FAMILY ISCHNOPSYLLIDAE WAHLGREN 



1907 Ischnopsyllidae Wahlgren, Ent. Ttdsk.. 23: 89. 



1905 Ceratopsyllidae Baker, Proc. United States Nat. Mus., 29: 124. 



1909 Ischnopsyllidae Oudemans, Nov. Zool., 16:155. 



1915 Ischnopsyllidae Rothschild, Ent. Mo. Mag., 51:84. 



1928 Ischnopsyllidae Dampf, Ent. Mitt., 15: 385. 



1929 Ischnopsyllidae Ewing, Manual External Parasites, p. 176. 



1936 Ischnopsyllidae Wagner, Tierwelt Mitteleuropas, Bd. 6, Abt. 17, s. 17. 



The American members of this family may be readily dis- 

 tinguished from other species of fleas by the presence of a pair 

 of highly sclerotized preoral plates on each side of the head. 

 These flaps, which vary in size and shape, represent modified 

 genal ctenidial spines. Some of the genera are further char- 

 acterized by one to several abdominal combs, which consist of 

 either long teeth (true ctenidia) or thickened dorsal bristles 

 (false combs) . In the eastern genera the eyes are rudimentary 

 or absent. The fifth tarsal joint of each leg is armed with four 

 pairs of lateral plantar bristles and a basal submedian pair. In 

 addition, the fifth tarsal joint may bear an apical pair of small 

 bristles. So far as is known, all the members of this family are 

 normally parasitic on bats, occurring only accidentally on other 

 mammals. In the East but three genera have been found, and 

 these may be separated by the following key: 



Key to the Genera of Eastern Ischnopsyllidae 



1. Maxilla truncate Myodopsylla, p. 104 



Maxilla acuminate 2 



2. Abdomen with a comb on tergite VII Eptescopsylla, p. 107 



Abdomen without a comb on tergite VII Sternopsylla. p. 108 



MYODOPSYLLA JORDAN AND ROTHSCHILD 



Myodopsylla Jordan and Rothschild, 1911, Nov. Zool., 18: 88. 



Genotype: Ceratopsylla insignis Rothschild 



Maxilla truncate. Gena with a long stout bristle at the 

 anterior border of the antennal groove near the vestigial eye. 

 Pronotum with a true ctenidium consisting of long slender 

 spines. Metanotum and abdominal tergites I to VII with a false 



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