March, 1898.] BAKER: NOTES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SlPHONAPTERA. 53 - 
NOTES ON SlPHONAPTERA, WITH DESCRIPTIONS 
OF FOUR NEW SPECIES. 
By C. F. Baker. 
Early in the course of my studies on the Siphonaptera I wrote Dr. 
Berg in Buenos Ayres, relative to the Pulex grossiventrix of Weyenberg 
which I had referred to Sarcopsylla. He very kindly sent me speci¬ 
mens of both male and female. These show some remarkable charac¬ 
ters which justify the foundation of not only a new genus but a new 
family. I would here again call attention to the fact that we have yet 
no record of any fleas from bats in this country. The bat species are 
among the most interesting. I hope collectors having the opportunity 
will certainly secure specimens from any of our bats. 
Family MEGAPSYLLIDAE, fam. nov. 
Body very large in the pregnant female, but the abdomen does not lose the nor¬ 
mal texture or structure, the sutures remaining distinct, although much connective 
membrane is exposed between the plates. Antennm normal. Eyes very large, in a 
rather small head. Mouth parts very stout, the labial palpi six or seven jointed 
(impossible to say which without dissection). Fourth tarsal joint very small, more 
or less connate with fifth, causing the tarsi to appear four-jointed. Last tarsal joint 
and claws greatly en'arged, the spines on the former inclining to somewhat foliaceous. 
Megapsylla, gen: nov. 
Head evenly rounded above in female, uneven and unituberculate in front in the 
male. Prothorax in the female with five or seven remote, short, stout, dark bro wn 
teeth ; in the male unarmed. Fore tibiae very small and short, but swollen. Max¬ 
illae small, extending only to one-half of second joint of maxillary palpi. 
Megapsylla grossiventris ( Weyenb.). 
1879, Weyenberg, Boletin de la Acad. Nat. de Ciencias Repub. Argent. Ill, 
p. 188. ( Pulex grossiventris. ) 
1 895 » Baker, Can. Ent. XXVII, p. 3. ( Sarcopsylla grossiventris .) 
Length of g' 2.5-3.5, of 9 4 mm. to often 6.5 mm. when pregnant. Head and 
thorax, with legs, reddish to dark brown, abdominal plates dark smoky. Edges of 
antennal groove very minutely and thickly spinose. Sparingly bristled, but the 
bristles stout; the spines on the legs heavy, those on the fore tibiae becoming very 
thick and tooth-like, and those on the fifth tarsal joint more or less flattened. Claws 
very large and recurved to the length of the fifth tarsal joint. Dorsal segments each 
with a single row of long bristles, six on a side. Upper claspers of male very large, 
naked, twice as long as broad, sides subparallel, tips obliquely cut off downward and 
backward. 
Lives on the Armadillo (. Dasypus minutus ) in the Argentine Re¬ 
public (Weyenberg and Berg.) 
