume, in a measure, the colour seen 
in the living specimen, but the colours are metallic. The pink areas 
seen in the living specimens now assume a deeper coppery tint, the green 
becomes more intense and brilliantly metallic, the white markings on 
the festoons give off a light violet or green metallic reflection and the 
eyes appear pale yellow. 
Con-esponding changes take place in other ticks belonging to the 
genus Amblyomma and the subgenus Aponomma, the tendency for the 
ornamentation to give “ metallic” colours, when specimens are preserved 
in alcohol, being especially characteristic in these ticks. 
