H. Scott 
597 
in cages, but they refused to eat the insects given to them and died within 
48 hours (1912, p. 352).] 
The Cyclopodiae often remain motionless for hours together, buried 
in the host’s fur, the head and thorax quite hidden and only the hind 
end of the abdomen visible. They do not seem to cause the bats very 
great discomfort, though after a bite from one of the insects a bat will 
often scratch itself with the hooks of its wings or the claws of its feet. 
The parasites do not pry into their hosts’ heads, and when pursued 
they escape with surprising agility and hide in the long hair of the neck 
or under the wings. [The agility of living Nycteribiids has been 
noticed before, e.g. as mentioned in the case of Tripselia fryeri (Scott), 
19146, p. 163: and Mr F. M. Howlett tells me that he has remarked the 
extreme agility of Cyclopodia sykesi, in India.] They do not normally 
leave their hosts without very good reason: females do so for short 
periods in order to give birth to larvae; males were never seen to leave 
the host-bats, though they may pass from one bat to another in search 
of females [especially when the bats are almost or quite in contact.] 
As a result of more than 50 dissections,/resA blood was always found 
in the dilated part of the middle intestine, which would seem to indicate 
that they feed very frequently. Neither intestinal nor coelomic para¬ 
sites of the Cyclopodia were ever found in the course of these dissections. 
Insects removed from the bats survived but a very short time, and 
could not be induced to feed. In a glass tube they rarely lived more 
than 12 hours, and males under these conditions fought and killed one 
another very quickly. [Hewlett found that specimens of C. sykesi 
survive only a very short time when removed from their hosts, whether 
they be placed in glass tubes or confined in gauze cages.] Nevertheless, 
specimens newly emerged from their puparia have greater powers of 
resistance, which is important for them, as in this stage they must find 
and invade their hosts. But if they cannot do this within 48 hours, 
they perish. They belong to that narrow category of ectoparasites which 
are closely adapted to their hosts and scarcely able to survive without 
the latter. 
It is not rare to observe the coitus of the Cyclopodia on the bats: 
the male climbs on to the female and curves the extremity of the 
abdomen under the anal segment of the female, holding on to the 
latter by means of his powerful claspers.. The coitus lasts at least 
10 minutes. 
Gravid females are distinguishable by the distension of the abdomen, 
which in a non-gravid condition is bluish-black, but when distended by 
39—2 
