The Male of Ixodes soricis Gregson (Acarina: Ixodidae)

Abstract

The male of Ixodes soricis Gregson was discovered at Silver Creek, British Columbia, in 1948 (Gregson, 1949). The tick was found with its hypostome fully inserted into the lateral body wall of a partially engorged female of the same species. It was not described because the specimen in situ represented an interesting example of either accidental parasitism (Anastos, 1948), or more likely an unsuccessful attempt at copulation, since it is questionable whether the males, like those of some other species of Ixodes, ever feed. The recent discovery, however, by the junior author, of another specimen, in a collection of ticks from a shrew taken at Seattle, Washington, permits the following description of the male of this species.