58 STANLEY HIRST. — ON A WIDELY DISTRIBUTED GAMASID MITE, ETC. 



surface long. Peritreme short, slender and curved. Sternal plate reaching backwards- 

 as far as the interval between the third and fourth legs (or slightly further) and 

 provided with three pairs of hairs. Length of body, -34: mm. 



Localities. — Bathurst, Gambia : on fowls, 25.ii.1911 (Dr. J. J. Simpson). Abinsi, 

 E. Benue, N. Nigeria : on chickens suffering from spirochaetosis, 19.ix.l912 (J. M. 

 Dalziel) ; specimens kindly lent me for examination by the Kev. James Waterston. 

 Yaba, S. Nigeria : a single example from a lizard (Dr. J. W. Scott Macfie). Zanzibar : 

 a number of specimens taken on human beings (Dr. W. M. Aders). Port Herald, 

 Nyasaland : a very large number of specimens found on nesting hens (Dr. J. E. S. 

 Old). Mfongosi, Zululand : a number of specimens from domestic fowls, collected 

 by Mr. W. E. Jones and kindly forwarded to me by Mr. E.G. Chubb, Curator of the 

 Durban Museum. Mayotte, Comoro Islands : specimens from a bird called by the 

 natives " Hibou," collected by G. F. Leigh, 12.V.1911, and presented to the Museum 

 by the Hon. N. Charles Rothschild. Curepipe, Mauritius : veiy numerous examples 

 from the domestic fowl and common sparrow {Passer doynesticus), also others from 

 the sparrow of Brazil and Cardinalis, Dec. 1911 (collected by C. Baichoo and presented 

 to the British Museum by the Hon. N. Charles Rothschild). Central Fukien, China : 

 May 1913, in fowl-house (collected by Dr. J. P. Maxwell and kindly lent me for 

 examination by Prof. G. H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S.). Ahmednagar, Deccan, India : 

 1913, a single specimen found by Dr. H. L. Howell, R.A.M.C., on a lady patient 

 suffering from " very bad irritation of the skin " alleged to be caused by the mite ; 

 " it raised small red lumps with white tops and looked as if the insects burrowed ; 

 irritation was intense even for days after the bite." Bahamas : on fowls, 19.iii.l908 

 (Mr. J. K. Brace). Mariquita, Columbia : on chickens, May and December, 1914, 

 (Dr. Andrew Balfour and Mr. Pinto). 



Much of the material recorded above was received from Mr. Guy Marshall, 

 Director of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology ; my best thanks are due to him 

 for kindly permitting me to examine these specimens. 



In an interesting paper, entitled " The English Sparrow as an Agent in the 

 Dissemination of Chicken and Bird Mites,"* Mr. H. E. Ewing records the presence 

 of two parasitic mites (Dermanyssus avium and D. gallinae) on the Enghsh sparrow 

 in the United States. His " Dermanyssus avium " is a Leiognathus, but probably 

 it is not L. morsitans, for Swing's experiments seem to show that his species cannot 

 establish itself on the domestic fowl. 



Dermanyssus gallinae, Redi. 



It would be interesting to ascertain the exact distribution of this bird mite in 

 the warmer regions of the world. It is probable that D. gallinae and Leiognathus 

 ynorsitans have been confused with one another in reports dealing with parasites 

 of poultry in tropical regions. Unfortunately, all the specimens of D. gallinae in 

 the British Museum collection are from European localities, and so I am unable to 

 discuss the further distribution of the species. 



* The Auh, xxviii (N. Ser.), pp. 335-340, 2 text-figs., 1911. 



