on 
SUBORDER MALLOPHAGA. 22 
Nirmus gracilis N. 
Nirmus gracilis Nitzsch. 
Nirmus elongatus Denny, p. 140, Pl, VII, fig. 4. 
Nirmus gracilis Piaget, p. 157, Pl. XIII, fig. 10. 
Small, light brown. ; 
The head and body both lanceolate in shape. Head abruptly lanceolate, the tip 
narrow and forcipated; clypeal suture fairly distinct, a transparent anterior border 
projecting slightly in front of the forceps like side pieces and involute, furrowed 
beneath, and a narrow slit passing backward from this furrow to the mandibles; 
trabecule inconspicuous; antenne short, first joint but little larger than the others; 
temporal lobes curved on the lateral margin; posterior angles abruptly rounded with 
a single hair; occipital very slightly concave; prothorax constricted behind; meta- 
thorax much wider behind than the base of abdomen, with a fringe of long hairs; 
abdominal segments about equal in length, light brown, with a central lighter stripe 
and sutural margins and a lighter submarginal space, giving a series of four quad- 
rate round margins to each segment; posterior margins of the segments without 
hairs except a single one at the lateral angles of segments 2 to 5, two on segments 
6 to 7, and several scattering hairs on terminal segment. 
Described from one specimen taken from the purple martin (Progne 
subis), Ames, Iowa, in company with numerous specimens of Menopon 
and Docophorus. 
The lanceolate form of the head and the body and narrow forcipated 
tip of the clypeus are the most distinctive characters of the species. 
While evidently to be referred to the above species, the description 
will indicate the details of character in our form. 
Nirmus furvus Nitzsch. 
Nirmus furvus Nitzsch. 
Nirmus obscuris Denny, p. 147, Pl. X, f. 6. 
Nirmus furvus Giebel, p. 163, Pl. V, f. 2, 3. 
Nirmus obscurus Giebel, p. 16. 
Nirmus furvus Piaget, Les Pédic., p. 169, Pl. XIV, f. 3. 
Brown, with a distinct dark border. Head elongate; clypeus tapering, with a dis- 
tinct suture, circular in front and with a wide clear margin, a short hair on each 
side; antennal band heavy, internal band narrower, approaching the antennal band 
in front of trabeculz, a median light line reaching the mandibles from the clypeal 
suture; trabecule sharp, conic, transparent; antenne with second joint as long as 
the third and fourth; temporal lobes slightly widening behind, posterior angles 
regularly curved; occiput slightly incurved; prothorax margined with dark brown, 
widening behind; metathorax twice as long as prothorax, broadly margined with 
brown, widening to behind the middle, where there appears to be a pretty distinct 
suture, as if the mesothorax and metathorax were not fused, with two prominent 
hairs on each lateral angle; legs brown; femora thick, paler on under side; abdo- 
men with a broad, dark-brown or blackish margin, light brown in the disk, with a 
light line on each segment from 2 to 6; the posterior end of this line merging into a 
dark circular spot open in front; segments 1 and 2 with two hairs each arising from 
clear dots each side of the central dark spot; segments 3, 4, 5, and 6 with hairs 
arising from light dots on posterior margin, two bordering the black central spot, 
the others midway from these spots to the margin; seventh segment with hairs near 
the posterior angle; eighth with two lateral hairs each side; segments 2 to 7 with 
short hairs on the outer angle. 
Described from one female specimen, taken from Phalaropus tricolor, 
in the museum of the Iowa Agricultural College. 
4653—No, 5——15 
