OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIOLOGY OF ORNITHODORUS PAPILLIPES
BIRULA*
By S. N. SAPRE, B.Sc.,
G.B.V.C., Research Scholar, Imperial Veterinary Research Institute,
Mukteswar
(Received for publication on 19 June 1942)
THE observations embodied in this paper were-
made during the years 1938-40 at the Imperial
Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteswar.
O. papillipes Birula (1895) (O. crossi Brumpt)
was first recorded by Motschulsky from the
Caucasus, where it occurs in the cracks of clay
walls in stables and human dwellings. In India,
these ticks have been recorded by Cross [1921]
as occurring in stables in the Murree hills, Punjab.
Very little information is available regarding the
biology of O. papillipes and the object of the work
described below was to determine the number of
moults, this tick undergoes before reaching matu-
rity, the duration of the different stages and the
percentages of mortality in each stage. Obser-
vations were also made on oviposition, copula-
tion, feeding habits and longevity.
Material and methods
Females of O. papillipes were isolated and kept
singly in specimen tubes which were placed in
wooden boxes, each holding about 24 tubes.
The ticks were kept in an incubator at 25°C.
The tubes were plugged with cotton wool
enclosed in pieces of muslin.
Small pieces
of filter paper were placed inside the tubes to
provide a hiding place for the ticks and also to
serve as an absorbent for their excrement. The
ticks were fed on a rabbit secured on a specially
prepared wooden board. Eggs laid by individual
ticks in one day were counted and kept separately
in tubes, and a record was kept of the time of the
emergence of the larvae in each batch of eggs.
These particulars were entered on a history card
which was folded and placed inside the tubes.
The larvae were fed together but from the first
nymphal stage a separate record was maintained
for each individual until it reached the adult
stage.
Accurate records were also kept of
the duration of the attachment of each parasite to
the host.
Feeding habits of O. papillipes
The female ticks were fully engorged at their
first feed, but, subsequently, they either refused
to feed or fed partially. The time taken by the
females for the first full feed was, on an average,
one hour, the maximum and minimum duration
of the feed being 2½ hours and 20 minutes res-
pectively, and, as a rule, they refused feed a
second time. The time required for a full feed
in the case of the larvae varied from 8 minutes to
one hour, as will be seen from Table I.
TABLE I
(100 larvae put on a rabbit)
No. engorged
5 . . . . . .
30 . . . . . .
15 . . . . . .
10 . . . . . .
15 . . . . . .
5 . . . . . .
5 . . . . . .
5 . . . . . .
5 . . . . . .
5 . . . . . .
Time (in
minutes)
before
dropped off
8-10
10-15
15-20
20-25
25-30
30-35
35-45
45-50
50-55
55-60
The duration of feed in the case of the nymphal
stages was as follows :—
Stage of
nymph
1st . .
2nd . .
3rd . .
4th and 5th .
Average
duration
of feed (in
minutes).
15 to 25
25 to 35
35 to 45
45 to 60
Maximum
duration
of feed (in
hours)
1
1 1/4
1½
2
Minimum
duration
of feed (in
minutes)
10
12
15
20
Copulation in O. papillipes
Copulation usually occurs shortly after the feed
but it has been observed to take place sometimes
a little before the feed and in a few cases even
immediately after emergence. The male climbs
up the dorsum of the female with its capitalum
pointing towards the hind end of the female and
then slowly creeps down towards the ventrum
until it finally attains a position where the four
pairs of the legs of the male are hooked against
the corresponding pairs of the legs of the female.
The male now inserts its mouth parts into the
vulva of the female, eventually to widen the
vulval opening, and it then creeps a little in front
so as to bring its genital pore over that of the
* Paper read at the Indian Science Congress held at
Baroda, January 1942
162