Ecology of Manana Island, Hawaii — Tomich et al. 
363 
rats and mice; however, none has been success- 
ful (Elbel, 1951; Wang, I960; Kir’yakova, 
1961; Haas, 1966). 
Echidnophaga gallinacea (Westwood) 
1 $ , 35 $ ? , ex Oryctolagus cuniculus, 
Aug. 31, 1961 
94 $ $ , 289 $ $ , ex Oryctolagus cuni- 
culus, Feb. 29, 1964 
The stick-tight flea has been reported pre- 
viously from O. cuniculus in Australia (Seddon, 
1947; Hopkins and Rothschild, 1953; Myky- 
towycz, 1957). On Manana this flea was found 
in clusters of 10-12 on the upper eyelids of 
some rabbits and singly inside the ears of others. 
Most of the fleas came from the heads of freshly 
shot rabbits. 
E. gallinacea is primarily a bird flea although 
it has been reported from many mammalian 
hosts, from some in sufficient numbers and 
frequency to suggest that the mammals are true 
hosts. It seldom has been reported from O. 
cuniculus; however, the strain on Manana ob- 
viously has adjusted to this host. It could have 
been introduced to the island on rabbits or by 
transient passerine birds. 
Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild) 
6 $ $ , 5 $ $ , ex Mus musculus, Feb. 
29-Mar. 1, 1964 
1 $ , ex Oryctolagus cuniculus, Feb. 29, 
1964 
The collection of X. cheopis from house mice 
on Manana was unexpected because this flea 
is primarily an ectoparasite of Rattus sp., which 
do not occur on the island. The six mice had 
a flea index of 1.83, much higher than the index 
of 0.1 6 (average) reported by Eskey (1934) 
for mice trapped on Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii. 
X. cheopis could have been introduced to 
Manana on mice, or on rats which later became 
extinct, forcing the fleas to survive on mice or 
perish. It is apparent that the mouse and the 
Oriental rat flea have established a compatible 
host-parasite relationship on Manana. 
The specimen collected from a rabbit may be 
considered a straggler. This example is not 
surprising because the mice and rabbits are con- 
fined to a small area and mice can easily enter 
the burrows of rabbits. Cable (1943) recorded 
this species infesting confined albino rabbits. 
MALLOPHAGA 
MENOPONIDAE 
Austromenopon paululum (Kellogg and Chap- 
man) sens. lat. 
1 $ , ex Puffin us nativitatis, July 17, 1963 
Austromenopon sp. 
2 $ $ , 1 N, ex Sterna fuscata, July 17, 
1963 
Austromenopon sp. 
4 $ 2, 1 N, ex Anous stolidus, July 17, 
1963 
PHILOPTERIDAE 
Ouadraceps hirostris (Giebel) 
1 $ , 3 2 2 , ex Sterna fuscata, July 17, 
1963 
Trabeculus hexacon (Waterson) sens. lat. 
1 S , ex Puffin us nativitatis, July 17, 1963 
Mallophaga spend their entire lives on the 
host, and their geographic distribution generally 
coincides with that of the host. For this reason 
factors limiting the distribution of other ecto- 
parasites seldom are important to the Mallo- 
phaga. 
Q. hirostris has been reported under the 
name Nirmus gloriosus from Laysan in the 
Hawaiian chain (Kellogg and Paine, 1910). 
METASTIGMATA 
ARGASIDAE 
Ornithodoros cape ns is Neumann 
7 $ $ , 2 2 $ , from under rocks, Mar. 
30, 1963 
O. capensis is confined to sea birds and has 
a world-wide distribution. Studies have revealed 
O. capensis to be a complex of two species 
which are identifiable with certainty only in the 
larval stage (Kohls et al., 1965). The above 
record is considered in the broad sense of the 
species. 
Kohls et al. (1965) recently listed one larva 
of this species from Manana. This was collected 
from Anous stolidus on November 24, 1946 by 
F. Kartman. It and the following species were 
among the specimens Kohls (1957) listed as 
"off terns on islands near Oahu ..." (Kohls, 
personal communication). 
