este LAE. SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM a: HANDBOOKS. | ae MUSEUM, 5 aT? GREEN. 7CONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. BY ANDREW MURRAY, F.LS. APTERA. Prepared at the request of the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education, and Published for them BY HAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. FURNISH YOU WITH THE BEST ARTICLES DEA _ ESTABLISHED AD. 1700. DEANE’S—Celebrated Table Cutlery, every = ‘ variety of style ‘and finish. DEANE 3 Hiectro-piated Spoons Bea sons est manufaeture,stronely plated. DEANE'S—Electro-plate ee aes ons Sets, iqueur Stands, Cruets, dc. DEANE'S—Dish aber and Hot sate Dishes: in Dish Covers in sets, from 23s. DEANE’ Se Tea Trays, in sets, new and elegant patterns. < DEANE’S—Bronzed Tea and Coffee Urns, with : : ~ patent improvements. . DEANE’S—cCopper and Brass Goods, Kettles, tew and Preserving Pans, &c. DEANFE’S—Moderator and Rock Oil Lamps, a large and handsome assortment. DEANE’S—Gas Chandeliers, newly-designed - patterns in Glass and Bronze— three-light glass from 55s. E’S. 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This is the first of a sertes of Handbooks intended to serve in the Jirst instance as guides to the different branches of the Collection of Liconomic Entomology which is in course of formation at the Bethnal Green Branch of the South Kensington Museum, by order of the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education ; and in the next place as practical treatises on the subject for the use of the public generally. The Collection has now become large enough to furnish a basis for such a work, and the order in which it is proposed to take up the other subjects is that followed in the published list of the contents of the collection, viz., the Aptera (spiders, mites, &c.), whith Sorm the subject of this handbook ; then the Bugs; the Locusts, Grasshoppers, Cockroaches, and Earwigs ; the Two-winged Fites ; the Bees, Wasps, &c.; the Dragonflies and May ties ; Lutterfizes and Moths ; and, lastly, the Beetles. BY e “A ANDREW MURRAY, F.LS. PAPTERA, 7 >> ce CP ie ‘ AV 3 3 1883 Spy be 0) cs Prepared at the request of the dprasf Education, and published for them ze Committee of Council on BY meee AN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. CONTENTS OF CASES DESCRIBED IN WOE. I CASE I. CRUSTACEANS (likely to be mistaken for Insects). NO. SEE PAGE I. Oniscus asellus, specimens (15) ; ‘ : é ‘ 8 2 Wo, enlarged figure ’ . 5 ‘ A - 0 : es oa 3. Porcellio scaber, specimens (12) . - Ss ‘ ‘ 10 weeeeo., enlarged figure . : . 5 " ; ae 5. Armadillo vulgaris, specimens (12) A : : . op 6. Do., enlarged figure extended . = - - : Ss AP 7. Do., enlarged figure rolled up . é : : : - : Ap INSECTS: MYRIAPODS—JULID. 8. Glomeris limbata (?), specimen (1) 14 9. Do., enlarged figure : : . , E 46 10. Sphzeropceus (Zephronica, Gray) castaneus, specimens (3) . 15 iI Do., enlarged figure . : i 12. Sphzropceus heterostictus, specimen (1) A 13. Do., enlarged figure : ; xf 14. Sphzeropceus glabratus, specimen (I) . : A ag” 4 15. Orchid injured by such insects, figure “3 16. Julus guttatus, specimens in phial 16 17. Do., enlarged figure a 18. Carrot injured by them, figure . : : ¢ Bee 35 19. Lily roots injured by them, preserved in sitentia. ; Specimens in phial . : . % 20. Do., model. ms 21. Julus terrestris, specimen (I) . 2 : ; 5 E 17 22 Do. enlarged figure . . . - Ke 23. Parsnip root injured by them ; monet 2 : z - ° il 5 24. Julus londinensis, specimens (1 ?) ‘ : : - 18 25. Do., enlarged figure ‘ : : . ° : . oot 35 26. Julus nitens, specimen (1) . 5 5 : - : ‘ ats on 27. Do., enlarged figure : . . ° . - 3 . Le ce BO oe ee © ON ANA WN iS) O PYps = OO ON DAYUAW NN w CONTENTS. . Spirostreptus javanicus ? specimen (1) - Do., figure ; 3 . Spirostreptus annalseives specimens (2) Do., figure . Polydesmus comiplanitites Specinigns (4) Do., enlarged figure . Polydesmus dorsalis, af: ee specimen (1) Do., enlarged figure . Brachycybe rosea, California, specimen (1) Do., enlarged figure : + ‘ CASE Il. MYRIAPODS (continued). SCOLOPENDRIDAE. . Mecistocephalus punctifrons, East Indies, specimen (r1) . Geophilus longicornis, specimens (2) Do., enlarged figure . Geophilus subterraneus, specimens in phat Do., enlarged figure . Illustrative vignette of phosphor yal light of do. . Scolopendra ceylonensis, Ceylon, specimens (2) . . Scolopendra platypoides, Brazil, specimens (2) . Scolopendra placeze, Brazil, specimens (2) . Scolopendra variegata, Demerara, specimens (2) . Scolopendra angusticollis, Old Calabar, specimens (2) . Scolopendra leachii, Cape Verd Islands, specimen (1) . Scolopendra tuberculidens, E. Indies, specimens (2) . . Scolopendra cceruleo-viridis, Australia, specimens (2) Do., enlarged figure . Cryptops hortensis, specimen (1) Do., enlarged figure . Lithobius forficatus, specimens (4) . Do., enlarged figure . Cermatia capensis, Cape of Good Hops specimen (1) Pie : . Cermatia smithii, New Holland, specimen (1) Do., enlarged figure Do., enlarged figure . CASE Ill. = ee SEE PAGE SCORPIONS AND LAER -ALETES. . Chelifer museorum, specimens (8) . Do., enlarged figure . Chelifer geoffroyi, specimens (3) Do., enlarged figure . 5 - : CONTENTS. Vv NO. SEE PAGE x 5. Scorpions (species of Androctonus), newly born, from Rangoon, specimens (3) . ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 4 ‘ P ‘ ri Oso 6. Do., enlarged figure P ae 7. Androctonus priamus (?), Java (?), specimens ie 5 - - iy 8. Androctonus, S%., East Indies, specimen (I) . : bc 9. Buthus, SZ., Cape, specimens (2) . : j 5 4 Rs 10. Buthus czesar, E. Indies, specimens (2) ; 4 BG iI. Buthus afer, specimen (1) : F : 2 . ° . a 12. Buthus imperator, figure natural size F : ; : AA 13. Phrynus ceylonicus, specimen (1) . . “ : - PaaS | 14. JDo., figure natural size : ; ; . ‘ : » 15. Telyphonus giganteus, specimen (1) of 16. Do., figure natural size ; : - : - ; ee 17. Telyphonus proscorpio, specimens (2) . 4 A . : Sau ey-(o) 18. Do., figure natural size : : 19. Galeodes araneoides, specimen (0) : ; : ° "5 20. JDo., figure natural size ; ; - " A 21. Illustrative vignette, camel . . : ¢ a - - os CASE IV. SPIDERS, 1. Mygale avicularia, ‘Tropical S. America, specimen (0) . : oy Be 2. Do., sketch of insect, natural size : 2 5 : line AS 3. Mygale californica, California, sketch of ditto . F . : «veges “a Wo., specimens of do. . : ¥ A 5 : ars 5 5. Mygale fasciata, Java, sketch ofinsect . : ; , : ai ee 6. Do., specimen (0) : ; 5 sf haa ° oe 7. Mygalekiugii, Eastern Andes, specimen sof beock saidtobeveryvenomous ,, 8. Do., sketch of ditto ; ) : Es 9g. Mygale versicolor, specimen of insect . : : ° 93 10. Do., sketch of do., natural size . : 5 - s 11. Mygale erichsoni, Java, specimen of insect . ; . “ 12. Do., sketch of do. 13. Mygale convexa, West Africa, specimen oe idee : 14. Atypus sulzeri, sketch of insect, the only British representative of the Mygalidz . ; ge ek LSS 15. Cteniza ionica, trap-door spider cee South of Europe nest at - 50 16. Do., sketch of insect 17. Actinopus nidulans, nest of, with specimens in the ned (2 Reson. 18. Do., sketch of insect enlarged 19. Do., specimens of do., male and female (2) ’ : 20. Nemesia eleanora, diagram to show the double-branched nest oe with an outer and inner trap-door, South Europe ; BG KOO : 99 vi CONTENTS. CASE V. TRAP-DOOR NESTS /OF SPIDERS. From South of France. Presented by Lapy JARDINE. —— eee NO. ‘ SEE PAGE 1. Nemesia ceementaria, cork trap-door nest made by do., door indi- cated by a straw in it. : : : : : . - 60-64 2. Do. Do.,. key to,door coloured yo. : : : agnind : 3. Do., specimen of maker of cork trap-door nests Gnatey = cae ae . 4. Do., cork trap-door nest made by do., door indicated by a straw ,, 5: Wo. Wo, ‘key to, door coloured 77% ; oD hee : es 6. Do., cork trap-door nest, straw in door é : : SEN as 7: Wo: Doi, . key-to, door coloured) aa : : : eee 8. Do., specimen of female insect, maker of cork trap- ‘alas NESE Seema 9 Do., cork trap-door nest, straw in door : : 5 o§ Peake 10. Wo. Do.,- key to, dooricoloured, Fs. ; ; ‘ ie 11. Nemesia eleanora, wafer trap-door nest with two doors and an old inner tube door in lower right-hand corner . : rai 12, Do. Do., key to, outer doors coloured brown, old inner tube door blueish . 5 : : : Z : a ies 13. Do., diagram showing a Saat of two dears OF nest ae oie rae 14. Do., wafer trap-door nest with two entrances, part of old inner tube door in lower left-hand corner 4 é ‘ : a ae 15. Do. Do., key to, outer doors coloured brown, old inner tube door blueish : . é ; : ‘ sais 16. Do., wafer trap-door nest wilh two entrances, a straw in each door". 