1008 MR. R. J. ORTLEPP ON THE 



2. Spicules dissimilar, and their sizes very different. 

 AA. Two uteri. 



aa. Four pairs of pedunculated papillaj Ahreviata. 



hh. Nine to ten pairs of pedunculated papilla?. 



cc. Vulva in anterior half ; ovijector verj^ long Seliconema. 



dd. Vulva near to the anus Froleptus. 



BB. Pour uteri Leptosoma. 



Except for the genus Ttirgida, Travassos gives no generic 

 diagnoses for his new gsnera, so that in order to form a conception 

 of the three genera Chlamydonema, Ahreviata, savd Leptosoma, we 

 are limited to the skeletal framework of his key. He also does 

 not indicate which species he regards as the type of each of these 

 three genera, but as he has used the term Turgida in raising the 

 species Ph. turgida to generic rank, I take it that Ghlamydonema 

 will have as its type-species Ph. prcejjutialis von Linstow, 1899, 

 because Chlamydonema felineus is the name used by Hegt (1910) 

 in describing a nematode parasite from the Domestic Cat, being 

 apparently unaware of its physalopteran characters or its identity 

 with Ph. prasputialis. Ahreviata is presumably Rudolphi's 

 species Ph. abbreviata raised to genei-ic rank, and Leptosoma is 

 presumably Ph. lejAosoma (Gervais) fSeurat, 1917, raised to a new 

 genus. 



In view of Seurat's investigations and my own observations on 

 the genus Physaloptera, all Travassos' genera appear to me to 

 be untenable. Ghlamydonema, besides the characters it has in 

 common with Travassos' restricted genus Physaloptera, has in 

 addition the prepuce-like collar over the posterior extremity ; 

 now, Ph. tumefaciens Henry & Blanc, 1912, also shows this 

 characteristic, although not to such a, marked extent as 

 in Ph. prcepiitialis, but as it has four uteri, it cannot be 

 included in the genus Chlamydonema, so that this genus is not 

 valid. 



The genus Turgida has all the characters of the genus Physa- 

 loptera as restricted by Travassos, except that it is polydelphoid, 

 so that its validity is based on this single characteristic. As 

 shown above, I do not regard the multiplication of the uteri by 

 itself as of more than specific value. Ph. capensis, sp. n,, is also 

 polydelphoid, but the mode of origin of its uteri is quite difFei'ent 

 from that in Ph. turgida, so that if the genus Turgida is accepted, 

 then a special genus would have to be created for Ph. capensis, a 

 procedure which I consider quite unjustifiable. 



Ph. ahhreviata, as redescribed by Seurat (1914 b), has four uteri, 

 so that on this ground alone the genus Ahreviata must be 

 suppi-essed, as Travassos creates it for those forms possessing two 

 utei'i and having very equal and dissimilar spicules ; besides, the 

 tetradelphoid species Ph. tttmefaciens and Ph. maguipajnlla have 

 only slightly unequal spicules, which character also does not 

 tally with Travassos' conception of his new genus. 



The genus Leptosoma, according to Travassos' key, is char- 

 acterised by having four uteri and very unequal and dissimilar 



