32 



HowLETT (F. M.). A Preliminary Note on the Identification of Sand- 

 flies. — BnU. Entom. Research, London, vi, no. 3, December 1915, 

 pp. 293-296, 1 diagram, 2 plates. 



The small amount of information at present available on the life- 

 histories of the species of PJilehotomus has led to the publication of the 

 present note in the hope that it might be of use to medical officers by 

 giving them easily-seen characters by which the early stages of 

 Phlebotomus papatasii, P. argentipes and P. mirmtus may be 

 differentiated. These species are common in India and the first and 

 last are also known to occur in Southern Europe. For practical 

 purposes, the characters of the egg and newly hatched larva are 

 more valuable than those of the adults, since almost any engorged 

 female will lay eggs within a couple of days and young larvae will 

 hatch out in a week or ten days, while either the egg or the young larva 

 affords easy means of identification. The characters of the egg and 

 of the newly-hatched larvae are described and an account is given 

 of the hatching of the egg. The influence of temperature is a simple 

 bionomic character which also differentiates the species and has some 

 practical importance. In this respect, as in others, P. argentipcfi 

 seems to be more or less intermediate between P. papatasii and 

 P. minulus. The length of the life-history in a typical lot of each 

 species is indicated in a diagram. This shows that P. minutus, although 

 its life-history is considerably lengthened, breeds more or less con- 

 tinuously through the cold weather at Pusa, Bengal, where the 

 observations were made. Larvae of P. argentipes hatching at the 

 beginning of the cold weather may develop either quickly or slowly 

 (even in the case of larvae from the same batch of eggs) ; while those 

 of P. papatasii hatching at the same time will remain as larvae until 

 the following spring, when they pupate and emerge in late February 

 or March according to the temperature. 



Jordan (K.) & Rothschild (Hon. N. C). On some Siphonaptera 

 collected by W. Riickbeil in East Turkestan. — Ectoparasites, 

 London, i, no. 1, 30th December 1915, pp. 1-21, 27 figs. 



The fleas described in this paper were obtained in the neighbourhood 

 of Djarkent, Semiretschenskoi, Turkestan. They include the following 

 species :• — Coptopsylla ardua, sp. n., from RJiombomys opimus ; Ceratu- 

 phyllus macrophthalmus, sp. n., from Arvicola terrestris scythicus ; 

 C. praefectus, sp. n., and C. fidus, sp. n., from Apodemus tscherga ; 

 C. elatus, sp. n., from A. tscherga and Crocidura ilensis ; C. tersus, 

 sp. n., from Rhobomys opinms ; Amphipsylla dumalis, sp. n., from 

 Mustela erminea, Cricetulus fulvus, Ellobius ursulns and A. tscherga ; 

 Amphipsylla primaris, sp. n., from M. erminea ; A. contigua locuples, 

 subsp. n., from Mustelus ermiiieiis, Mustela pallida, M. nivalis, 

 A. tscherga, Microtiis obscurus, M. eversmanni, M. ilaeiis and Crocidura. 

 ilensis ; Mesopstjlla hebes, sp. n., from Arvicola terrestris scythicus ; 

 M. lenis, sp. n., from A. tscherga or Allactaga elater ; Ctenophthalmus 

 dux, sp. n., from Ellobius ursulus and Cricetidus fidvus. 