3 4 e é : : : : Hse 17 Doe. 2 Do.) key to, dons dolonned : , : ae 18. Do., specimen of male insect, maker of wafer bad: -door nests. 19. Do., wafer trap-door nest with two entrances, an old door of the inner second tube shown in upper corner to the left, a part of tube in upper right-hand corner ; : ; : : : 20. Do. Do., key to, the outer doors coloured brown; an inner door removed from second tube coloured white and blue; part of the tube shown in right-hand upper corner coloured pale brown : 3 ; : ; 5 : ‘ : < ei 21. Do., wafer trap-door nest with two entrances, a straw in each door cae : : : : A 5 ‘ a ae 22, ) Do. Dos key, to, doors coloured é : : oY hese 23. Do., specimen of female insect, maker of wafer tia: -door nests ; from Cannes . ; : : : . . : fais 24. Do., wafer trap-door nest, injured sail artificially repaired ae 25. ‘Do. Do.; key to, door coloured. : ‘ A 3 a ge 26. Cteniza fodiens, magnified sketch of (one of the makers of cork _ trap-door nests . . : : . . : . ate CONTENTS. vil NO. SEE PAGE 27. Magnified sketch ofa cork trap-door . : ; OS 28. Nemesia eleanora, magnified sketch of insect, faaeet of the wafer trap-door nests . é 2 ‘ ; b ‘ Rael ss ae 29. Magnified sketch of wafer trap- saeee : : z 2 : , 2 CASE VI. SPIDERS (continued). 1. Mygale detrita, sketch of insect . : ‘ ; : : Rater OS 2. Do., specimen of do. ‘ : z : - t : a 3. Latrodectes malmignatus, sketch of do. . z . 5 Bok ae Se 4. Lycosa tarantula, sketch of do. ‘ : . : : - 8 GENERA OF BRITISH SPIDERS. Family DYSDERIDAE. 5. Oonops pulcher, sketch of do. . : : ° vias 369 6. Dysdera crocata (rubicunda, B/.), specimen "of ‘les 5 3 . er AO 7. Do,, sketch of do. . as a 8. Harpactes hombergii (Dysdera Renibe: ii, BL } dketoh of A : F a 9. Segestria senoculata, sketch of do. . : : ‘ : Dae by Family DRASSIDAE, 10. Micaria pulicaria (Drassus micans, 4/.), sketch of do. . : ‘ a 11. Drassus blackwallii (sericeus, B/.), sketch of do. ‘ : ee ON day 12. Clubiona pallidula (epimelus, 4/.), sketch ofdo. . : ‘ F ms 13. Chiracanthum nutrix (non S/.), sketch of do... : : ge - 14. Hecaérge maculata, sketch of do. . ; s : : L ; oh Family DICTYNIDAE. 15. Eresus cinnabarinus, sketch of do. . ; ’ 2 , aire 9% 16. Dictyna arundinacea (Ergatis benigna, 2/.), sketch of do. : Amen 3 17. Do., sketch of cocoons of do. ; ‘ ¥ : ; ae A Family AGELENIDAE. 18. Argyroneta aquatica, sketch of do. . : : 5 : Baie sy 19. Amaurobius ferox (Ciniflo ferox, 4/.), sketch of dors é Sho A ey 20. Amaurobius (Ciniflo) mordax, sketch of do. . : : ° MeN Te 21. Agelena labyrinthica, sketch of do. . ‘ E . - Be oy 22. Tegenaria guyonii (Tegenaria domestica, G/.), sketch of do. . 7S Family SCYTODIDAE, 23. Scytodes thoracica, sketch of do. : ; : ; : waa) at CONTENTS. CASE VII. GENERA OF BRITISH SPIDERS (continued). Family PHOLCIDAE. NO. SES PAGE I. Pholcus phalangoides, sketch of insect . - : . . = Family THERIDIIDAE. 2. Theridion tepidariorum, sketch of do. : : . ° ee Ss 3. Do. mparium, sketch of tent and cocoons of do. ° ° a5 Family LINYPHIADAE. 4. Linyphia montana (marginata, /.), sketch of insect . . » ee 5. Walckenaéria pratensis, sketch ofdo. . ; - - . . °° 6. Do., sketch of do. a : ; : - : “ . . “= Family EPEIRIDAE. 7. Eperia quadrata, sketch of do. : : : ‘ . . = ee, 8. Do. arbustorum, Xock (bicornis, B/.) . z S : wes s 9. Do. diademata (diadema, A/.), sketch of do. : : - 21 Family ULOBORIDAE. 10. Uloborus walckenaérus (Veleda lineata, 4/.), sketch of do. : S6 Family THOMISIDAE. 11. Xysticus pini (Thomisus audax, A/.), sketch of do. . : : $3 12. Thomisus onustus (abbreviatus, A/.), sketch of do. =. : : ue 13. Dizea dorsata (Thomisus floricolens, 4/.), sketch of do. . : iy 14. Philodromus margaritatus (pallidus, 47.), sketch of do. : on 15. Micrommata virescens (Sparassus smaragdulus, A/.), sketch of do. jae _ 16. Do., sketch of do., female x Family LYCOSIDAE. 17. Dolomedes fimbriatus, sketch of insect : : > 25. Eupodes celer, enlarged figure of young I2I 26. Do., enlarged figure of perfect insect ” CASE VIII’. I. Specimens of web of Tetranychus lintearius on furze bush, from Weybridge. The red dust on the web is dead mites 104 CASE IX. MITES (continued). TROMBIDIIDAE, Harvest Mites. 1. Linopodes longipes, magnified sketch of insect . . 122 2. Linopodes ravus do. 123 3. Linopodes cursorius do. : ; : - 4. Rhyncholophus cinereus do. ° . : 125 5. Rhyncholophus phalangioides_ do. . . . “= 6. Rhyncholophus major do. 3) oe : 126 K CONTENTS. NO. SEE PAGE 7. Smaridia papillosa, magnified sketch of insectc . : i. ae le 8. Pachygnathus velatus do. 3 5 A oP ey aa 9. Trombidium parasiticum da: : : 5 a, BIAS 10. Trombidium holosericeum (phalangii, Dwg.), magnified sketch of Ibayehne : 5 : : . 4 : 3 4 ey Vg Ir. Do., magnified sketch of perfect insect . : : é ie nae 22) Dal”) specimen ofido, é : 3 13. Do., magnified sketch of perfect peeee coped f from fie iy Walckenaér . : ONE a ys 14. Do., var. trigonum, magnified Sse a perfect insect . Phe. SS 15. Trombidium curtipes do. : =) £34 16, Trombidium fuliginosum : do. BO et 17. Trombidium bicolor do. : 7 BS 18. Trombidium fasciculatum do. fe ee 19.5" Do, do., specimens of do. (4) : ‘ ‘ : 2 ee 20. Trombidium tinctorium, magnified sketch of do. . ‘ 2 he Pe Nie 21 iDey do., specimens of do. (0) . dhs 22. Trombidium gryllarium, magnified sketch of verte & aos feeds on Rocky Mountains locusts . : 136 23. Trombidium sericeum, magnified sketch oe do. peas inal ingen of preceding . : : 9 AS 24. Trombidium miniatum, mndemined seis of Hence INnSect 7, of 25. Trombidium aurantiacum, - do.\+ of larva . d a ae 26. Erythrzeus ruricola, do. of perfect insect = Se 27. Actineda cornigera, do. do. : CE iets CASE X. MITES (continued.) BDELLIDAE. 1. Molgus longicornis, England, sketch of insect . 5 5 =, eg 2. Scirus insectorum, magnified sketch of larva of do. . : 5 3 SAS 3. Scirus hexophthalmus, France, magnified sketch of do. : Re lS: 4. Scirus obisium, France, magnified sketch of do. . : : sa Oe 5. Scirus vestitus, magnified sketch ofdo. . 5 ‘ ‘ | ghee HYDRACHNIDAE (Fresh Water Mites). 6. Limnochares aquaticus, Europe, magnified sketch of mature insect . 148 7. Eylais extendens, a post aey sketch of freshly hatched larva . : : 3 : ! : : +S Ree out Do, do. do. : . : ; Pad the g. Hydrachna geographica, magnified sketch of insect . : oa ae 10. Diplodontus scapularis, Europe, magnified sketch of larva. RRS Fi, Do, do. do. : : ; ; Pula bn at NO. 12. 53. 14. 7s. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. CONTENTS. x1 SEE PAGE Hydrochoreittes globulus, magnified sketch of first stage of larva 153 Belostoma grandis, E. Indies, specimens with nymphs of Hydrachna adhering to various parts of its body (2) . : Hydrochoretites globulus, magnifiell sketch of water-bug Aienaee larva in the nymph stage adhering to it : ; - Do., magnified sketch of nymph stage of do. Do., magnified sketch of mature insect : Atax Bonzi, magnified sketch of newly developed larva Atax globator, Europe (Denmark), magnified sketch of ale insect . Do., magnified sketch of fecrale 3 : Atax buccinator, Denmark, magnified sketch aie insect 21. Atax miniata, Europe, magnified sketch of insect 22. Atax varipes do. do. 23. Atax histrionicus, Europe, magnified sketch of tate : a4, Do, do. magnified sketch of female . 25. Pontarachna punctulum, Mediterranean, near Naples, Aeemihed sich of insect CASE XI. MITES (continued). GAMASIDAE. 1. Gamasus coleoptratorum, magnified figure of . : d 2) Do. specimens (2) = 4 ‘ ‘ - - he 3. Gamasus marginatus, magnified ete - . 4. - Do., specimen (1) - : . : . 5. Gamasus quadripunctatus, Maewited sketch : . . ‘ : ee wa,, specimen (1) : ; é ‘ : ‘ | aes 7. Gamasus crassipes, magnified sketch : - : . - 8. Gamasus tetragonoides, do. - : , - - : Ae g. Gamasus podager, do. . : : : . ° ° . ° mt. Wo., specimen (1) ; : ; - : . ° ies 11. Uropoda vegetans, magnified figure - ° . ° ° 12. Do., specimens . : ; : . at Paks she 13. Sejus marinus, magnified seich : 5 < : . 14. Halarachne halicheeri, magnified sketch of eed = : . a. Do, do; (perfect imsect: — , : ° : . . 