THE ENTOMOLOGIST 



Vol. XLVI.] NOVEMBER, 1913. [No. 606 



TWO NEW PAL^ ARCTIC SPECIES OF RHADINO- 

 PSYLLA, A GENUS OF SIPHONAPTERA. 



By the Hon. N. Charles Rothschild, M.A. 



(Plates XIII. & XIV.) 



In ' Novitates Zoologies,' xix. p. 367 (1912), Dr. Jordan and 

 myself proposed the new genus Rhadinopsylla for R. masculana 

 and allied species, all of which have a genal comb of five spines. 

 Besides masculana, pentacanthus, and isacanthus, mentioned in 

 the place quoted, we now also refer to Rhadinopsylla the species 

 described as Typhlopsylla altaica, Wagn. (1900), from the Altai 

 Mountains ; Typhlopsylla fraterna, Baker (1895), from South 

 Dakota (U.S.A.) ; and the two new species described hereafter. 



One of the two new species renders a slight emendation of 

 the original diagnosis of the genus necessary. We described the 

 fifth hind tarsal segment as bearing four pairs of lateral bristles. 

 This is not the case in all the species, the second new species 

 described below having five pairs. 



Dr. A. C. Oudemans, in Entom. Bericht. p. 340 (1913), says 

 that the labial palpus of R. pentacanthus consists of four seg- 

 ments. The statement is eironeous. There are five segments, 

 as mentioned in our description of the genus. 



1. Rhadinopsylla bivirgis, n. sp. (PI. xiii., figs. 1, 2, 3.) 

 $ $ . The head agrees closely with that of R. masculana, Jord. & 

 Roths. (1912), from Algeria, the frons being strongly angulate a short 

 distance from the palpi in both species. The pronotum of R. bivirgis 

 bears a comb of sixteen or seventeen spines and a row of ten bristles 

 (on the two sides together). The metepimerum has five bristles 

 (3, 2), the stigma being placed above the upper bristle of the second 

 row. The abdominal tergites bear a row of ten or eleven bristles, and 

 the sternites of in. to vi. seven or eight bristles on the two sides 

 together. The antepygidial bristles of the female are much shorter, 

 but somewhat thicker, than the lower bristle of the row on the 

 seventh tergite. The bristles of the legs present some characters 

 absent from all the other known species. The longest apical bristle of 

 the hind tibia does not extend to the tip of the first tarsal segment. 

 The first hind tarsal segment has on the hinder side two or three deep 



ENTOM. — NOVEMBER, 1913. 2 A 



