SYSTEMATICS 



Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae, X Editio, 1758, placed the 

 Mallophaga in the order Aptera which also contained the classes Crus- 

 tacea, Chilopoda and Diplopoda. In 1802 Latreille created the order 

 Parasita in which he placed both the biting and sucking lice. Leach 

 (1815) erected the order Anoplura and included in it two families, 

 Pediculides and Nirmides. With the publication of Die Familien und 

 Gattungen der Theirinsekten ( Insecta epizoa) ; als ein Prodromus einer 

 Naturgeschicht derselben by Nitzsch (1818) , began the first systematic 

 study of the Mallophaga. He described the new order Mallophaga to in- 

 clude those lice with mandibulate mouth parts. Latreille (1825), re- 

 defined the Parasita and divided it into two groups, the Mandibulata 

 (chewing lice) and Siphunculata (sucking lice) . Shipley (1904) , gave 

 the name Lipoptera to the Mallophaga but this name has not been ac- 

 cepted by modern workers. The rules of zoological nomenclature do not 

 apply above the family level but the ordinal name Mallophaga Nitzsch 

 has priority over all others used for this group and is now accepted 

 by most American workers. Some entomologists, mostly European, com- 

 bine the Mallophaga and Anoplura into the order Phthiraptera. Weber 

 (1939) includes all lice in the order Phthiraptera and Clay (1957) 

 considers the Mallophaga to be a suborder of the order Phthiraptera 

 with the Amblycera and the Ischnocera considered as superfamilies . 



It would seem that from a taxonomic and phylogenetic point of 

 view, Weber's and Clay's opinions may be correct and that the order 

 Phthiraptera may soon be accepted by all workers. However, I have not 

 used their classification. I have held to the view of the majority of 

 North American workers, since this paper has the purpose of serving as 

 a guide to the New England Mallophaga. Almost the entire literature in 

 this field is classified with Nitzsch's ordinal name and as a practical 

 workable classification serves its purpose quite well. The Amblycera 

 and Ischnocera are regarded as suborders with three families found on 

 New England birds; Laemobothriidae, Menoponidae, and Ricinidae in the 

 Amblycera and one, Philopteridae, in the Ischnocera. 