16. Dermanyssus nitzschii, magnified sketch . : - : : 17. Dermanyssus avium, magnified sketch of empty . : ‘ : 18. Do., specimens of do. (2) . ‘ ; ; : A - 19. Do. Vignette of chickens (‘‘ realistic chick”) . : : ‘ . Ixodes transversalis, from under orbit of Bythan) cine pole F X11 CONTENTS. NO. SEE PAGE 20. Dermanyssus avium, magnified sketch of insect full fed 169 21.) (Do,, specimen of (x)" < : 4 : - . ea 22, Dermanyssus pipistrellz, magnified figure i sye 23. Dermanyssus agilis, magnified sketch . ; : 5 » ipa 24. Pteroptus (Tinoglischrus) audouinii, magnified sketch + 175 25. Pteroptus (Diplostaspis) vespertilionis, do. , . ~ - 579 26. Do., specimens (o)>. : : ; 5 : ah tag 27. Argas pipistrellee, magnified sketch . : . . - 180 28. Do. reflexus, do. : : : : : ° » EOE 29. - Do. . persicus, ‘do. ¢ ‘ : : : ° . as 30. Do. americanus, do. . A . : . «De 31. Do. moubata, do. . : . . . a es 32. Ornithodoros coriaceus, ie eReee sketch ‘ . « 183 38. Wo, ) talaje, do: do. : ° ° ‘Gur CASE XIl. MITES (continued). IXODIDAE (Ticks). 1. Ixodes erinaceus, male, enlarged figure, Britain . . i960 2. “Do., “specimens (5) “a5 ‘ F : sake 3. Do., female, half full, cularged Fee ; : ees 4. Do., specimens in phial (11) - 5 5 : «es 5- Do., female, full fed, enlarged figure : . " 6. Do., specimens in phial (5) . 4 5 . fs wis ae 7. Ixodes marginatus, male, enlarged figure . - 92 8 We., specimens (3) ).: : . enti’ 5 - 9. Do., female, enlarged figure sis 10. Do., female, specimens (7) . 3 eee 11. Ixodes ricinus, from Continent, enlarged sketch copied from Koch's figure 193 12. Ixodes reduvius, enlarwed Baie of forall, pied from Andanne figure » 13. Ixodes trabeatus, ealuneed nee of Priele do. 6 ge 14. Ixodes bovis, male, enlarged figure, N. America nS WS. 0., female, do: ‘“ 16. Do., specimen (1) : ea 17. Ixodes brevipes, Ceylon, Siappes of al Cckeedl asi 5 finale 194. re. /Do., specimens (2). é ‘ mA 19. Ixodes distipes, Tunis, enlarged ace af fone ‘3 20 Do., specimen (1) ° 195 : f ; | ; NO. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 22, 33: 34- 35. 36. CONTENTS. Xill SEE PAGE Ixodes transversalis, enlarged sketch of head of Python, to show where I. transversalis taken from . ; : : Hyalommacornuger, Ko/., do. Z é . Adenopleura compressum, enlarged figure of Ey W. Africa . Amblyomma rostratum, Old Calabar, enlarged seats of Do., specimen (1) . P : : Amblyomma rotundatum, the Carapato ae Eran enlar wed four ee io. specimen (i) . : 4 : Amblyomma pacificum, Sandwich Isles, enlarged figure of . or, specimen (rt)! . : , Ophiodes ophiophilus, S. Africa, eee ae AP : ° Ophiodes gervaisii, male, enlarged figure Do., female, do. , Ophiodes gracilentus, from Pan Sehne, eultireed daure Ophiodes flavomaculatus, from Python Sebae, enlarged figure Do., vignette sketch of Python Sebae, from W. Africa CASE XIll. MITES (continued). HALACARIDAE (Marine Mites) AND ORIBATIDAE. 1. Halacarus ctenopus, magnified sketch of insect, British sea shores 2. Halacarus falcatus, magnified sketch of insect . 3. Halacarus sculptus, do. . s F : : : 4. Halacarus rhodostigma, magnified sketch yi insect . 5. Halacarus notops, magnified sketch of insect 6. Dameeus geniculatus, magnified sketch of embryo, common in Europe, fresh from egg of do... “ : : : 7. Do., magnified sketch of larva . ‘ ‘ : : hae 8. Do., sketch and specimens of perfect insect y : : ° g. Damezeus auritus, magnified sketch of perfect insect 10. Leiosoma nitens, do., France . ; - - : : 11. Notaspis bipilis, do., very common in France 12. Oribata orbicularis, do., common near Paris . : ; : ° 13. Oribata globula, do., near Paris ; : : . ° ° 14. Pelops acromios, magnified sketch of larva, near Paris. ‘ 15. Do., magnified sketch of perfect insect - : . aus 16, Nothrus spiniger, magnified sketch of larva, common on the Continent . : : - ° : : 17. Do., magnified sketch of cttedt insect . : : ad ts 18. Nothrus horridus, do., very common amongst moist mosses in France . Hermannia crassipes, magnified sketch of larva, common near Paris. 195 196 208 39 209 210 211 215 be) bi) 216 93 217 b>) 218 219 99 9 ” 220 221 X1V CONTENTS. NO. SEE PAGE 20. Hermannia crassipes, magnified sketch of perfect insect . é oh 22m 21, Cepheus vulgaris, do., common on the Continent ; ; Ho oom | 22. Eremeeus tibialis, magnified sketch of larva, France ; . a" OEsy 23. Hoplophora contractilis, magnified sketch of larva . : rie tae 24. Do., magnified sketch of perfect insect . d : , age | 2500) Do. scontraeted: ¥- j : : : : F ° es Pag CASE XIV. MITES (continued). ACARIDAE, Ist Section, TYROGLYPHIDAE (Cheese Mites, &c.) 1. Hypoderas brevis, enlarged sketch of insect taken from under the skin of Ardea nyticorax . : : 7 : : » 220 2. Hypoderas lineatus, enlarged ketch of ahseet 4 : : i a SO 3. Hypopus (Acarellus) muscze, do. : : : : - 250 4. Hypopus (Acarellus) pulicis, do. : : : eae mine 5. Trichodactylus xylocope, do. : , , : » 252 6. Homopus elephantis do. 3 : : Ramee 5) 7. Rhizoglyphus echinopus (dujardinii), magnified sketch of larva and pupa 4°. : : » 257 & D0;, maenined teen of ae after Olaparede. s 3 a 9. Do., magnified sketch of female dow ain: eee wee Wok 5 IDYey do. after Robin . ¢ ‘ : 5 Ge sea! 11. Rhizoglyphus robinii, magnified sketch of insect . : - - ) 259 12. Tyroglyphus entomophagus, sketch showing do. in various stages, and its eggs, &c. : : : : : . 5 ai le: og 13. Do., magnified sketch of insect ; 3 ; ‘ ‘ A. aes 14. Tyroglyphus siro, do. ; ; : : : : : «ise GLO 15. Tyroglyphus longior, do. ; : : : « 270 16. Tyroglyphus malus, magnified foie si INSECE as. “ : a a7) 17. Glyciphagus prunorum, magnified sketch of insect . : ; « eae 18. Glyciphagus cursor, do. . ‘ : 5 s : ‘ i BRS 19. Glyciphagus hippopodos, do. . : . - : 2 : . 279 20. Glyciphagus spinipes, do. . F : ‘ : : ‘ on 0 ZOE 21. Glyciphagus plumiger, do. . . ; , : ; é «0 203 22. Glyciphagus palmifer, do. . . : : «| 2 pezOm 23. Cheyletus eruditus, sketch of under te aetiged - : . 286 24. Heteropus ventricosus, magnified sketch of hake insect i developed . ; : 290 25. Do., much magnified aceten. of ale daeasife in fe fete ot Anthophora retusa : : . , . Ska ae . iss NO. CONTENTS. CASE XV. MITES (continued). SARCOPTIDAE (Itch and Louse Mites.) SEE I. Sarcoptes scabiei, eggs of do., one opened showing the embryo ae PY Do.,; magnified diagram of the itch-insect’s burrow in the human skin, with the insect at the further end and egg-shells and debris behind . Do., magnified sketch of fale! Gaper side Do., of female, under side . Sarcoptes cati, magnified sketch of male (S. senieula Ger. S. minor, Furst.) . Sarcoptes mutans, enna’ feel Gi aoe, upper ae : Do., male, side view ‘ s Do., female, under side 5 : ‘ ae: Psoroptes equi (Dermatokoptes communis, Fur ), magnified sketch of male, upper side . Symbiotes bovis, magnified sketch ai ale underside anes mi aeplaens bovis, Furst) . Sarcoptes nidulans, magnified sleeteh ne icceee . Myobia musculi, magnified sketch of male Do., magnified sketch of mandibles, adapted for Nalin hae . Listrophorus gibbus, magnified sketch of insect . Listrophorus leuckarti, do. . Myocoptes musculinus, magnified sketch of mele and eeu Do., magnified sketch of female . . Dermaleichus, s/., magnified sketch of male Wa sp., do. of female . . Dermaleichus pici-majoris, do. of male DOs, do. of female. . Dermaleichus chelopus, magnified sketch of insect . . Demodex folliculorum, do. ._ Do., magnified sketch of sebaceous follicle and bulb of vnurnia hair, showing the place where Demodex folliculorum is found . CASE XVI. MITES (continued). PHYTOPTI, Gall Mites. Phytoptus taxi, sketch of yew-tree twig with buds attacked by do. Magnified sketch of Phytoptus taxi. Do. of section of bud of yew tree stacked by aes Do. specimen from which sketch taken . XV xvi CONTENTS. XO. SEE PAGE 5. Phytoptus coryli (Calycophthora avellanze, Amer.), hazel buds at- tacked by do. . : 5 5 . : Sco? SG . 6. Do., sketch of buds so aheked 7. Phytoptus persicze, sketch of twig and buds of pencil tree snfeaniees from ‘‘le meunier,” supposed to be a species of Phytoptus . 8. Phytoptus ribis, currant buds attacked by ‘ : ; é » 355 9. Do., sketch of do. . 1o. Do., magnified sketch of first Sage of — : biisy eB ioRe do. of second stage . : ate 12. Phytoptus tilize, lime tree leaf nail gall, specimen of mall on aes 2 350 13. Do., sketch of leaf with galls 14. Do., magnified sketch of galls . 15. Do., magnified section of a gall ; : : mee 16. Do., magnified ae of the insect, copied from Dujardin’s figure 17. Phytoptus (Volvulifex) aceris, sycamore et bentng erally of dt 18. Do. sketch of leat with do. 19. Do., sketch of leaf of variety of sycamore (P. Leopalane with galls on do. ; 5 5 ; : Zo, ~Do:, specimen or do; 21. Do., under side of sycamore leaf, shiowing ells on dos 2245 Do; sketch ofdo: ; 23. Do., magnified section of all of ap. , 24. Phytoptus myriadeum (Cephaloneon myriadeum, Bp a specimen of leaves of common maple, with galls on do. . = 37 25. Do., sketch of do. ‘ a! ae 7” 29 ° 99 CASE XVII. MITES (continued). PHYTOPTI (continued). La . Phytoptus (Typhlodromus) pyri, sketch of leaf of pear tree bearing galls of do. : , : a; é : : . =. 