332 
Ornithodorus moubata 
Oviposition. 
There are very few records of this phase of the life-history. The observa¬ 
tions of other authors, collated by Nuttall and Warburton (1908), indicate 
that the eggs are deposited in batches, being agglutinated in masses, at 
intervals of a few days. At a temperature of 29° C., in a dry atmosphere, one 
female deposited 17, 51 and 2G eggs at intervals of 3-8 days (Newstead); 
the number of eggs increased when the female took a large meal, but the 
maximum number oviposited by one individual was 139 (Dutton and Todd); 
a fertilised female did not oviposit until after it had fed (Wellman). Herms 
(1916), on the other hand, has recorded that the female of an allied species, 
0. coriaceus Koch, laid 428 eggs during her first oviposition period. 
The data, with reference to oviposition, obtained from the present experi¬ 
ments, are summarised in the following table, minimum, maximum and mean 
results being shown: 
Ticks kept at 
22° C. 
A 
30° C. 
A 
No. of days before oviposition' 
Min. 
Max. 
Mean 
Min. 
Max. 
Mean 
occurred after was allowed 
16 
48 
29 
13 
18 
15 . 
access to $ 
No. of eggs deposited after 
(aberrant case 
195) 
(aberrant case 
52) 
each feed (when oviposition 
occurred) 
No. of daj^s between dates of 
1 
228 
90 
28 
318 
111 
feeding and oviposition com¬ 
mencing or recommencing 
No. of days over which ovi- 1 
0 
50 
26 
7 
24 
13 
position extended after each 
feed 
1 
48 
18 
1 
47 
10 
No. of eggs deposited by one $ 
Percentage of fertile eggs 
44 
535 
91% 
240 
108 
488 
o/ 
DO / 0 
350 
It will be remembered that all these ticks originated from the same stock, 
therefore the data obtained from the experiments conducted at the different 
temperatures are strictly comparable. 
When the ticks were maintained at 30° C. oviposition did not occur generally 
after feeding until a period of a fortnight had elapsed and then it only lasted 
on the average for 10 days, these periods being increased to twice the length 
when the temperature was lowered to 22° C. The number of eggs deposited 
after each feed varied considerably, at 30° C. the minimum, maximum and 
mean numbers being 28, 318 and 111 respectively, while at the lower tem¬ 
perature (22° C.) the mean figure was as high as 90. The heightened tem¬ 
perature increased by 50 per cent, the average number of eggs (240 at 22° C.) 
deposited by one female but at the same time the fertility of these eggs was 
decreased from 91 per cent, to 58 per cent. Approximately equal numbers 
of larvae were produced therefore in the two series, although of course they 
were produced in a shorter time at the higher temperature. In these experi¬ 
ments, oviposition ceased when the female approached an age of 250 days, but 
