88 
IVIALLOPHAGA FROM APTERYX, AND THEIR 
SIGNIFICANCE ; WITH A NOTE ON THE 
GENUS RALLICOLA. 
By LAUNCELOT HARRISON, B.Sc. 
Exhibition of 1851 Research Scholar of the University of Sydney. 
{From the Qvich Laboratory, University of Cambridge.) 
(With 6 Text-figures.) 
I. 
Through the courtesy of Dr Hans Gadow I have had the opportunity 
of examining a number of skins of five species of Apteryx in the collection 
of the Cambridge University Museum. From these I have collected 
at least three species of Mallophaga, which I find to belong to the genus 
Rallicola. These are described below, with some discussion of the 
genus to which they belong, and of the significance of the occurrence 
of that genus upon Apteryx, from which no Mallophaga have previously 
been recorded. 
The name Rallicola was proposed by Johnston and myself (1911, 
p. 324) for that part of Piaget’s genus Oncophorus (1885, p. 35) found 
upon Ralhdae, etc., the name Oncophorus being invalid, as it had been 
used by Rudow (1870). A full discussion will be found in our paper 
{loc. cit.). Piaget’s genus included forms found upon owls, hornbills, 
rails and jacanas. The parasites of the two former groups do not 
seem to have much in common with those of the two latter, nor with 
each other; and probably should be included in two distinct genera. 
Those of the two latter groups fall within the limits of our genus 
Rallicola, together with the species from Apteryx described below. 
This genus thus includes species from three host famihes, which form 
three compact groups easily separable from one another by constant 