358 2. Do., specimens of do. : 3. Do., magnified section of gall of do. : 4. Do., magnified sketch of larva of do., after Schewen! 5a) W0.,, perfect insect ude, 6. Phytoptus attenuatus (Ceratoneon attenuatum), teauee a ie earns galls of do. 7, Wo., sketch of do. q Ae os 8. Phytoptus (Volvulifex) pruni, leaves a wut bears walls a Ho. Pc jole) 9. Do., sketch of leaf of do. : : 2 é : CONTENTS. xvi NO. SEE PAGE 10. Phytoptus (Volvulifex) pruni, magnified section of gall of do., showing no inhabitants and filled with hairs : 360 11. Phytoptus salicis, leaves of black sallow bearing galls ar ae 361 meee Do: sketch of do. F Bs 13. Do., magnified sketch of do. cs 14. Do., magnified section of gall of do. 3 15. Do., magnified sketch of insect. — aa 16, Erineum tiliz, a growth on the lime-tree iene st aaiced by isons trophy, and often mistaken for work of an insect. 2 374 17. AXcidium abietinum, a fungus growing on leaf of Picea cephalonica sometimes mistaken for insect work. = 18. Do., magnified sketch of do. a 19. Reestelia lacerata, a fungoid growth on haw fiom ate fs 20. Do., magnified sketch of do. suas 21. Reoestelia cancellata, first stage of a fungus. er rth on pear bee leaves, often mistaken for insect work — is gaa o., sketch of do. ie 23. Do., second stage of growth on pear tree oe upper side ne leaf = ga), o., under side of oy, : 3 CASE XVIII. ANOPLURA—Lice. MALLOPHAGA. 1. Menopon pallidum, specimens 376 2. Do., enlarged figure a0 3. Do., illustrative vignette (cocks aa fens) He: 4. Menopon perdricis Bl 5. Do., enlarged figure : os 6. Do., illustrative vignette (gavenidee) HP 7. Menopon fulvo maculatum, specimens By 8. Do., enlarged figure a 9. Do., illustrative vignette (quail) * 10. Trinoton luridum, specimens 378 II Do., enlarged figure ; xy 12. Do., illustrative vignette (duck) os 13. Nirmus cameratus, specimens 279 14. Do., enlarged figure A 15. Do., illustrative vignette (black tay Bail grey Hen) : a 16. Nirmus claviformis, specimens . bi 17. Do., enlarged figure ; * 18. Do., illustrative vignette (eae pigeon) XVIli 19. 56. Goniocotes hologaster, specimens Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette (fowl aaatng) . Goniodes falcicornis, specimens of young insect Do., enlarged figure Do., specimens of mature insect Do., enlarged figure of do. . Do., illustrative vignette (peacock) . Goniodes stylifer, specimens Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette nek . Goniodes numidianus, specimens Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette (guinea fowl) . Goniodes colchici, specimens , Do., enlarged figure CONTENTS. Do., illustrative vignette (uheasane . Goniodes dissimilis, specimens Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette (fowl) . Goniodes tetraonis, specimens Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette (rouse) . Lipeurus stellaris, specimens Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette [piceens) . Lipeurus variabilis, specimens Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette (cheewens) . Lipeurus jejunus, specimens . Do. enlarged figure Do. illustrative vignette (geese) . Lipeurus polytrapezius, specimens Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette (cen) . Ornithobius cygni, specimens Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette (swan) SEE PAGE 380 NO. 1. Trichodectes similis, specimens 2. Do., enlarged figure 3 Do., illustrative vignette (red adgaee 4. Trichodectes longicornis, specimens (4) __. : : 5. Do., enlarged figure 6. Do., illustrative vignette (alles Gee : 7. Trichodectes sphzerocephalus, specimens - 8. Do., enlarged figure 9. Do., illustrative vignette heey to. Trichodectes scalaris, specimens 11, Do., enlarged figure 12. Do., illustrative vignette (cow) 13. Trichodectes equi 14. Do., enlarged figure : 15. Do., illustrative vignette (horse) 16. Trichodectes latus, specimens (4) . , : 5 17. Do., enlarged figure : 18. Do., illustrative vignette (dog) 19. Trichodectes subrostratus, specimens (4) 20. Do., enlarged figure 21. Do.,_ illustrative vignette (cat) . 22. Hzematomyzus elephantis, specimen o 23. Do., enlarged figure 24. JDo., illustrative vignette (elestene) 25. Hzematopinus acanthopus, specimens (2) 26. Do., enlarged figure 27. Do., illustrative vignette (field ones} 28. Hzematopinus spinulosus, specimens (eggs and ere 29. Do., enlarged figure of ditto 30. Do., illustrative vignette (brown rat) 31. Heematopinus ventricosus, specimens (2) 32. Do., enlarged figure : 33. Do., illustrative vignette (rabbit) 34. Hzematopinus lyriocephalus 35. Do., enlarged figure : 36. Do., illustrative vignette (hare) 37. Hzematopinus suis, specimens (3) 38. Do., enlarged figure 39. Do., illustrative vignette (sow) 40. Heematopinus vituli, specimen . CONTENTS. CASE XIX. ANOPLURA (continued). MALLOPHAGA (continued) AND HAEMATOPINA. XIX SEE PAGE 383 CONTENTS. . Heematopinus vituli, enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette (calf) . Heematopinus eurysternus, specimens (several) Do., enlarged figure . ‘ Do., illustrative vignette (cattle) . Heematopinus asini, specimens (4) Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette . Hezematopinus piliferus, specimens (4) Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette (dog) . . Heematopinus quadrumanus, specimens (4) Do., enlarged figure Do., illustrative vignette nonkey) CASE XxX. ANOPLURA (continued). PEDICULI, Lice of Man. . Phthirius inguinalis, crab louse, specimens of insect . Do., sketch of do. Pediculus vestimenti, the body hoeee: BAe wave spear e ts of insect . Do., sketch of do. Do., specimen of insect on a lass ae Do., anterior claw of do., much magnified Do., sketch of do. Do., specimen of insect on a riage aide Do., anterior claw of do., much magnified. Do., vignette sketch, European race . vignette sketch of do. Do., specimen of insect on a glass ahs Do., of anterior claw, much magnified Do., vignette sketch, Esquimaux . . Pediculus capitis, Californian variety, specimens of insect Do., sketch of do. : : Do., specimen of insect on a glass slide Do., of anterior claw, much magnified Do., vignette sketch, Californian Indian . Pediculus capitis, Andian variety, Quito, specimens of acces Do., sketch of do. SEE PAGE 387 . Pediculus capitis, head louse, European variety, specimens of insect (0) 399 . Pediculus capitis, Esquimaux variety, specimens si fase (0) and NO. 24, 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 3) . ne 52, 5 ee oe Do;, Do, CONTENTS. of anterior claw, much magnified vignette sketch, South American Indian Pediculus capitis, Fuegian variety, specimens of insect (0) Do.; -Do., Do., Do, Pediculus capitis, West African variety, specimens of insect (0) sketch of do. . : specimen of insect on a glass dhe of anterior claw, much magnified vignette sketch, West African Negro . Pediculus capitis, Mozambique variety, specimen of insect sketch of do. specimen of insect on a Slike ange of anterior claw, much magnified vignette sketch, Mozambique Africander. . . Pediculus capitis, specimens of insect, Hindoo variety sketch of do. . : 5 specimen of insect on a glass ae of anterior claw, much magnified vignette sketch, Hindoo Brahmin 5 . Pediculus capitis, Australian variety, specimens of insect . sketch of do. : . : specimen of insect on a glass slide of anterior claw, much magnified vignette sketch, Australian : : Vignette sketch, Causes of vermin: Dirt ere over crowding Do., Do;, |S oe Dory Do., Do., Do.; Dor, Do; ; De: De:, Do., Do., Do., Doi, Do., Do., Causes of vermin: Misery Do., Causes of vermin: Disease . ‘ . Do., Remedies, Cleanliness, &c. 2 - CASE XxXI. THYSANURA.—(Spring-tails), COLLEMBOLA. Smynthurus fuscus, sketch of insect - : Papirius ornatus, do. - ; Do. fuscus, do. 5 sketch of do. . : specimen of insect on a sides Ade sketch of anterior claw, much magnified vignette sketch, Fuegians Orchesella cincta, specimens of insect Do. Do. sketch of do. do. XX1 SEE PAGE 23. Pediculus capitis, Andian variety, specimen of insect on a glass slide. 