L. Harrison and r F. H. Johnston 
339 
Family BOOPIDAE Mjoberg (1910, p. 21). 
Mjoberg ( loc. cit.) has given a diagnosis of this family, based upon 
his own species, B. peregrina, from an otter, Lutra pruneri, and upon 
Piaget’s descriptions of B. tarsata (1880, p. 599) and B. grandis (1885, 
p. 154). The chief character upon which we rely to separate the family 
from all other Mallophaga is the presence of a large accessory sac of 
unknown function in connection with the <3 genitalia. This sac is not 
figured by Mjoberg for B. peregrina, and Dr Mjoberg, who has seen our 
preparations of all other genera of Boopidae, assures us that it is not 
present. There is thus some doubt as to whether B. peregrina should 
T 
V.D 
Fig. 1. Family Boopidae. (A) Antenna of Paraheterodoxus insignis, (B) 3 genitalia 
of Boopidae, schematic. A.S. Accessory sac, B.P. Basal plate, D.Ej. Ejaculatory 
duct, M. Mesosome, P. Paramere, P.S. Preputial sac, T. Testes, V.D. Vasa deferentia, 
F.iS 1 . Vesicula seminalis. (L. H. del.) 
be included in Boopia at all, although in every other respect it appears 
to conform. 
The family may be briefly diagnosed as follows: Amblycera with 
head broader than long; antennae definitely five-jointed; thorax 
relatively long; prothorax transversely ellipsoid, with lateral expansions; 
mesothorax distinct, with a pair of dorsal prominences, each bearing 
a spine, or a long hair; hairs generally stouter, and of a more spinous 
character than in bird-frequenting Amblycera; abdominal stigmata 
on segments 2-7, not 3-8; 3 genitalia with vesicula very broad in 
