( 538 ) 



Xiphiopsylla gen. nov. 



c? ? . The bristles of the head, jiro- and mesonotum small, those of the post- 

 median row on the abdominal segments and metanotnm long, generality of nearly 

 the same width to near the tip, or even slightly widened distally, the tip not drawn 

 ont into a long thin point, these bristles closely resembling a straight sword. 



Eye vestigial, qnite small and only distinct in optical section, without any pigment. 

 Frontal tubercle triangular in a lateral view, pointed, distinctly projecting down- 

 wards ; oral angle of frons more strongly produced ventrad than is usual, forming a 

 conspicuous hook in a side view. Genal lobe very broad. Antennal groove of $ 

 not continued to the vertex. Maxillary palpus very long and slender, reaching 

 beyond the apex of the forecoxa and being longer than the labial palpus, which 

 consists of five segments. 



Pronotum long, with more than one row of bristles, and a comb of sixteen or 

 less spines, the latter not placed close together. The comb is situated at a consider- 

 able distance from the ventral edge of the pronotum. Mesonotum without subapical 

 spiues on inside. Episternum of the metathorax higher than long. 



One antepygidial long bristle in both sexes. In the <S the anal tergite separated 

 from the " jjvgidium " by a distinct suture ; the ninth sternite without internal 

 vertical arm, and the eighth sternite large. 



Genotype : X. kippia spec. nov. 



Allied to Ceratopkyllus, of which it is an offshoot. 



18. Xiphiopsylla hippia spec. nov. (text-fig. 12, 13 and 14). 



c? ? . Very strongly chitinised. On the abdomen the chitin is thickest in the 

 centre of the segments, the skeleton appearing very thick on the back and venter in 

 a lateral view. The greater part of the specimen is conspicuously reticulated, the 

 meshes being smaller and more regular in the strongly chitinised portions of the 

 body. Moreover, the abdominal tergites and the posterior halves of the sternites 

 are densely denticulated, and the meso- and metanotnm, metepimemum and the 

 abdominal segments I. to Nil. have serrate apical edges. The long bristles of the 

 abdomen are shaped like a sword, the lateral ones being faintly widened before 

 narrowing to a point. 



Head. — The frons is evenly rounded in the S (text-fig. 12), the occiput being 

 horizontal. In the ? the dorsum of the occiput slants forward and the frons is less 

 strongly curved than in the 6- There is a row of six bristles extending from the 

 maxillary palpus obliquely upwards to the antennal groove, and further down a row 

 of three or four bristles, of which the upper one is placed in front of the vestigial 

 eye, an additional fairly long bristle being situated near the antennal groove between 

 the two rows. These bristles vary in length, but the most ventral one is always 

 the longest. The occiput has a few small bristles along the antennal groove, the 

 approximate nnmbers being six in the c? and eight in the ¥. The lateral bristles of 

 the occiput as well as those of the subapical row are exceptionally short, the lateral 

 ones as a rule being arranged in three sets (usually 1, 2 or 3, 1). The first segment 

 of the antenna and the club are very long arid slender in the c?, and the bristles of 

 the first and second segments qnite short in both sexes. The proportional lengths 

 of the segments of the maxillary palpus are : 21, 15, 16, 23. 



Thorax. — The pronotum bears two rows of short bristles. The comb contains 

 fourteen spines, and the distance from the first spine to the ventral edge of the 