400 406 408 99 39 39 29 xxii CONTENTS. No. SEE PAGE 7. ‘Tomocerus longicornis, sketch of insect . ; . : A - 409 8. Do., sketch of magnified scale of do. . Seren es ais g. Tomocerus plumbeus, sketch of insect . : : : . Saat ro. Seira buskii, do. : ‘ ‘ . et ALO it. Do., sketch of scale of do. magnified . : s : eee 12. Templetonia crystallina, sketch of insect . . ‘ ° See eae 13. Beckia argentea, do. - : = : eats 14. Lepidocyrtus curvicollis do. : : : . eh er cia 15. Do. magnified scale of do. 5 z A Rae 3 16. Degeeria annulata, sketch of insect . : . . . » fe Qa 17. Isotoma viatica, sketch of insect . : 5 : 5 “ ae 18. Isotoma grisea, dole : : : . ° ob Masur gule 19. Achorutes purpurascens do. : RT ate . . ry 20. Podura aquatica do. 5 ° = ° omega 21. Lipura fimetaria do. s 5 e ° ; ae 22. Anoura muscorum do. : : . . ° « « 44 23. Anoura granaria do. : . . , ° rahi LEPISMIDAE. 24. Campodea staphylinus dao. : é - . . »* Lap krainly 25. Japyx solifugus do. : : “| : . oleae 26. Lepisma saccharina do. : ; : : os er eS ZT. Do., sketch of magnified scale ofdo. . ° «| a5 : 28. Machilis maritima, sketch of insect . : . . 2 0) is Nas 29. Do. sp., sketch of magnified scale of do. ° ° . Se ae iE FOLLOWING NEW GENERA AND SPECIES ARE DESCRIBED nae, IN THIS VOLUME. ee sl hal = or . . : . . ° . . Ow ert 20 us eriostemi sg : y 5 : , : Z Oe te LOO i 5: : “e 4 es nettle DO ; : ; : ; : Saha k PO : ba : , ’ 3 ; Z : stig aoe ; etc ; : : 3 : ; sow: Mra PhS cis ’ : ‘ ‘ H : Sea E ; : : 3 p : : : 2) 201 : F : ! ; Sage : 2) te LaOn E E } : : : ; ; anaes : 5 : : 3 ; : : pane e.LOys/ ‘ L : é ‘ : F : 4 PE) ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY, ENTRODUCTION. Economic EntTomMo.ocy is the science that treats of insects. which affect man and his interests. In a wide sense every insect may be said to affect man, for those which appear to have no direct relation to him, may still affect him by giving pleasure by their external beauty, or instruction by their anatomy and physiology, but so far as regards the collection in the Bethnal Green Branch of the South Kensington Museum, of which this work is the exponent, the term has been used in its more restricted significa- tion as applicable only to insects that directly affect him in his material interests—under which head the personal comfort of himself and his dependents, the profit to be made from them, or the damage done by them, are included. The number of insects that directly contribute to his benefit is small; but that of those that directly injure him and the objects in which he has an interest is very great—as is the number of those that indirectly assist and benefit him by waging war upon these enemies. There are unfortunately no means of distinguishing by a short definition the former from the latter. In mammals, we can tell by the teeth whether any species is carnivorous or herbivorous ; and at first sight it would appear that we should be able to do the same with insects by the parts of the mouth. If herbivorous, we should set them down as hurtful ; while those that are carnivorous should be regarded as our friends, for they principally feed on A2 4 INTRODUCTION. vegetable-devouring insects. Many difficulties, however, stand in the way of our determining which belong to one class and which to the other, for paradoxical exceptions, which can only be likened to the occurrence of herbivorous carnivora or carnivorous her- bivora, or both at one and the same time, or at one time one and at another the other, from time to time meet us, and there are no means of saying a prior¢ whether and when we are dealing with such a case or not. Nothing but experience can enable us to do so, and it is one of the objects of the collection to which this 1s to serve as a Guide to assist those who desire it to acquire that information. It may be proper to say a word or two in explanation of some of the peculiar features of the collection and the reasons for their adoption. The collection being destined for the instruction of the people, it was of course desirable that it should be displayed in such a manner as would be readily accessible and easily examined, and upright cases open to view have been thought best adapted for this purpose. The colours of insects are so evanescent under exposure to the light, and the specimens themselves are so fragile and subject to decay, that they are generally kept in closed drawers or cases. The experience which the Museum authorities have had with a case of silk-spinning moths, which are - so preserved in a locked case (accessible on application), has shewn, however, that a collection so preserved would be practi- cally sealed to the great majority of the visitors to the Museum. They will not take the trouble to apply to see it. The collection has therefore been made open to the public view, and the incon- veniences thence arising are endeavoured to be removed by occasional renewal of specimens and by giving along with each imsect a coloured representation of it, more or less magnified according to the size of the insect—which, in the case of minute insects, would be absolutely indispensable to allow their appear- ance to be seen at all, and in larger ones has the advantage of allowing the various parts to be more distinctly seen, and the INTRODUCTION. © 5 _ Important ones to be brought more prominently into view. No figure, however, can convey a knowledge of the creature equal to 4 that to be derived from a glance at the specimen itself. The purpose has been, therefore, always to place specimens of the _ actual insect alongside of the coloured figures; and where this has not been done, the omission is to be referred to the incomplete- ness of a collection only in progress of formation, not to intention or neglect. For the same reason models of injuries done to perishable objects have been added. The system of displaying the collection in cases, if it has its advantages to the public, has one serious inconvenience to the maker of the collection. He cannot go straight forward with his subject as in the pages of a book, leaving off in the middle of a word or a subject at the bottom of the page or case. Each case requires to be treated as a separate subject or chapter of a subject or paragraph of a chapter. It must, to a certain extent, be complete within itself. A new subject cannot be well introduced on the last line of the case, even although the subject is finished : and still the case must be filled. This special difficulty has been met without the introduction of irrelevant matter, occasionally by the addition of kindred species, which throw light upon the relations of the insects under consideration (although they may themselves have no strict right to a place under the head of Economic Entomology), and at other times by the introduction of vignettes and tail pieces. These have been intentionally made rather of a bright and cheerful character with the view of catching the eye of the passer-by, who might not otherwise deign to pay any attention to what he may consider a dry and uninviting subject, and with the hope that when so arrested he may extend his observations to the surround- ing objects. It is unnecessary to say that neither the collection nor this work has any pretensions to being a work on Systematic Entomology. ‘Those who wish for information on that subject 6 INTRODUCTION. must have recourse to the authors who treat of it. It is only when (as in the case of the mites, for example,) there is no general work treating of a particular branch of the subject that it has then been gone into with some greater attempt at detail; but the collection is arranged according to the most approved modern system, with this qualification, that it has sometimes, though rarely, been made to bend so far as to bring together the species of one group, that attack one particular kind of “plant, instead of dispersing them among several according to their structural peculiarities. Where a cypher (0) is anpenned to any ee in the Catalogue, it means that specimens are intended to be placed in the col- lection but have not yet been procured. | ANDREW MuRRay. ee _ HURTFUL ANIMALS ALLIED TO OR LIKELY | TO BE MISTAKEN FOR INSECTS. CRUSTACEANS. THE collection begins with two or three species of crustaceans which are injurious to the horticulturist. These are not insects, but they occupy the nearest and most projecting point of the great region of the animal kingdom which lies next them. It is as if two great continents lay opposite to each other, one inhabited by insects and the other by crustaceans ; and as a traveller