Bat Ticks of the Genus Argas (Ixodoidea, Argasidae) 2. Secretargas New Subgenus and A. Transgariepinus White, 1846, Its Adult and Immature Stages; with a Definition of the Subgenus Argas1

Abstract

Argas transgariepinus was briefly described by White (1846) from three cotype specimens, now in British Museum (Natural History), found somewhere in South Africa (i.e. “across the Gariep River”, the old name for the Orange River). Neumann (1901) reported a specimen from Cafrerie (Eastern Province, Union of South Africa) under the probably synonymus name A. kochi (Paris Museum). Berlese (1913) commented on two Italian specimens, one on the wall of a building and the other biting a child. In Egypt, this is a rare and highly secretive tick but over a period of years more than five hundred specimens have been collected from local populations (Hoogstraal 1952, 1954) and numerous others have been reared in the laboratory. A single specimen from Teruel, Spain, was seen by Nuttall (Hoogstraal 1954). Recently I have been privileged to examine two larvae of this species from Pipislrellus savii savii (Bonaparte, 1837) from Syracuse, Sicily; these are part of a lot (T23) collected in July, 1955.