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The paper deals with the history of the genus Ancyrocephalus described first by Creplin (1839) and further by Wegener (1910), its original diagnosis being actually the diagnosis of the whole subfamily Ancyrocephalinae. Owing to this the genus Ancyrocephalus turned into a collective one including more than 50 species. The authors give new descriptions of A. paradoxus Creplin, 1839 and A. cruciatus (Wedl, 1857) belonging to the group of species of the genus Urocleidus, establish a new volume of the genus Ancyrocephalus, and give its new diagnosis. The genus Ancyrocephalus consists of two species. A. paradoxus — a type species from gills of Lucioperca lucioperca (L.) and A. percae Ergens, 1966 from gills of Perca fluviatilis L.

Strobiles of Wardium amphitricha found in waders from the Baltic and Okhotsk Seas differ in the degree of development of female and male gonades. They can be arranged in three groups: "female", "hermaphroditic", and "male". "Female" strobiles contained developed eggs, "hermaphroditic" strobiles had no developed eggs, in the "male" strobiles the ovary was not differentiated. The presence of strobiles of different types suggests the possible transition to dioecism.

10578 specimens of mollusks of 14 species were examined in waters of the Amudarja delta and southern Aral Sea. 37 species of cercaria were found, of which 2 species are new and 5 species are recorded for the first time from the USSR. Some species of mollusks are characterized as intermediate hosts of trematodes. The dependence is shown of the infestation rate with trematodes on the density of mollusk populations, their habitat, season, and other ecological factors.

The paper contains results of comparative-hystological studies on larvocyst of Alveococcus from the muskrat and sheep and reaction of host's tissues to the larval form of the parasite.

Microscopic structure of somatic musculature and distribution of nucleic acids in muscular cells of members of Dioctophymata (Dioctophyme renale, Soboliphyme baturini, Eustrongylides mergorum and Hystrichis tricolor) have been studied. Researches have shown that their somatic musculature, whatever its localization, is represented by one layer of epithelial- muscular cells consisting of spindle, bursa and processes of the polymyarian type. Muscular cells of studied dioctophymates are pierced with fibrilles of two types and are enclosed by a number of border-line membranes.

A comparative study was made of the transport of L- and D-isomeres of argininer tryptophan, phenylalanine and alanine in Ascaris suum in vitro. L-isomeres of these aminoacids were found to have a greater absorption rate that D-isomeres. The authors established not only the transport of arginine but also the presence of excretion of metabolites that indicates the inclusion of arginine into metabolic processes of ascarids. Selective transport of L-isomeres of aminoacids, and their part in metabolic processes are good indices of aminoacids transport activity. The paper contains data on the role of integument of ascarids in transport and excretion of aminoacids.

Living intestinal trichinellids were fluorochromized with 0.05% acridine orange and 0.05% rhodamine C. Under luminiscent microscope stichosome, gonads, nuclei of hypoderma and cells phosphoresced with bright-green; hypoderma, uterus of females, rectum with dark-green; cuticle, genital papilles of males, and nerve ring with pink; midgut with bright-orange color. The nature of luminiscence does not depend on age of intestinal trichinellids.

The yaks of Eastern Pamir are infested by larvae of warble-fly with mean incidence: adult animals — 50—70 per cent, young animals — 80—90 per cent and mean intensity, respectively, 3—5 and 6—7 larvae per 1 infested animal. The species of the warble-fly was firstly named Hypoderma sinense Pleske basing on the description of imagines, but comparison of morphological and ecological characters of all development stages showed that it should be considered as a subspecies of H. lineatum and named — Hypoderma lineatum sinense Pleske.

Morphology of larvae and pupae of Tabanus pleskei Kröb., T. buddha Portsch. and T. amaenus Walk. was studied. In the ranges of the USSR these species are encountered only in the Primorje territory. Description and original figures are given.

At temperatures of water from 10.4 to 23.6° the development of black flies pupae lasts 2.7 to 7.2 days, the lower threshold of the development being equal to 5.4° and a sum of effective temperatures to 58°. The pupation rate depends on temperature of the medium. It increases with increasing temperature. The emergence of adult black flies proceeds in light time of the day. We failed to detect the dependence of the development of pupae and rates of emergence on the species and sex of black flies.

The occurence of hymenopterous insects of Trichopria sp. (Proctotrupoidea, Diapriidae) from two puparia of the warble-fly Hypoderma bovis De Geer in the USSR is described.

It was established experimentally that adult fleas of Xenopsylla skrjabini Ioff, 1938, can transmit radioactive isotope S³⁵ received through bloodsucking from Rhombomys opimus Licht., 1823, to egg, larva, and pupa. Two daughter generations of fleas fed only on pure white mices were also labelled; in each subsequent generation, however, the per cent of labelled fleas reduced. The third generation was free from the isotope. Thus the transovarial and transphase transmission of the radioactive isotope was proved from adult fleas to all the stages of their metamorphosis.

Tests were carried out on the feeding of 6 species of fleas from the common vole on man. The fleas are the main vectors in the Transcaucasian high-mountain nidus of plague. It was established that Ceratophyllus caspius Tifl. and C. consimilis Wagn. readily feed on man. Taking into consideration the ability of these fleas to form a plague "block" their participation can be expected in the transmission of infection from rodents to man. Mass species of fleas of common voles reluctantly feed on man and are apparently of no epidemiological importance.

Interspecific hybridization was conducted experimentally between Ornithodoros papillipes, O. tartakovskyi and O. verrucosus whose parental individuals had been collected in northern Tajikistan (2 first species) and southern Ukraina. The crossing of O. verrucosus with O. papillipes and O. tartakovskyi yielded sterile progeny. Females of O. papillipes being crossed with males of O. tartakovskyi gave fertile hybrid F₁. The fecundity of the latter in intrahybrid and back crossings was much lower as compared with parental species. In crossing females of O. tartakovskyi with males of О. verrucosus and O. papillipes most of individuals of the former died from mechanical damage caused by the disproportion of genitalia in mating. Genenetical incompatibility was recognized depending on the type of crossing in complete or partial death of eggs of hybrid origin. It was suggested that natural populations of allied species of the genus Ornithodoros are isolated reprodu ctively due to the joint action of various isolating mechanisms.

Arthropod ectoparasites of bats are arranged in groups depending on the degree of their mobility and associations with animals and their shelters. They are as follows: active flying bloodsuckers, shelter ectoparasites with a wide and narrow range of hosts, and epizoan specific ectoparasites. The paper concerns also a possible epidemiological role of these arthropods.

A number of observations and tests on cross-infestation were carried out. The obtained data suggest that oocysts of the genus Isospora found in hens are transitional oocysts of I. lacazei Labbé, 1893 from Passer montanus pallidus Zar.

Trypanosoma lotae sp. n. from blood of Lota lota is described. It differs from the known Trypanosomae of freshwater fishes by the long and slender body with the rounded posterior end, by the large oblong nucleus in the anterior third of the body, the distance from the nucleus to the anterior end of the body is 13—15 mk, from the kinetoplast to the nucleus 26.2—28 mk. The infested fishes possessed decreased Hb, red cell count, lower protein content in serum, and increased number of phagocytic leukocytes.

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Summary is absent.