Notes on Menoponidae (Mallophaga) with descriptions of new genera and species

Abstract

The family Menoponidae has recently been split up into several new genera, but the characters used for separating these genera have not always been of generic significance. For instance, as Ferris (Bern. P. Bishop Mus. Honolulu, Bull. 98, p. 53, 1932) has pointed out, certain genera have been created on the basis of the absence of gastric teeth. He stated that gastric teeth were present in all the species he examined, and that it was his belief that they were present in all species. With this I concur, but they may be absent in mounted specimens, especially if the specimens are pricked with a pin and the stomach contents gently pressed out before they are mounted.