Boophilus

BOOPHILUS, a tick of the superfamily Ixodoidea, family Ixodidae. Within the USSR—in the Crimea, in the Caucasus, in Turkestan—lives B. annulatus var. calcaratus Bir. This tick is one-host, i.e., it performs its entire life cycle, from larva to hatching of the adult form, on the same host, which are primarily cattle and sheep. After feeding on the host's blood and fertilized, the females fall to the ground, where they lay eggs. The hatched larvae attack cows and attach to them. On the same cows, they molt into nymphs, which (without leaving the host) molt into adult ticks. This species of tick is very important in veterinary and agricultural relations, as it is the vector of southern piroplasmosis (see) of cattle, the causative agent of which are blood parasites of the family Babesiidae—Piroplasma bigeminum. Measures to combat this form of piroplasmosis are conducted mainly along the lines of tick destruction (bathing cows in arsenic baths, spraying with arsenic or petroleum emulsions, changing pastures, etc.).