168 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 50. 



SiaTDfamily TllC'rJJlL.A.TiLllSrAJFi Hall, 1913. 



Bynonym. — Riticularinae Travassos, 19145. 



Suh family diagnosis. — Metastrongylidae (p. 162) : Bursa much re- 

 duced or lacking ; when present, with few and atypical rays. Mouth 

 with well-developed buccal capsule. Prominent cuticular ornamenta- 

 tion along entire body. Oviparous. Parasites of the digestive tract. 



Type-genus. — Rictularia Froelich, 1802. 



In the published diagnosis of this subfamily (Hall, 1913) I re- 

 ferred to it as ovoviviparous, using the word in the not uncommon 

 sense as meaning the o\ iposition of eggs containing well-developed 

 embryos. This use of the word seems hardly accurate, ovoviviparous 

 referring more properly to the production of an embr3^o within a 

 shell and the hatching of the embryo within the maternal uterus. 



In the paper noted above, I stated that Rictularia did not have the 

 normal strongyle bursa and that the elaborate cuticular ornamenta- 

 tion and the fact that the eggs contained a developed embryo when 

 oviposited are at3^pical conditions among the strongyles. I stated, 

 however, that the buccal capsule which related Rictularia to the 

 strongyles excluded it from any other group. Ser.rat (1915/) has 

 recently published the view that the buccal capsule here is not indica- 

 tive of any real relationship but is merely the result of convergence 

 due to a similar mode of life, and that the structure of the esophagus, 

 the position of the post-cervical papillae and the excretory pore, the 

 conformation of the ovijector, the form of the eggs, and the disposition 

 of the genital papillae present manifest affinities with Physaloptera 

 and related forms. While Seurat's suggestion merits serious consid- 

 eration, the present writer does not feel in a position to pass on the 

 relationship at this time and prefers to leave these forms with the 

 Metastrongylidae. 



ANALYTICAL KEY TO GKNEBA OF EICTULAEIINAE. 



1. Cuticle ornamented with 2 lonjiltndinul rows of spines Rictnlaria, p. 168. 



Cuticle ornamented with 3 longitudinal rows of spinQS^^Rictiilarioidcs, p. 175. 



Genus RICTULARIA Froelich, 1802. 



/Synonyms. — Ophiostoma Rudolphi, 1801; Opkiostomum Creplin, 

 1839; Laphyctes Dujardin, 1815; Pterygodermatites Wedl, 1801. 



Generic diagnosis. — Rictulariinae (p. 168) : Buccal capsule well de- 

 veloped and narrow, with its aperture more or less distinctly dorsal 

 and surrounded by a circlet of denticles, and with its base armed 

 with teeth and spines. Along practically the entire ventral surface 

 of each side there are two rows of ciitictdar combs or spines. Male 

 with or without bursa ; the bursa when present is always small and 

 always remains open. Two small, equal or unequal spicules. Vulva 



