SIPHONAPTERA. 
657 
back so much that it appears to spring from the dorsal part of the thorax, 
while the legs with their big claws also have their position somewhat 
modified in accordance with this curious habit. PL LXIX, fig. 8, repre¬ 
sents Cyclopodia hopei, Wstw. ( = Sykesi ), taken from a “ flying-fox ” at 
Pusa. Little seems to be definitely known about the life-histories of these 
very remarkable insects, but 
what is known indicates that 
the development may be of a 
curious and exceptional nature. 
The species recorded from India 
are Raymondia pagodarum, 
Sp., Cyclopodia hopei, Wstw., 
and Polyctenes lyrce, Waterh. 
Braulim. 
Minute wingless parasites of 
bees. 
Fig. 433— Braula ooeca, the Ber-louse. 
Highly Magnified. 
(After Cowan.) 
The figures show a ‘ ‘ bee- 
louse ” (Braula). Little is 
known about them further 
than that they are found 
clinging to the thorax of bees. 
They are not recorded from 
India. 
SIPHON APTER 4. -( Fleas). 
Small parasitic blood-sucking jumping insects with body flattened 
from side to side ; the eyes simple, not compound ; wings rudimentary, 
the skin horny. Mouth-parts well-developed for piercing and sucking. 
Antennae concealed in grooves. 
The Fleas are usually looked on as being Diptera, although the 
wings are practically absent and the whole form and structure of the 
insects have been profoundly modified, presumably in accordance with 
their parasitic habits. Though the idea that fleas are flies at first sight 
appears to be a little far-fetched, the modification which they have 
undergone is after all not much greater than in the parasitic Cyclopodia 
HE 42 
