HAEMAPHYSALIS (RHIPISTOMA) SPINULOSA NEUMANN, 1906: DESCRIPTION OF IMMATURE STAGES, ADULT STRUCTURAL VARIATIONS, AND NOTES ON BIOLOGY (IXODOIDEA: IXODIDAE)

Numerous engorged larvae and nymphs of Haemaphysalis spinulosa collected from the Nile grass rat (Arvicanthis niloticus testicularis) in Shambat area, Khartoum Province, Sudan were used to establish a laboratory colony, which thrived on rabbit hosts. The period between parent (Pj) initial oviposition and F, beginning oviposition was 225 to 311 days. Reared adults differ slightly from previously described samples. The larva and nymph are described and compared with immature stages of other described members of the H. leachi complex of Africa. Haemaphysalis spinulosa was described by Neumann (1906) from two females collected in Uganda. The male was later described by Hoog- straal (1964), but the immature stages were not known. We have collected these stages from the Nile grass rat (Arvicanthis niloticus testicularis) trapped in the vicinity of the Agriculture-Vet- erinary Campus of the University of Khartoum at Shambat, Khartoum North, Sudan and they were used to establish a rabbit-maintained lab- oratory colony. This has facilitated the descrip- tion of immature stages, together with studies on the adults based on large numbers of specimens.