Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T02:00:58.956Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The feeding mechanism of Ixodes ricinus L.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

D. R. Arthur
Affiliation:
From the Department of Agricultural Zoology, University College, Cathays Park, Cardiff

Extract

1. The structure of the capitulum of I. ricinus L. is described briefly.

2. A stylet-like process is described in detail. Anteriorly it forms a distal attenuation, which widens out at its base near the point of attachment to the hypostome and is continued posteriorly as a distensible pouch overlying the pharynx. Anteriorly the stylet-like process is supported by a ventral sclerotized rod.

3. The stylet-like process effects closure of the pharyngeal orifice during contraction of the pharynx and so prevents the reflux of blood into the wound. In this it is assisted by the closure of the hypostomal gutter.

4. The stylet-like process appears to be a similar structure to that observed by Sen (1935) in three other species of Ixodid ticks and to be comparable in function to the tongue-like process described by Bertram (1939) in Ornithodorus spp.

The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to the Advisory Entomologist, Dr E. E. Edwards, in whose department the work was done; to Dr Alec Milne, Unit of Insect Physiology, Agricultural Research Council; Dr P. Tate, Molteno Institute of Parasitology, Cambridge, for reading the original script, for making many useful suggestions and modifications.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1946

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bertram, D. S. (1939). Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 33, 229–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonnett, A. (1907). Ann. Univ. Lyon, N.S. 1, 1.Google Scholar
Braun, M. (1915). Die Tierischen Parasiten des Menschen, p. 387. Würzburg: Von Curt Kabitzsch.Google Scholar
Brumpt, E. (1927). Précis de Parasitologie, 4th ed., p. 857. Paris: Masson et Cie.Google Scholar
Campbell, F. L. (1929). Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carleton, H. M. (1938). Schafer's Essentials of Histology, 14th ed., p. 38. Longmans, Green and Co. Google Scholar
Christophers, S. R. (1906). Sci. Mem. Med. Sanit. Dep. India, no. 23, Calcutta.Google Scholar
Eltringham, H. (1930). Histological and Illustrative Methods for Entomologists, p. 67. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Ewing, H. E. (1929). A Manual of External Parasites, p. 87. London: Baillière, Tindall and Cox.Google Scholar
MacQueen, J. (1905). A Treatise on the Parasites and Parasitic Diseases of Domestic Animals, p. 83. London: Baillière, Tindall and Cox.Google Scholar
Milne, A. (1943). Ann. Appl. Biol. 30, 240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordenskiöld, E. (1908). Zool. Jb. Abt. 2, 25, 635.Google Scholar
Nordenskiöld, E. (1909). Zool. Jb. Abt. 2, 27, 149.Google Scholar
Nuttall, G. H. F., Cooper, W. F. & Smedley, R. D. (1905). Rep. 75th Meeting Brit. Ass., S. Africa, p. 439.Google Scholar
Nuttall, G. H. F., Cooper, W. F. & Robinson, L. E. (1908). Parasitology, 1, 152–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patton, W. S. & Cragg, F. S. (1913). A Textbook of Medical Entomology, p. 659. London, Madras and Calcutta: Christian Literature Society for India.Google Scholar
Railliet, A. (1895). Traité de Zoologie Médicale et Agricole, p. 703. Paris: Azzelin et Houzeau.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rivas, D. (1920). Human Parasitology, p. 482. Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders Co. Google Scholar
Robinson, L. E. & Davidson, J. (19131914). Parasitology, 6, 2048, 217–56, 382424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruser, M. (1933). Z. Morph. Ökol. Tiere, 27, 199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samson, K. (1909). Z. wiss. Zool. 93, 185236.Google Scholar
Sen, S. K. (1934). Nature, Lond., 134, 664.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, S. K. (1935). Parasitology, 27, 355–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sen, S. K. (1937). C.R. 12e Congr. Int. Zool., Lisbonne, 1935, 3, 1584.Google Scholar
Sharif, M. (1928). Rec. Indian Mus. 30, 217344.Google Scholar
True, G. H. (1932). Univ. Calif. Publ. Ent. 6, 21.Google Scholar