NOTES FROM THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW APHANIPTEROUS INSECT 

 FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 



By A. Sidney Olliff, F.E.S., 

 Assistant Zoologist, Australian Museum. 



The remarkable parasite characterized below was found in large 

 numbers on a Porcupine Ant Eater [Echidna hystrix), which was 

 recently added to the collection of the Australian Museum. It 

 chiefly affects the breast and head of the Echidna — especially 

 near the throat and in the neighbourhood of the ears — attaching 

 itself so firmly by its rostrum as to render its removal a matter of 

 considerable difficulty. Unlike the common Pidex irritans and 

 most of its congeners this species does not appear to possess the 

 power of jumping. Specimens which I removed from their host 

 and kept alive for some days gave no evidence of saltatorial 

 habits. 



After a careful perusal of the writings of Kolenati, Westwood 

 and others who have treated of the genera of the order 

 Aphaniptera, I have arrived at the conclusion that this new 

 parasite cannot be placed in any existing genus. I therefore pro- 

 pose to name it Echidnophaga. In form it is more rounded than 

 most of its allies and its body is much less spined. The mandibles 

 are long and only serrate at the apical half, the fourth tarsal joint 

 of the two anterior pairs of legs is very small, and the apical joint 

 of the labial palpi is longer than the other joints taken together — 

 a character in itself sufficient to distinguish Echidnophaya from 

 Pulex and Ceratopsylhcs. 



