ABSTRACT

After mating, the female climbs to the tip of a twig on some bush. There she clings at such a height that she can drop upon small m am m als that may run under her, or be brushed off by larger anim als. The eyeless tick is directed to this watchtovver by a general photosensitivity of her skin. The approaching prey is revealed to the blind and deaf highw ayw om ar by her sense of sm ell. The odour of butyric acid, that em anates from the skin glands of all mam m als, acts on the tick as a signal to leave her watchtower and hurl herself downwards. If, in doing so. she lands on something warm-a fine sense of temperature betrays this to her-she has reached her prey, the warm-blooded creature. It only remains for her to find a hairless spot. There she burrows deep into the skin of her prey and slowly pumps herself full of warm blood. Experiments with artificial membranes and fluids other than blood h ave proved that the tick lack s all sense o f taste . O nce the m em brane is perforated , she will drink any fluid o f the right temperature.1