462 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Dec., '08 



not make a mound or shaft, or nested chamber as does an- 

 taeus, but burrows horizontally beneath dead oak roots some- 

 what as does Dynastes tityrus, but not so deeply. Its life 

 course as imago is from January i, to July I. At least these 

 dates are the extremes of my record. 



P. S. The male of the Bradycinetus ferruginous has a profile 

 resembling a pig. It should have been called porous. 



How a Hungry Flea Feeds. 



By M. B. MITZMAN, B. S., Entomological Laboratory, Univer- 

 sity of California. 



A male squirrel flea (Ceratophyllus aculiis} was starved for 

 five days and then permitted to roam at will on the back of the 

 writer's hand. He took four strides and settled on a hairy 

 space, and taking firm hold, ceased abruptly in his locomotion, 

 projected his proboscis and commenced to clear for action. A 

 space was drilled by the picking epipharynx and the saw tooth 

 mandibles supplemented the movement by lacerating the cavity 

 formed. The two organs worked alternately, the middle piece 

 boring and the two lateral elements executing a sawing move- 

 ment. The mandibles, owing to their basal attachment, are 

 "capable of independent action, sliding up and down but main- 

 taining their relative position and preserving the lumen of the 

 aspiratory channel." The labium doubled back, the V-shaped 

 groove of this organ guiding the mandibles on each side like 

 an arrow from a bow. 



The action of the proboscis was executed with a forward 

 movement of the head and a lateral and downward thrust of 

 the entire body. As the mouth parts were sharply inserted the 

 abdomen raised simultaneously. The hind and middle legs 

 were elevated like oars resting above the surface of water. 

 The forelegs were doubled under the thorax, the tibia and tar- 

 sus resting firmly on the skin and serving as a support for the 

 body during feeding. The maxillary palpi were retracted 

 sharply beneath the head and thorax. 



The labium continued to bend at first acting as a sheath for 



