Ixodes kohlsi, a New Species of Tick from Australia

Abstract

In December 1953 I received, from Mr. Glen M. Kohls of the Rocky Mountain Laboratory, Hamilton, Montana, U.S.A., four lots of ticks from Eudyptula minor for further investigation. The material in question was as follows: RML 21545. Julia Percy Island, Australia, January 1936, 4 males, 3 females, and 6 nymphs, Ixodes percavatus Neumann. J. A. Tubb. RML 21547. Sir Joseph Banks Island, Australia, January 1937, 6 females, I. percavatus Neumann. J. A. Tubb. RML 13904. Robe, S. Australia, 1 female, I. eudyptidis Maskell, det. D. C. Swan. RML 27589. Tolaga Bay near East Cape in North Island, New Zealand. 1934, 1 female, I. eudyptidis, det. L. J. Dumbleton. The first three lots are one species which bears a general resemblance to Ixodes rothschildi Nuttall and Warburton, 1911 (Arthur, 1953) but is consistently different from the latter in the dentition of the hypostome, the form of the tarsi, and the structure of Haller's organ. Haller's organ can be used to separate these lots from RML 27589 as the latter has an open posterior capsule (Figs. 1A and B); in