VWeleleen). BSCR bE BLO IN, OF 
eee O) Gi ACE Ape he UO Gl NoE A, 
Ait oe RTO UNDESCRIBED SPECIES 
Or PH ORT DABS bIta EeCAUSES 
MY LAS To oN ave AN. 
By E. BRUNETTI. 
In the autumn of 1907 I bred a number of specimens of a 
species of Phoridae from the body of a newly-dead lizard (Calotes 
versicolor, Daud.). This was not intentional, but as no spirit was 
handy to preserve the lizard, the bottle remained uncorked for a 
few days, but was closed up as soon as signs were perceived that 
young larvae were developing. 
When the flies appeared, the majority were removed and 
pinned, and the bottle recorked, but a few were seen to remain, 
and from these a second generation was bred which emerged August 
23—27,1907. Some notes were kept at the time, but these have 
been mislaid. 
Unfortunately no description of the species was published 
but a few specimens were sent out to various correspondents under 
the name of Afhiochaeta ferruginea, and it now appears that the 
species has been recognized to exist in many parts of the tropics 
outside the Orient. 
- Mr. F. M. Howlett figures it in Lefroy’s ‘‘ Indian Insect 
Life,’ and also Col. A. Alcock in his ‘‘ Entomology for Medi- 
cal Officers;”’ and from co-types sent by the Indian Museum 
to the British Museum, Mr. E. E. Austen has identified as this 
species, specimens in the National Collection from West Africa and 
Central America, in addition to those from Oriental localities. He 
also records it from Sierra Leone and British Honduras, so that it 
is apparently generally distributed throughout the whole tropical 
zone. 
From the fact that it has been proved to attack man, infest- 
ing the intestines and even able to complete its life cycle as an 
internal human parasite, considerable interest has centred round it 
recently, and more than once enquiries have been made of me for 
the published description. As a matter of fact it has till now 
been merely a nomen nudum, but a belated full description is now 
provided. 
In the Indian Museum are the remains of one or two examples 
which were sent to that Institution by Dr. Crombie, 5-x1-g1, 
having been ‘‘ reared from eggs passed with the excrement of a 
European in Rangoon, eggs, grubs and flies being all voided 
