1. Hymenolepis diminuta is shown to be quite frequent in the rat, Rattus rattus, of Colombo; and reasons are suggested for its apparent rarity in man.

2. An extremely low incidence of H. nana in rats was found. It is suggested that this cestode will not be found to parasitize man in Ceylon as long as its murine infection continues to be low.

3. Raillietina madagascariensis is not uncommon in rats in Ceylon; but, until its vector has been detected, the possibility that it may infest man in Ceylon cannot profitably be discussed.

4. Instances of variation in the arrangement of genital pores in R. madagascariensis, and in the general anatomy of H. diminuta were detected.

I am grateful to Dr G. A. R. Perera, Medical Officer of Health, Colombo Municipal Council, for supplying the rats used in this study; to Drs V. Sivalingam and L. G. Jayawardena of this Institute for helpful criticism, and to Dr A. C. J. Weera-koon of the University of Ceylon for revising my manuscript.

1. A short note is given on Pterygosoma hystrix Lawrence, 1935, amplifying the original description and extending the known range of variation.

2. The hitherto undescribed male, larva, protonymph and deutonymph of Pterygosoma gerrhosauri Law, 1935, are described and figured.

3. The protonymph and deutonymph of Pterygosoma bicolor Law, 1935, are described and figured, together with a record of variation in the female.

References to dipterous parasites of Diptera are rare in the literature. Bombyliids of the genera Villa and Thyridanthrax have been reared from the puparia of Glossina; Hemipenthes morio L., from the tachinid Parasetigena segregata Rond., and the sarcophagid Sarcophaga affinis Fall.; Argyramoeba varia F. from the tachinid Sturmia inconspicua Mg. The phorid Hypocera incrassata Mg. was found by H. M. Morris in dead and unhealthy larvae of Bibio marci L. Only one larva of Hypocera was obtained from each specimen of Bibio, and the account given by Morris suggests that this species is a true parasite. The evidence is, however, not absolutely conclusive and further study of this interesting species is desirable. The same thing must be said of E. E. Edwards' record of Aphiochaeta brevicostalis Wood, as a parasite of Tipula sp.

It has been stated that in the stomach of the bed-bug the spirochaetes of relapsing-fever may frequently be observed to lose their normal regular curves and become more or less “worm-like.” This is of interest to those who oppose the view that spirochaetes are rigid spirals, a view which, after gradual abandonment by most observers, has lately been again advanced by Novy and Knapp in their study on S. recurrentis.

During the months of September, October, November and December 1917 I collected 1250 different specimens of fresh-water snails from various parts of the Transvaal, more especially from the sources of the Vaal and Crocodile rivers. All the larger specimens I submitted to microscopic examination for possible infection with cercariae. From the mud at the bottom of the Mooi river at Potchefstroom, which is a tributary of the Vaal, I came across some very finely preserved specimens of Unio caffer Krauss, a large number of which contained small pearls attached to the shell. The amount of lime in the bed of this river probably accounted for the perfect state of the umbones of these Uniones. Amongst the small stones at the bottom of the river I collected some remarkably large specimens of Corbicula radiata Parreyss. The river also contained some specimens of Pisidium, a much smaller variety, not yet identified. On the decomposing rushes at the edge of this river there were numerous specimens of Ancylus, for which Mr Henry C. Burnup has suggested the name Ancylus cawstoni; I have seen similar specimens at Klerksdorp and in the Hex river at Kustenburg, a branch of the Little Crocodile. All these specimens were free from cercarial infection.

En Europe, les cas de myiase cutanée humaine ne semblent pas être d'une grande rareté et la littérature en mentionne un certain nombre, mais les auteurs qui les ont publiés out souvent négligé de donner une description détaillée des larves, de sorte qu'il est parfois difficile d'établir entre elles les comparaisons nécessaires à leur identification. Il est opportun de multiplier les dessins et les descriptions pour arriver, en les collationnant, à dégager les caractères différentiels des larves jeunes de certaines espèces d'Oestrides. C'est pour ces raisons que nous décrirons et figurerons une larve que nous avons eu récemment 1'occasion d'examiner, larve qui s'etait développée sous la peau derrière 1'oreille, chez une jeune fille de la Haute-Savoie (France). Nous la considérons comme une larve au stade B de l'Hypoderma bovis (de Geer), provisoirement peut-être, car elle ne correspond pas exactement aux descriptions qui ont été données pour cette espèce par Brauer, Joly, Topsent et Condorelli. Les indications de ces auteurs diffèrent par plusieurs points, en particulier par la disposition des bandes épineuses. Mais il s'agit là, semble-t-il, d'un caractère éminemment variable, d'autant plus que Phibbs a constaté que, chez les larves au stade C, la répartition des ilots épineux peut varier d'un individu à 1'autre; il est done assez vraisemblable que cette variabilité peut exister déjè au stade B. Admettant que la disposition des bandes et des ilots épineux n'est pas constante, nous avons done considéré la larve qui fait l'objet de ces lignes comme appartenant à l'Hypoderma bovis (de Geer).

The two genera here considered agree with one another and differ from all the other members of the Lernaeopodidae in having the abdominal appendages dorsal to the eggstrings; and all their species so far described are parasitic upon some species of ray.