in begin- ning the account of his journey starts with the port from which he sailed, so it is desirable, in treating of insects, to begin by endeavouring to trace the source from which they most probably originally came. By doing so we shall connect the two kindred nations of crustaceans and insects together. Starting from the crustaceans we shall reach the insects through two routes or resting-points—islands, as it were, lying in the ocean between their respective continents, viz., the Spiders and their allies, and the Thysanura and theirs, both lying much nearer the insect coast than the crustacean—so near, indeed, that there need be no hesi- tation in classing them among insects, which accordingly has been done here, and yet so distinct that they cannot be so placed with- out explanation and qualification. The Crustaceans, then, consist of that class of animals of which the crab, lobster, and shrimp are our most familiar examples | They possess many characters which are common to insects, such as an external skeleton or shell, articulated bodies and limbs, and the same mode of articulation; but are, for the most part, sufficiently different in appearance from them, Some, however, 8 CRUSTACEANS. CASE bear considerable resemblance to some insects, and perhaps the Nos. 7, family of Oniscidze comes nearest to them of any. They belong © to the order Isopoda, or equal-footed crustaceans, which, unlike the crab and lobster with unequal claws, are provided with feet of equal size on each side of the body. The Oniscide have nu- merous segments and feet, and a number of them possess the faculty of rolling themselves up in a ball like a pill. Order ISOPODA. Family ON ISCID. ONISCUS ASELLUS (Linz.).—1. Specimens (6), (15); 2. Enlarged figure of ditto. Oniscus asellus (rather magnified). Antenna of Oniscus asellus. This and its allied species are known as wood-lice or slaters in this country, and sow-bugs in America. They are very com- mon, and may be found under stones or in moist and dark places of concealment. ‘The present species does not roll itself up ina ball, in this respect differing from some of the others. Its external antennz (for, unlike insects, most crustaceans have four antennee, while insects have only two) consist of eight joints, the last elbow of the antenne being divided into three, while the allied genera Porcellio and Armadillo have only seven, the last elbow being divided into two. Like other crustaceans, it carries its eggs ina thoracic pouch, and a whole family of young ones freshly hatched may be found huddled up on the under side of the mother. They are almost omnivorous, and are no doubt of considerable use as - 2A ONISCID 2. 9 E scavengers, clearing away both vegetable and animal detritus ; but they do not confine themselves to dead or decaying matter. They ~ also attack living plants, peaches, melons, mushrooms, and any- thing that is juicy, doing more mischief by disfiguring the fruit than by the quantity they consume. They are also very partial to orchids, eating the young fibrils of the roots, especially of such as Cattleyas, that require to be kept dry when not in active growth, but which, nevertheless, make a good deal of root-growth at that period. When numerous they will destroy almost every root that is made on the surface of the pots, rendering the growth which follows small and weak. To them, too, is often due the loss of some spreading plants in the open border, such as saxifrages, primroses, strawberries, &c., which afford a shelter for them under the cover of their leaves. When a plant of this habit is seen to languish and droop, an examination under the covering \. leaves will often show a family of young Onisci sheltered by them which have eaten all round the neck of the root. They are difficult to dislodge from our hot-houses, for wherever a crevice or chink exists there they find shelter, and they even make galleries through the sphagnum and moss in which some orchids are grown. No wholesale mode of destroying them is known. ‘They must be cut off in detail, and the same sort of contrivances which are had recourse to to entrap earwigs and surface larvee must be used against them. Scooped-out potatoes or apples, placed like little domes, into which they can creep up, or put into pots under a little moss and little heaps of decaying plants, turfs, or pots filled with horse droppings in a half dry state (to which they are very partial), may be left in the houses at night and examined, and the creatures destroyed, every morning, and so by care and attention their numbers may be thinned ; but they are so numerous and universally distributed that no complete cure can be looked for, fresh recruits constantly coming in from without. The walls of the orchard and of the houses should be carefully pointed to remove the crevices in which they hide. 10 CRUSTACEANS. CASE PORCELLIO SCABER (Zazv.).—No. 3. Specimens (12); 4. Enlarged figure I. Nos. 3> 4. Nos. 5-7: of ditto. J Porcellio scaber (natural size). Antenna of Porcellio scaber. External antennz, seven-jointed. Rougher than Oniscus asel- lus, and browner and more varied in colour. There are several species, two of which have the power ‘of rolling themselves up like a ball, the rest have not. ARMADILLO VULGARIS (Lizz.).—5. Specimens (12); 6. Enlarged figure of ditto; 7. Enlarged figure of insect rolled up as a ball. Armadillo vulgaris rolled up as a ball. Armadillo vulgaris, Antenna of Armadillo vulgaris. (natural size), In this genus, as in Porcellio, the last elbow of the outer an- tennz has two joints instead of three, and the insect has the power of contracting itself into a ball. It is larger, smoother, and of a more uniform slatey-blue colour than the others. Its habits, and the mischief it does, are much the same as those of the com- mon Oniscus, and the remarks made on it also apply to this and the species of Porcellio. EN SECTS S's II INSECTS—Generaliiies. THE general arrangement adopted in this work is the fol- lowing :— » 1, ApTERA, or Wingless Insects | 5. HYMENOPTERA (Bees, Wasps, (Spiders, Mites, Lice, &c.) &c.) 2. HEMIPTERA, or Bugs. 6. NEUROPTERA (Dragonflies), 8. ORTHOPTERA (Earwigs, Cock- | 7 LEPIDOPTERA (Butterflies and roaches, Locusts, &c.) Moths.) 4, DirtERA, or Two-winged flies. 8. COLEOPTERA (Beetles). At the commencement it may be proper to note the following generalities, for the benefit of those to whom the subject is new. Insects, in their most complete character, pass through four stages or phases of existence—the egg, the larva (maggot or caterpillar) stage, the chrysalis, and the perfect stage. In none of these, except the larval or caterpillar stage, does the insect increase in size. It is not unusual to hear people speak of a small beetle or moth being the young of a larger one that is otherwise like it, but after insects have come out of the chrysalis stage they never grow—all the growth is done in the earlier stage when they are caterpillars. If we sometimes meet with two insects of the same species but of different size, the difference is due to the supply of food which the caterpillar had during its growth, and is only a parallel case to an ill-nourished child growing up into a stunted man. Some insects, as the Aptera, pass only through three stages: the egg, the younger state, and the perfect form—and some of the intermediate orders also attain perfection without passing through more than two. The egg is usually deposited, but in some few cases it is hatched © in the body of the parent; in some others it is, at one period of the year, deposited as an egg, and at another the progeny is brought forth alive. In others again it is sometimes the one and sometimes the other. In the larval stage the insect casts its skin CASE I. 12 GENERALITIES. or moults several times, after each casting attaining a sudden and rapid increase of size. The larva does not always take the form of a caterpillar or maggot. In some orders (the Aptera, Hemiptera, and Orthoptera) it assumes a good deal of the appearance of the perfect insect. In this imperfect metamorphose it changes its skin as the caterpillars do, and it does not assume a different form for the chrysalis state. | In the other orders the larva, on its last change of skin, assumes a new form known as the chrysalis, or pupa, in which state it lies dormant and nearly motionless, shut up like a body in a shroud, until the last change takes place, when it comes out as the perfect insect. This chrysalis, in some cases, merely consists of the hardened skin of the animal itself, and is left unprotected and bare in the open air, or in the earth or other place of conceal- ment, but in other cases a cocoon or case is made by the larva for it previous to and in anticipation of the change—in some spun like the cocoon of the silk-worm, in others composed of fragments of earth or bits of wood, &c., glued together. It is to be borne in mind that in Natural History no rule or definition is of absolute and invariable application. Unexpected deviations which puzzle the naturalist and refuse to be bound by his rules, occur in every order. These must be treated as exceptions. APTERA (Wingless Insects). The Aptera are arranged in the four following orders, viz. :— 1. MYRIAPODA (Centipeds, &c.). 