356 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 1 



On investigation a hen was found sitting beneath the house and she 

 and her nest were literally alive with the hen flea. Xestopsylla gal- 

 linacea. 



I do not mean to say positively that this flea was annoying the oc- 

 cupants of the house, for no specimen of this particular species was 

 ever found by me in the rooms. In fact, I was unable to get hold of 

 any of the specimens in the house that were actually causing the 

 trouble. 



The fleas on the hen were confined to the face, ear lobes and wattles. 

 These parts of the fowl were almost black with them. By actual count 

 there were 164 on the right wattle, 65 on the right ear lobe, and by 

 estimate, 200 or more on the right side of the face. The pests stood 

 at right angles to the surface, with their heads embedded in the skin, 

 nor were they at 'all easy to remove. They could not be brushed off 

 nor scraped off with a knife without hurting the hen. I removed 

 some with tweezers, but even with these instruments they came off 

 with difficulty. 



We placed the fowl in a large box containing some sawdust and 

 kept her there several daj^s, during which time she managed to free 

 herself from a good many by scratching her head with her toes, and I 

 suspect some of the older, engorged females dropped off to deposit 

 eggs. 



I dissected some of the engorged females and found they contained, 

 apparently, well developed eggs. In one I found three white oval- 

 shaped eggs. In another I found five. On June 22 I placed two en- 

 gorged fleas in each of three vials. On the morning of June 23 (8.30) 

 I found five eggs in vial a, five eggs in vial h, and three eggs in vial c. 

 The eggs were white, oval and considerably longer than broad. They 

 measured from .35 to .4 mm. in length. It appeared so easy to obtain 

 the eggs that I thought a more extended observation might be worth 

 while. 



Accordingly, on the morning of June 23 I placed one large, ap- 

 parently engorged female flea in each of fifteen vials, to ascertain 

 their egg-laying capacities. To my surprise and gratification, eggs 

 were obtained in every ease but one and in most cases the larvae 

 hatched readily, as shown by the following table : 



