﻿10 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. lOo 



The genital armature of guami is somewhat different from that fig- 

 ured by Clay, In size guami is very close to measurements given by 

 Neumann for capistratus, the width of the head (at temples), the 

 metathorax, and the abdomen being practically the same. The race 

 is represented by 8 males and 11 females, from two individuals of the 

 same host. 



Note. — As pointed out by Neumann, there are two species of 

 Philopterus described from kingfishers by Nitzsch and two by Piaget 

 that belong in Alcedoecus — P. mystaceus (Nitzsch) from Halcyon 

 coromanda; P. delphax (Nitzsch) from Dacelo novaeguineae; P. alato- 

 clypeatus (Piaget) from Halcyon malimbica; and P. setosus (Piaget) 

 from Alcedo atthis. These are all closely related to capistratus and to 

 one another, and well-prepared specimens of all will have to be com- 

 pared in order to work out their true nomenclatural status. 



I suspect that in Alcedoecus we have a very compact, closely related 

 group of species or perhaps quite a number of subspecies. 



Genus PHILOPTERUS Nitzsch 



PHILOPTERUS ACROCEPHALUS, new species 



Type.—V. S. N. M. No. 58960, female adult, from Acrocephalus 

 luscinia luscinia, collected by Rollin H. Baker on Guam Island 

 (Marianas), June 4, 1945. 



This is the first Philopterus recorded from Acrocephalus and the 

 third from the family Sylviidae. Both of the other species (pas- 

 serinus and rubeculae) were described by Denny, the first from Mota- 

 cilla alba (also reported from Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) , the latter 

 from Erithacus rubecula, but neither of them has any resemblance 

 to the present species, both having a very narrow preantennary area, 

 totally unlike acrocephalus. 



Diagnosis. — The species is of small size (1.38 in length), with very 

 large head and small abdomen; the preantennary area is wide, espe- 

 cially the front, with clypeal bands wide, heavily chitinized, and 

 broken dorsally in median portion by the clypeal suture; the clypeal 

 signature is very large, concave on anterior margin, swollen laterally 

 in median portion, and produced backward to a point ending on a 

 line with the middle of the antennae and far behind the mandibles. 

 On each side of the signature is a slender projection extending back- 

 ward from the widest portion to a line even with the anterior edge of 

 trabeculae, ending in a slender point, set with a slender spine. 



The clypeal signature is anchored to the marginal bands by cir- 

 cular, inne]' bands, the ends of which are fused to the marginal bands 

 on each side of the clypeal suture, and with nearly the whole of the 

 band lying across (ventrally) the side of the signature just posterior 

 to the widest part. There is a wide hyaline flap across front 

 of head, beginning at the tips of the clypeal bands, with rounded sides 



