— 3 oü — 
Rhynchomonas ludliæ, nov. gen ; nov. spec. 
A new flagellate parasitic in the malpighian 
tubes of Lucilia serenissima Walk. 
lu- VV. s. PATTOX, IM. B., Pdin., I. M. S. 
Up to the présent, insects are only known to be infected with 
two types of parasitic flagellâtes, Herpetomonas and Crithidia, the 
former of which are readily distinguished from the latter bv the 
complété absence of an undidating membrane. 1 bave however 
recently had the opportnnitv of studving an entirelv new flagel¬ 
late which was first fonnd in 1908 in the malpighian tubes of 
nine specimens of Musca nehulo Fahr. caught in the bazaar 
méat sho])S ; in five of the flies Herpetomonas niuscae domestieae 
could not be fotind. It was at first thought that this peculiar fla¬ 
gellate represented some of the rare sexual stages (PttüWAZEK) 
of' tire common herpetomonas of the bouse fh', a carefid study of 
its structure however at once shewed that it was distinct. A more 
thorough search in many thousands of bouse flies convinced nu* 
that this insect was not its true host, 1 therefore décidée! to 
search for it in other flies which are commonlv found feeding 
with the house fly in the bazaar méat shops. Pyenosoma flavi- 
ceps and Lucilia serenissima (1) are abundant in these places and 
on examining the malpighian tubes of several specimens of these 
two flies, the parasite was at once found tO' be very common in 
the malpighian tubes of Lucilia serenissima. 
On rupturing a malpighian tube containing the parasites thev 
evere seen in masses clinging to the débris of the cells and the 
majority exhibited active movements. On isolating one of the mo- 
tile forms it was noted that it did not travel rapidh' but slowlv 
glided ont of the field of vision, and that the movements were 
limitée! entirely to one extremity. This end of the parasite which 
was pointed displayed a sériés of sharp jerking movements which 
slowlv propelled it forwards, the motile end being the anterior ; 
the remainder of the bodv of the parasite was dreiwn out into a 
(i) I hâve to thank Mr. Austen for kindly identifying these flies for me. 
