December, '08] JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 

 OviPOSiTiON Record of Hen Flea. 



SS"/ 



June 23. 



June 24. 



June 25. 



June 26. 



Fleas placed in vials. 



No. eggs. 



No. eggs 



No. larvae hatched. 



It will be seen from the foregoing table that the fleas laid all of 

 their eggs on the day following their placement in the vials and that 

 the larvffi hatched within forty-eight hours after the eggs were de- 

 posited. At 9.30 a. m. on June 26 I found most of the larvae just 

 wriggling out of the egg shells. Some had not yet gotten clear of the 

 shells. 



The larvse were white, very active and from 1.5 mm. to 1.8 mm. 

 in length. They were nearlj- of the same diameter throughout, with 

 the thorax slightly larger. 



I placed them in separate vials along with sawdust, feathers and 

 filth, but, owing, very likely, to unfavorable conditions of moisture 

 and temperature, none of them developed. 



Professor Osborn in Bulletin 5, n. s., of the U. S. Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, p. 145, quotes the observations of Judge Johnson on the life- 

 history and habits of this flea. Judge Johnson says regarding them 

 that "the females bury themselves in the skin of their victims. From 

 the tirst they hold on with such tenacity that no ordinary brushing 

 will remove them. It seems to be at this stage in their existence that 

 impregnation takes place. The males now are often seen in copula 

 with them and so remain apparently for days, or until the tumefac- 