3. THYSANURA (Springtails). 2, ARACHNOIDA (Spiders, Scorpions, | 4. PARASITICA or ANOPLURA (Lice). and Mites). Order MYRIAPODS. The order of Myriapods is distinguished by the mature animal being divided into numerous segments, each bearing two or four feet, terminated by a single claw. In the young state they have all fewer segments, and at first only three pairs of feet. Some = a me ‘alee idee ee MVRIAPODS. 13 have no eyes; but the majority are provided with two clusters of - single eyes varying in number. It is divided into two great sections, the most important character of which, so far as the economic entomologist is concerned, is that the one (with two curious exceptions, the Sugentia, where the mandibles are con- verted into a sucking apparatus, and the Pauropoda, which are wholly aberrant), has its jaws or mandibles formed on the ordi- nary plan adopted in insects that bite their food, while the other has them formed out of its fore-legs into something half-leg, half- jaw, after the fashion of the falces of spiders, with a sharp point and a hollow duct up their core, which is connected with a poison gland, as in the spider. The former of these sections compose the Chilognaths (meaning jaw-jawed insects) or Diplopods, the latter the Chilopods (meaning foot-jawed insects) or Scolopen- dride. This difference in the character of their jaws is a very important one for the horticulturist, as in this instance it is a character by which he ought to be able to distinguish between his friends and his enemies. The Julidz have their jaws per- fectly adapted for biting vegetables as well as any other matter. The Scolopendridz have not, and the same principle that enabled Cuvier to determine the nature of his fossil vertebrates, whether carnivorous or herbivorous, equally applies to the organs of feeding in these insects. Both, to be sure, are equally under the ban of horticulturists, because both are found by them in injured roots of plants, and they credit both alike with the damage done, although the one actually did it or helped to do it, and the other only came there to prey upon the insects that were busy doing it. Curtis, although himself regarding the Scolopendre as carni- yorous, mentions that the late Mr. Hope “attributed the Potato disease to the attacks of the wire-worm, and also to a small Scolo- pendra which he had found in myriads infesting diseased Potatoes at Southend,” and Curtis adds that he himself “observed them in rotten Potatoes in August 1845; and in September 1848 Geo- phalus electricus was running about in every direction when the 14 NFO LTD oe Potatoes were forked out.” But an examination of the structure of their mouth and jaws, at once shows that the Scolopendridz could never be vegetable feeders. ‘There are two principles which it is safe to say Nature never deviates from. She never does any- thing without a purpose, and she never wastes her labour. If she endows an animal with any special structure or apparatus, it is for some end. Now it is obvious that if the centipedes feed on the roots of plants, they must sin against both of the above principles in Nature’s code. A poison bag and a poison tooth can be of no possible use to a herbivorous animal; therefore, as it would be a useless waste of apparatus to give it something which was of no use to it, the animal possessing these tools cannot have been in- tended to be herbivorous. Section CHILoGNaTHA (Diplopoda mare). Mandibles not perforated, but adapted for ordinary biting and chewing. The anterior six feet are placed one on each side of each segment, the re- mainder two on each, Family JULID (commonly called Snake Millipeds), Nos. GLOMERIS LIMBATA (Zizz.).—8. Specimen (1) ; 9. Enlarged figure of ditto. 8, 9. It will be seen from the specimens of ward appearance, notwithstanding the wide difference between a crustacean and an in- sect. It seems one of those transition cases Glomeris limbata (natural size). of which many instances occur in nature. Its habits are similar to those of the Onisci. The insects with the aspect of Oniscus have been divided into two sections, according to whether the eyes (which are simple and not compound) are disposed in a curved line or in a cluster, so as to be like the compound eyes of other insects. The above belong this species how closely the genus resembles ~ Oniscus, and especially Armadillo, in out-_ MYRIAPODS. “3 of ditto. The difference between the structure of the antennz of the Oniscidze and these insects is shown in the woodcut. fos. SPHAROPEUS HETEROSTICTUS (Wews.).—12. Specimens (1); 18. Enlarged . figure of ditto. SPHAZROPEUS GLABRATUS (ew. ?),—14. Specimen (1) ; 15. Sketch of an Orchid injured by such insects. Sphzropeeus glabratus (natural size). Antenna of Sphzeropceus castaneus. This and the preceding species were found by a nurseryman amongst a number of plants imported by him from the East Indies. Genus JuLus (Zz7.). | The small thread-like Juli do not look very like the short, stumpy Glomeris ; but a little examination will show that Julus is only a very long and somewhat modified Glomeris. In their youngest stage they have few segments and only three pairs of legs, which appear respectively on the second, third, and fifth segments. Young Julus with only six legs (magnified). Julus a little older, with 14 legs (magnified). As they grow older, the number of segments and legs increases at each change of skin, until they reach maturity, when the number of segments may reach to fifty and upwards. As already said, the Juli or snake Millipeds are general feeders, consuming both a 16 | SYULIDA CASE decaying and living animal and vegetable substances, , They $ prey upon slugs, small snails, insects and their larvee and pupe, earth-worms, &c. So far they may be regarded as friends ; but, unhappily, they also feed on living vegetables, and various plants are often seriously injured by their attacking their roots. In particular they feed upon our root crops, potatoes, carrots, &c. It has been said that although often found in holes in our root crops, it may be that the holes were already there before they came, and that they have only come to feed on the soft parts of a diseased or decaying root. The truth may be that a sound healthy tuber has too tough a coat for them to penetrate, but when they get into the juicy interior of soft pulpy roots, such as bulbs, the case is different; they can have no difficulty in making their way into them or in consuming the tender fibres of the roots of herbaceous plants. It is very doubtful whether any means have been found of getting rid of these insects. Sprinkling soot and nitrate of soda over the land and watering it with lime water have been recom- mended, but apparently without much success. It is difficult to damage the insect without damaging the plant it is attacking too. So far as greenhouses, hothouses, and outhouses are concerned, they may be kept tolerably free from them by care, cleanliness, and the adoption of such traps as have been already referred to ; but the open fields are less under control. Nos. JULUS PULCHELLUS, (Leach), (supposed to be J. guttatus, ad.), — ea. 16. Specimens (several in a phial); 17. Enlarged figure of ditto; 18. Sketch of carrot injured by ditto ; 19. Lily roots injured by ditto, preserved in glycerine ; 20. Model of lily roots injured by them. This is an insect as to whose hurtful properties there can be no doubt. It Julus pulchellus (natural size and magnified). 1S : probably the most in- jurious of all the snake Millipeds, as it is the commonest. © It is a‘small, long, thread-like f teed * * MYRIAPODS. 