88 [April. 



the exception of one or two individuals detected on the back, these being 

 probabl}^ stragglers. 



I am indebted to Mr. Austin Eoberts o£ the Transvaal Museum for 

 kindly identifying the host for me. 



Before giving a detailed description of the louse, it would probably 

 not be amiss if I were to first of all give a short account of its host. 



E. ri(jjesfr/s is the largest species of the family Macroscelidne, 

 excluding Petroclroiims and Rhynchocyon, the two remaining genera, 

 which occur mainlj^ in Trojncal Africa, but are also found in the Eastern 

 Transvaal and Zululand. It is diurnal in habits, and is only found 

 amongst rocks in more or less treeless situations on kopjes (hills) or on 

 the veldt. It is readily recognized by the great length of the hind feet, 

 which measure about 35 to 3S mm. in adult specimens. 



The food of these animals consists principally of insects, but they 

 may be caught in traps baited with meat. 



Subfamily Linogxa thinae. 



Genus Neolixognathus, gen. nov. 



The generic characters are: — Species small. Head long am] narrow, with 

 the posterior portion scaly ; antennae live-segmented, similar in both sexes. 

 Tliorax with two narrow longitudinal sternal plates. Abdomen elongated and 

 narrow, with a row of strong spines of peculiar construction on the posterior 

 margins of the first seven segments of the female only ; the integument is soft, 

 and almost compIei<;ly covered with scales and minute spines. Chitiuized 

 tergites and sternites and sutures between the segments are lacking. Pleurites 

 absent, except for a rudimentary pair on the eighth segment, immediately above 

 each of which the' e is a long and short bristle. Stigmata are only present on 

 the thorax and eighth abdominal segment, there being a pair on the thorax 

 near the lateral margin and a large pair on the eighth segment above the 

 pleurites. The first pair of legs are smaller than the succeeding pairs, each 

 with a small claw. The second pair are slightly larger than the third pair, but 

 to a less extent in some specimens than in the one figured, and in the males 

 there is little difference in size ; the claws of the mid and hind pairs are large 

 and equal. 



It is probably not advisable to attempt at present to discuss this 

 new species with reference to its nearest known relative. All that it is 

 necessary to say is that Neolinognatlms resembles Fohjplax in size, but 

 can be distinguished from it or any other known genera by the following 

 characters : — 



fl) The presence of only a single pair of stigmata on the abdomen. 



(2) A pair of sternal plates. 



(3) Hind head being covered with scales. 



