l8gi.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. I05 



A Remarkable new Hippoboscid from Mexico- 



By C. H. Tyler Townsend, Las Cruces, N. M. 



[Read before the Entomological Society of Washington, Feb. 5, 1891.], 



Recently Dr. Alfredo Duges, of Guanajuato, Mexico, sent me 

 a unique of a species of Hippoboscidae, with the request that I 

 describe it. It had been taken on a bat, Glossophaga soriciiia. 

 and was labeled Trichobius sp. This genus is queried in Scud- 

 der's " Nomenclator," being followed by the authority Gervais, 

 also queried, the information having apparently been furnished 

 by Mr. Bigot. I have searched in vain for any description or 

 any mention of this genus in literature, except the remark by 

 Mr. Bigot that he does not know the genus (Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 

 1885, p. 228), and I am forced to the conclusion that it has never 

 been described, but is perhaps merely a name that has been per- 

 petuated by labels in collections. 



The above specimen has much the general appearanceof .S'/r-fi^/.a', 

 according to Wiedemann's and Macquart's figures of 6*. vesper- 

 tilionis, and its similar habit would point to a near relationship 

 with that genus. However, on Bigot's authority, Strebla has the 

 claws of the tarsi simple, while our specimen has them bidentate, 

 and further differs in having the first joint of all the tarsi very 

 short, not elongate, not distinctly longer than the three following 

 joints. Loew considered Strebla to belong to the Nycteribidae 

 on account of the first joint of the tarsi being elongate. The 

 above specimen, moreover, has the eyes situated farther forward, 

 near the middle of the head, instead of on the outer posterior 

 angles. Yet, after all these differences, the venation agrees almost 

 exactly with Strebla. If we consider with Loew that the latter 

 genus belongs with the Nycteribidae, then the present specimen 

 is the first Hippoboscid known to be parasitic on bats. I am 

 inclined to believe, however, \h2X Strebla should, from its flattened 

 head and the presence of wings, be included with the Hippobos- 

 cidae, in spite of the fact that it is parasitic on bats. In this con- 

 nection ,5. avhim Macq. , said by Loew to be synonymous with 

 ^. vespertilionis, is recorded as parasitic on pigeons and parrots 

 in San Domingo. It is possible that this synonymy is in error, 

 as the difference in habit would indicate two distinct forms. If 

 such is the case, it might favor the separation of Strebla and 

 allied genera, with Trichobius, under the family name Streblidae, 

 as already adopted by some authors. 



