Probably no groups of living things offer greater difficulties to the student of science than do the parasitic insects. The Mallophaga, or bird and mammal biting lice, stand as an example of this. At the present time there is no species of this order or suborder for which we have the complete life history. There is also a paucity of species descriptions, and host records. Much of the lack of knowledge concerning this group of insects is due, no doubt, to the difficulty of obtaining specimens and the greater difficulty of knowing exactly the host from which a given specimen is taken.