THE FLEAS OF NORTH AMERICA 51 



at apex. In some species frontal tubercle not distinctly differentiated but 

 merged into frontal margin of head. Bristles on antennal segment II long, 

 in female extending beyond apex of club. In male, sternal plate VIII much 

 reduced, slender, with 2 Ipng, ventral, subapical bristles and a pair of setalike, 

 semihyaline, filamentous, apical appendages ; sternal plate IX with a pair 

 of conspicuous, flattened, posterior processes, each of which is divided into 

 a basal and a distal lobe by a deep ventral emargination ; movable finger of 

 clasper large, broad, flat, with upper portion curved or bent somewhat forward. 

 In female, 2 antepygidial bristles on each side, the lower being the shorter. 

 Receptaculum seminis with head broader than long and tail sausage shaped. 



Except for the characters of the eighth sternal plate in the male 

 and the antepygidial bristles in the female, O pisocrostis is ill defined, 

 hence is here reduced to a subgeneric status. That it constitutes a 

 natural group of Nearctic fleas parasitizing hosts of the rodent 

 family Sciuridae appears very probable. 



Oropsylla (Opisocrostis) bruneri (Baker) 



Pulcx bruneri Baker, 1895, Oanad. Ent. 27: 131. 



Ceratophyllus bruneri Baker, 1904, U. S. Natl. Mus. Proc. 27: 413, pi. 25, 



figs. 1-5. 

 Oropsylla bruneri Wagner, 1929, Konowia 8 : 313. 

 Opisocrostis bruneri Jordan, 1933, Novitates Zool. 39: 73; I. Fox, 1940, Fleas of 



eastern United States, p. 43, pi. 11, figs. 50-51, 53. 



Cotype hosts. — Citellus tridecemlineatus (Mitch.) (thirteen-striped 

 ground squirrel) and C. frariklinii (Sab.) (Franklin's ground squir- 

 rel.) 



Cotype localities. — Lincoln, Nebr., and Fort Collins, Colo. 



Range. — Middlewestern part of the United States (Idaho eastward 

 to Illinois). 



Baker (1904) published detail drawings of this species. 



Oropsylla (Opisocrostis) hirsuta (Baker), new combination 



Pulcx hirsutus Baker, 1895, Canad. Ent. 27: 130. 



Ceratophyllus hirsutus Baker, 1904, U. S. Natl. Mus. Proc. 27: 392, pi. 17, 



figs. 1-4. 

 Opisocrostis hirsutus Jordan, 1933, Novitates Zool. 39: 73; Jellison, 1939, 



U. S. Pub. Health Serv. Rpts. 54: 840, 3 figs. 



Type host. — Cynomys ludovicianus (Ord) (prairie dog). 



Type locality. — Stove Prairie, Larimer County, Colo. 



Range — Western part of the United States. 



This species has been known as the prairie dog flea. Baker (1904) 

 redescribed and figured the female, and Jellison (1939) for the first 

 time described and figured the male. 



Oropsylla (Opisocrostis) labis (Jordan and Rothschild) 



Ceratophyllus labis Jordan and Rothschild, 1922, Ectoparasites 1: 275, figs. 



267-268. 

 Oropsylla labis Stewart, 1930, Canad. Ent. 62: 152. 

 Opisoc?-ostis labis Jordan, 1933, Novitates Zool. 39: 73; Jellison, 1939, U. S. 



Pub. Health Serv. Rpts. 54: 841, 3 figs. 



Type host. — Mustela longicavda Bonap. (weasel). 



Type locality. — Calgary, Alberta. 



Range.— Western part of the United States and Canada. 



The female originally described for this species did not belong to 

 it, as was pointed out by Jordan (^0, p. 82) in 1929. It was in fact 

 the female of Oropsylla (O.) rupestris (Jordan) and has been de- 

 scribed, along with other material, under the name of Ceratophyllus 



