Some notes on the bionomics of Ornithodorus savignyi in British Somaliland

Abstract

In the Somali country this tick is found in the soil in or around the huts on the outskirts of the coastal towns, showing a predilection for the more squalid and insanitary areas where the indigent Somalis reside. In the interior it frequents most camps of long-standing which are inhabited by human beings and their domestic animals. They are extremely common in the dusty soil surrounding the wells and waterholes. In the waterless Haud and the Nogal Valley they are most frequently found under large trees, especially when these are in isolated positions, as at Ged Aboulrir on the Arori Plain, and afford the only shade for miles to the shepherd and his flock during the heat of the day.