On some nondescript Anoplura and Mallophaga

Bruce F. Cummings
1913 Bulletin of entomological research  
{Published by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.) The following notes and descriptions are based on material in the collection of the British Museum :-ANOPLURA. Subfamily, LINOGNATHINAE. Genus, POLYPLAX, Enderlein. Polyplax pectinata, sp. nov. This parasite approaches Neumann's Haematopinus {Polyplax) manicnlatus, but is immediately recognised by the truncate proboscis, by the " olecranon process " of the hind pair of legs, and by the remarkable " comb " which terminates the
more » ... en of the Q. Perhaps a new genus should be made to receive it. Linear, abdomen about four times the length of the head and thorax together. Head very broad, proboscis truncate, its lateral margins diverging to as far as the antennae, behind which the head enlarges at right angles. Post-antennal area rectangular, broad ; the occipital margin a little convex. At each posterior angle a long hair ; on the under surface, at about the level of the antennae, two short bristles, one on each side. Antennae of five segments, the first being thick and stout, the second narrower and the longest, the third short, and the fourth broad with a sharp prominence at the post-axial distal corner. Adjoining the prominence a small circular sense-organ which crosses the joint and occupies part of the base of the terminal segment. The latter is longer than the third or fourth, and has several spines at the end. Thorax broader than the head and broader behind than in front. A large flattened spheroidal spiracle at each lateral margin. Sternal plate piriform. The first pair of legs much shorter and more slender than the rest, the coxae inserted almost longitudinally. In the third pair, the coxae are very large and broad, separated by an interval from the two anterior pairs of coxae. The third femur bears an " olecranon process " in the form of a broad scalloped plate on the post-axial margin. This curves downwards and the concave side of the plate shows radiating lines or grooves. The third pair of claws are broad, rounded plate-like. Abdomen very long, broader than thorax. Dorsal and ventral surfaces with transverse rows of widely spaced hairs, more than one row to each segment. Pleurae large, broad, on the lower margin deeply cleft, with two bristles in the fork of the cleft. In the <$ the eighth pair of pleurae are very long, the lower margin of each extending in two long pointed processes or limbs beyond the end of the last segment; there are two long bristles in the fork of the cleft. In the Q the processes of the eighth pair of pleurae are longer than the others, but they do not extend beyond the end of the abdomen. The hind margin of the terminal tergite in the Q is peculiar, being drawn out into a frill or comb of long finger-shaped processes, each of which is surmounted by a long bristle. Last segment in c? conical, truncate at 29262 C 2
doi:10.1017/s000748530001693x fatcat:nwwj22wz3rfaxmtmfkgx3rzzcu