186 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Laccobius, Er. 

 L. agiiis, Rand., is about .10 in. long, Iiead and thorax blackish, 

 elytra pale, clouded v.qth dusky. Body beneath black, feet pale. It is 

 common near the banks in small ponds. 



PREr.IMINARY STUDIES IN SIPHONAPTERA.— VI. 



BY CARL F. BAKER, FORT COLLl.NS, COLO. 



Genu? Hystrichopsylla^ Tschb. 



1880. Taschenberg, Die Flohe, p. 83. 



This genus has but a single species : — 

 HystricJiopsylla obtiisiceps, Ritsema. 



1826. Curtis, Brit. Ent., III., No. 114 (Pulex talpae). 



1831. Macquart, Ann. d. Sci. Nat., XXII., p. 405 (Pulex terrestris). 



1868. Ritsema, Tijds. voor Entom., 2 ser. III., p. 173' (Pulex 

 obtusiceps). 



1880. Taschenberg, Die Flohe, p. 83 (Hystrichopsylla obtusiceps). 



This remarkable flea has a heavier covering of spines and bristles 

 than occurs in any other species. The head combs are on the discs of 

 the cheeks with the spines pointing backward (as in Typhlopsylla 

 gracilis and frateriia), instead of on the lower edges, there being 10 

 s|jines on either side. The first joint of the maxillary palpi is the longest. 

 Prf)notal comb with 20 spines on either side. The comb on the first 

 abdominal segment consists of 20 spines on either side ; that on the 

 second segment, of 12 on either side, and that on the third segment, of 

 7 on either side. The tarsi are slender. Colour, chestnut-brown. 

 1/jngth of male, 3.5 mm.; of female, 5-5.5 mm. It has been reported 

 as occurring on Talpa eiiropcea and Arvicola arvalis, in various parts 

 of Europe. 



Genus lyphiopsylla, Tschb. 



1880. Taschenberg, Die Flohe, p. 86. 



Table of Species.* 



I. Head with a comb of spines A. 



I [. Head without a comb of spines K. 



A. Head not unusually elongated ; maxillae triangular ; head comb 



* In this table I have followed Taschenberg very closely, as there are many of the 

 species which I have never seen. The characterization of this genus in my second paper 

 will have to be modified somewhat, as two species have come into my hands which are 

 entirely without the head combs so general in the genu3, and one in which there are five 

 spines in each head comb. 



