Abstract
THE Mallophaga, ectoparasites of birds and mammals, are distinguished within the order Phthiraptera (containing also the Anoplura and Hæmatomyzus) chiefly by their relatively unspecialized mouth-parts, especially in having heavily sclerotized chewing mandibles. It has recently been found that in the genus Trochilæcetes, parasitic on the Trochili (hummingbirds), the species have a piercing type of mouth-parts (Fig. 1) instead of the mandibulate mouth-parts typical of the Mallophaga. Although four species of this genus have been described in the last fifty years, no previous reference to their mouth-parts is known.
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CLAY, T. Piercing Mouth-Parts in the Biting Lice (Mallophaga). Nature 164, 617 (1949). https://doi.org/10.1038/164617a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/164617a0
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