44' 
the  flowering  stems  or  leaves  of  any  other  kind  of  plant  or  other 
suitable  object,  usually  something  which  stands  out  prominently 
above  the  denser  vegetation.  One  enormous  colony  of  ‘  grass  lice  ’ 
was  found  clustered  together  on  the  flowering  stem  of  a  plant  locally 
known  as  the  ‘  devil’s  riding  whip.’  In  cattle  pens  where  there  is 
little  vegetation  they  congregate  on  the  exposed  roots  of  trees  or 
swarm  up  the  tree  trunks  and  fix  themselves  upon  any  little 
prominence  they  may  find.  Sometimes,  also,  they  occur  on  stone  walls 
or  on  angular  fragments  of  rock,  or  even  dead  leaves  and  bits  of 
sticks  lying  upon  the  ground.  In  such  situations  they  await  a  passing 
host.  When  once  the  young  tick  has  secured  a  host,  it  fills  itself  to 
repletion,  afterwards  leaving  the  host  and  undergoing  the  first  moult 
on  the  ground,  becoming  a  nymph  or  '  Redback.’  In  this  stage  it 
seeks  a  second  host,  usually  from  the  top  of  some  prominent  grass 
stem  or  other  plant,  and  after  taking  a  meal  of  blood  falls  to  the 
ground,  moults,  and  becomes  sexually  mature.  The  males  and  females 
ascend  the  taller  plants  and  for  the  third  time  seek  a  host.  Both 
sexes  take  a  meal  of  blood,  and  the  female  after  repletion  falls  from 
the  host,  lays  her  eggs  and  dies.  What  eventually  becomes  of  the 
male  is  not  known.  Neither  was  it  ascertained  if  coition  takes  place 
on  the  host  as  in  other  allied  species  of  Amhlyomma.  The  females 
invariably  preponderated,  and,  although  enormous  numbers  of  males 
were  seen,  in  no  instances  were  they  found  in  coitu.  The  male  is 
extremely  active  throughout  life — mealtime  excepted — and  so  also 
is  the  female  while  seeking  a  host,  but  after  feeding  to  repletion,  like 
all  her  congeners,  becomes  an  almost  helpless  creature  and  is  capable 
only  of  moving  her  body  very  slowly. 
Little  can  be  said  with  regard  to  the  period  occupied  by  this  tick 
m  the  duration  of  its  life  cycle.  The  females  are  most  prolific ;  the 
number  of  eggs  laid  by  the  female,  according  to  Williams  {loc.  cil^,  is 
2,000,  but  Mr.  Wortley  makes  the  figures  7,240,  and  these  may 
be  taken  as  nearer  the  average  than  those  of  Professor  Williams. 
Egg  laying  occupies  from  seven  to  ten  days  ;  and  the  period  of 
incubation,  in  an  average  temperature  of  75°  F.,  varied  from  forty- 
three  to  fifty  days.  The  eggs  were  kept  in  the  shade,  and  whether 
the  more  or  less  direct  rays  of  the  sun  would  hasten  the  hatching  of 
the  larvae  was  not  ascertained.  Beyond  this  stage  nothing  can  be 
said  at  present ;  neither  is  it  known  for  how  long  this  tick  can  survive 
t 
