462 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Dec., ’08 
not make a mound or shaft, or nested chamber as does an- 
taeus, but burrows horizontally beneath dead oak roots some- 
what as does Dynastes tityrus, but not so deeply. Its life 
course as imago is from January 1, to July 1. At least these 
dates are the extremes of my record. 
P.S. The male of the Bradycinetus ferrugineus has a profile 
resembling a pig. It should have been called porcus. 
<3r 
How a Hungry Flea Feeds. 
By M. B. Mirzman, B. S., Entomological Laboratory, Univer- 
sity of California. 
A male squirrel flea (Ceratophyllus acutus) was starved for 
five days and then permitted to roam at will on the back of the 
writer’s hand. He took four strides and settled on a hairy 
space, and taking firm hold, ceased abruptly in his locomotion, 
projected his proboscis and commenced to clear for action. A 
space was drilled by the picking epipharynx and the saw tooth 
mandibles supplemented the movement by lacerating the cavity 
formed. The two organs worked alternately, the middle piece 
boring and the two lateral elements executing a sawing move- 
ment. The mandibles, owing to their basal attachment, are 
“capable of independent action, sliding up and down but main- 
taining their relative position and preserving the lumen of the 
aspiratory channel.” The labium doubled back, the V-shaped 
groove of this organ guiding the mandibles on each side like 
an arrow from a bow. 
The action of the proboscis was executed with a forward 
movement of the head and a lateral and downward thrust of 
the entire body. As the mouth parts were sharply inserted the 
abdomen raised simultaneously. The hind and middle legs 
were elevated like oars resting above the surface of water. 
The forelegs were doubled under the thorax, the tibia and tar- 
sus resting firmly on the skin and serving as a support for the 
body during feeding. The maxillary palpi were retracted 
sharply beneath the head and thorax. 
The labium continued to bend at first acting as a sheath for 
