16 
A mb 1 vomma dissim ile 
«/ 
his body and the spermatophore issues from his genital aperture. If the male 
is forcibly removed at this period he has considerable difficulty in moving 
off owing to the adhesive quality of the freshly formed spermatophore. As 
the male raises his body the mouthparts are withdrawn. The spermatophore 
is now deposited in the slight depression containing the female sexual orifice. 
The palps and mouthparts of the male are utilized to guide the neck of the 
spermatophore into the female orifice. The proboscis of the male is now 
once more inserted and remains thus for about three minutes. Gentle probing 
movements take place. The male then retires. The spermatophore is now 
situated with its neck within the sexual orifice of the female. It is rounded 
in 'shape and the male was not observed to force out its contents before 
leaving the female. After about ten minutes it becomes flattened and emptied. 
The empty capsule remains firmly attached for some time 1 . 
In nature males and females are found together on the same host though 
I have never observed copulation to take place there. 
Proportion of the sexes. The examination of 30 tick-infested toads yielded 
55 adults: 46d, 9 $. Therefore, under natural conditions, the males largely 
predominate. 
The following weights of various stages of A. dissimile are of interest. 
Fresh specimens were used. 
Unengorged adult female -0110 grin. 
Engorged nymph *0270 
Engorged larva *0010 
An average sized engorged female measures: 
Length 17*5 mm. 
Breadth 11*5 
Depth 8*0 . 
Parthenogenesis. I have succeeded in definitely establishing that partheno¬ 
genesis occurs in Amblyomma dissimile. 
Two adult female ticks which had been carefully bred from ova in the 
laboratory and kept in strict captivity in a glass tube plugged with cotton¬ 
wool over sand were allowed to engorge on a toad. During engorgement all 
possibility of a male gaining access to them was rendered impossible bv 
standing the cage in a large dish filled with kerosene and water. The table 
on which these cages were kept was stood in dishes containing the same 
mixture. If males were brought in during this same period and kept on the 
table they were carefully isolated and eventually killed. There was no 
remote chance of them gaining access to the females. 
The two females eventually engorged normally and laid a normal quantity 
of eggs, all of which, as far as I could ascertain, were fertile. 
1 This agrees with the description of the process of copulation described by Nuttall in O. 
moubata, Parasitology, iv. 39; Ixodes puius, Ibid . vi. 81; Dermacentor venustus, Ibid. vn. 429; 
and since observed by him in Rhipicephalus spp. and Amblyomma variegalum. 