Twenty years or more have passed since Kurloff first observed certain vacuoles or cell enclosures in the protoplasm of the large mononuclear leucocytes of the guinea-pig while working in Ehrlich's laboratory. Since then improved staining methods and discoveries in the field of protozoology have made it possible to take new view-points in regard to these cell enclosures which are called Kurloff's-bodies. Therefore it is not with surprise that we find Ferrata, Patella, Goldhorn, Schilling and others believing these bodies to be protozoan in nature. Patella however is the only one who claims to have observed a flagellate develop from a Kurloff-body and of course this observation would put an end to all dispute if it could be verified.

A description is given of a new species of paruterinid Cestode, belonging to the subfamily Paruterinae Fuhrmann, 1907, of the family Dilepididae Fuhrmann, 1907, to which the name Lallum magniparuterina gen. et sp.nov. is given. It is parasitic in the intestine of the common teal, Nettion crecca Linn.

Among other cestodes collected by me some years ago were specimens of the prismatic malformation of a tape-worm which I have recently examined. This abnormality in the taenioid group of cestodes has been frequently reported in Europe, especially in Taenia saginata, since Andry's case was first described in 1700. This malformation is known as Taenia ‘tridre,’ ‘triquestre,’ or ‘prismatique’ in French; as ‘dreikantige’ in German, and as ‘tri-radiate’ or ‘prismatic’ in English. But as far as my knowledge goes, we do not find a full description of any such abnormality in Taenia crassicollis, though a brief description of it was given by Bremser in 1819 and 1824. It is now recorded for the first time from Japan.

Ixodes arvicolae Warburton was collected at 2-monthly intervals from January 1961 to August 1962 on a total of 226 Apodemus sylvaticus and 264 Crocidura suaveolens cassiteridum in the Scilly Isles. Twenty-one adult females (out of a total forty-two ticks) were found on Apodemus and one adult female (out of a total 106 ticks) on Crocidura. No adult males were found. Ticks were collected from the hosts throughout the year, but in Crocidura there was a suggestion of greater frequency for larvae during the summer. I. arvicolae was also found on Mus musculus in the Scilly Isles and on Microtus agrestis in Cornwall.

We wish to thank Professor D. R. Arthur of King's College, University of London, for identification of the ticks involved in this study, and Dr Alec Milne of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne for helpful criticism of the manuscript.

Previous records and descriptions of the fungus known as Acladium castellanii, a human pathogen in the south-east of Asia and Europe and in Brazil, are cited and an account is given of its morphology when studied in culture on organic media.

It is concluded that it is closely related to, and perhaps merely a strain of, the widely distributed Sporotrichum schencki, the commonest cause of human and equine sporotrichosis, and that the term acladiosis as denominating a distinct disease should be deleted.

The metacercaria shown in Fig. 1 was obtained in the laboratory from Gobies (Gobius ruthensparri Euphras.) experimentally infected with a Pleurolophocerca cercaria from Peringia ulvae. This cercaria is regarded as the most interesting of all the Heterophyid larvae infecting this snail. It has been referred to briefly in a previous publication (Rothschild, 1938). It differs from typical Opisthorchid cercariae in the following characteristics:

(1) The lateral fin-folds are continuous and extend the whole length of the tail. The dorso-ventral fin-fold is reduced.

(2) The oesophagus and intestinal caeca (in addition to the pharynx) can be clearly made out.

(3) The cuticle is more heavily spined.

(4) The ventral sucker is better developed.

(5) The penetration gland ducts (fourteen in number) are not arranged in such definite bundles.

(6) Three acicular boring spines are present in the oral sucker.

In other respects the cercaria possesses the usual characters of the group.

A tumour among the gill filaments of Trigla gurnardus bears a female Medesicaste with the head and neck buried in its apex, and a male Medesicaste completely embedded in its base. The two sexes of the parasite are connected by a conjugation tube, external to the tumour, down which tube the spermatophores presumably pass. The appendages of the copepod are described.

The genus Neoaplectana now contains eleven species of nematodes. All are associated with insects. A brief review of the history of the genus is given. An undescribed species referred to as DD-136 is compared with one other species in the genus Neoaplectana. It is very similar to the description given for N. carpocapsae Weiser, and it is concluded that it is probably this species.

Schistosomiasis is a chronic debilitating disease which accounts for considerable human mortality and morbidity and is second only to malaria in its prevalence and severity. Despite several years of concentrated effort to combat the disease with molluscicides and chemotherapy, schistosomiasis is still spreading, and it is thought that 500 million people are currently exposed to infection (larotski & Davis, 1981).

A method for rearing blowfly larvae giving good synchronization of growth is described. Electron microscope studies showed that the lateral lamellae of the pharyngeal ridges each have a swelling at the tip, and that the lamellae from adjacent ridges are interdigitated in a regularly alternate pattern. Formation of the ridges in the second-instar larva begins 8 h before the moult when the four rows of partially syncytial epidermal cells lying beneath the floor of the pharynx begin to form nine dorsal projections. These lengthen and gradually take up the form of the ridges, the fine divisions which are the lateral lamellae being the last feature to develop. After a two-layered epicuticle has been formed the cytoplasm rapidly withdraws from the ridges leaving them, and the new floor of the pharynx, strengthened by a network of fibres. At the moult a further zonse of cuticle, showing parallel striations, is added to the base of the ridges. The lateral lamellae are epicuticular structures. The importance of the intracellular formation of cuticle is discussed.

I should like to thank Dr P. Tate under whose supervision this work was carried out for helpful advice, and wish to acknowledge financial support from the Agricultural Research Council in the form of a Postgraduate Studentship.