17 glass it will be seen to be a very pretty little animal, like a thread, about the thickness of a pin, with a double row of aight crimson spots on it, and when put in spirits it stains the liquid of a purple hue, to which it itself turns after death. It has a no eyes, which has led to its being regarded as belonging to another genus. ‘This is the species which most frequently forces itself upon the attention of horticulturists, and lilies seem espe- cially the object of its attacks. ps The specimens of lily scales (No. 19) were presented to the collection by Mr. George F. Wilson, F.R.S., from plants which were entirely disintegrated by them, and a correspondent of one of our horticultural periodicals (Zhe Garden) not long ago stated that on turning out some pots of Eucharis amazonica and Vallota, which were not thriving, he found, besides acariy.. a quantity of this species of snake milliped busy about the roots, Further investigation showed that the roots of some of the sickly plants had been perforated by these insects, which had also eaten their way into the body of the bulbs themselves. Curtis, from his own knowledge, specifies the roots of the scarlet runner, the roots of the cabbage tribe generally, and the roots of young wheat, as having been attacked, and Mr. Wilson Saunders notes that he had observed that the young roots of heart’s-ease were injured by this species. 1 » 3 JULUS TERRESTRIS (Zinz.).—21. Specimens of ditto (1); 22. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 23. Model of parsnip root in which they were found feeding, anes ESRTRRERRE ai tt yitiitl J Julus terrestris (natural size), Antenna of Julus terrestris (magnified). This does similar mischief to the last. It is one of the largest British species—reaching an inch in length—and is distinguished. ; ui CASE Ue Nos. 24, 25. Nos. 26, 27. 18 FULD AE from that which comes nearest to it (Julus Londinensis) by having rather longer antennz and by the pre-anal segment of the tail being mucronate (terminating in a sort of spike) instead of simply rounded or nearly so. JULUS LONDINENSIS (Leach).—24. Specimens (1?); 25. Enlarged figure of ditto. This is very similar to the preceding species, and differs chiefly from it in having the apex of the tail rounded, or nearly so, instead of having the pre-anal segment pointed. It has Teak been found at the roots of wheat plants, appa- rently feeding upon them. Besides the above there are several other species of Julus found in Britain, viz.: Julus pilosus, which Curtis found at cabbage roots ; Julus punctatus, which is met with in moss and old woods, and probably in gardens; and Julus latistriatus, which has been found infesting a garden. There are also many exotic species, of which one or two examples are added to the collection to give the student a better general idea of the different forms the family assumes. Thus— JULUS NITENS (Murr. n.s.).—26. Specimen (1); 27. Enlarged figure of ditto. This is an exotic species found amongst nurseryman’s hot-houses—supposed to be from the East Indies. It is about double the length and thrice the thickness of Julus terrestris, 1s of the same leaden-coloured Julus nitens (natural size). hue, but is very highly polished and shining. It has a row of dark spots all down the middle of each side, and its legs and antenne are bright light _red. a number of recently imported plantsina — 8, 29. _ Nos. 30, SI. 4 MVRIAPODS. © | 19 SE SPIROSTREPTUS JAVANICUS (S7.). — 28. Specimens (1); 29. Enlarged figure of ditto. nL large exotic species from Java, placed here to shew the large size to which the species reach in tropical climates, and thereby to shew the characters of the Juli more distinctly. SPIROSTREPTUS ANNULATIPES (Vews. ?).—80. Specimens (2); 31. Enlarged - figure of ditto. Spirostreptus annulatipes (natural size). This is probably a climatal variety of Newport’s Spirostreptus annulatipes. That species comes from West Africa, this from Natal. The banded legs and other characters agree, but the fine rugze on the segments spoken of by Newport are less numerous. Genus PoLypEsmus (Latr.). This genus is the transition link between the Snake Millipeds and the Centipeds. The species are flat and compressed, and the segments are usually more or less granulated or nodose on the back. The British species is small, but the exotic ones reach two inches or more in length. Their exterior is very hard and im- penetrable, but the joints and limbs are very fragile and easily detached. They have the same mode of development as the Juh, the early three pair of legs, however, appearing on the second, fourth, and fifth segments, instead of on the second, third, and fifth. They have also the same habits, and like them, have been B2 20 SULIDE. CASE found in numbers eating the roots of various plants. Anemones, Nos. 32, 33. Nos. 34, 35- pansies, and onions are mentioned as having been injured. The treatment indicated is the same as that for the Juli. POLYDESMUS COMPLANATUS (Linn.).—82. Specimens (5); 33. Enlarged figure, In its earlier stage it is SEI from a quarter to half an Polydesmus complanatus (young and full grown, inch long, and when mature natural size). reaches nearly an inch in length. It is of a pale whitish lilac colour. It has a worse character among horticulturists than even the Juli. POLYDESMUS DORSALIS, (Zur. n, s.) (aff. THomMsont) (Zac.).—34, Specimens (1); 85, Enlarged figure, Polydesmus dorsalis (natural size). A large tropical species two inches in length—not unlike the West African species P. Thomsoni; of similar dimensions, but the segments are almost free from granulations, and a whitish stripe runs up the middle of the back the whole length of the body, Family SUGENTIA. Parts about the mouth ponconaeyl into a tubule fitted for sucking up liquid food. Most authors have regarded this modification of the parts of the mouth as of so much importance that they have treated the species possessing it as a distinct order or family equal in value to the Chilognatha, or Chilopoda. The importance of such a modification is not the same in all orders, and the lower we go % Nos. 36, 37- _ tionately reduce the value of the sections composing it. been divided by those who regard it as an order into the families MYRIAPODS. 34 in the scale the less is its value. In this case, too, the insects _ themselves are to all outward appearance so similar to the Poly- _ desmi that we have difficulty in separating them from that genus, and cannot accept the idea of giving them any higher rank than a family of the Chilognatha. In like manner we must propor- It has of Polyzonidze, with simple eyes, and Siphonophoridz, without eyes ; which again has been subdivided into the genus Siphono- phora with a long rostrum, and Brachycybe with a short one ; but as the reader goes along he will learn to distrust the value of modifications of the eyes as a character of any importance. Eyes in fact seem to be a sort of unessential accident that may be present or absent, large or small, few or many, without much disturbing the harmony of the relations of the rest of the creature’s economy. In some cases such modifications are not even of generic value. The other characters of this section, how- ever, are of more importance. Genus BracHycyBE (Wood). Head very short, much shorter than the antennz, rostrum acute. » BRACHYCYBE ROSEA, (MZurr. n.s.).—86. Speci- mens (1); 37. Enlarged figure. This is a very beautiful species that we It is white with a rosy blush, very flat, and found in California in rotten stumps. with the segments numerous, broad, and Ves, tf Old 7 very short (in other species 47 in number) ; it reaches from a quarter to one and a g lise ie / half inches in length; the segments are compacted very close together, and so broad that they wholly conceal the legs Z below; there is a slight but handsome granulation on the back of the segments. ny ww sea valbisbley ff sul Brachycybe rosea (natura size and magnified). CAS is, Nos. Op ar, 5 SCOLOPENDRID. Section CHILOPODA. Mouth provided with foot jaws. Family SCOLOPENDRID (Centipeds). GEOPHILIDZ.—Small, long, and narrow species, with numerous feet (40 or more). Eyesnone. Antennze with 14 joints. . MECISTOCEPHALUS PUNCTIFRONS (/Vew?.).—1. Specimen (1). This is an East Indian species, bearing considerable similarity to our own British kinds. GEOPHILUS LONGICORNIS (Leach).—2. Specimens (2); 3. Enlarged figure of ditto. eS qeclleeeennenat' REX eargneuitetta NTT TTT Geophilus longicornis, magnified. This is a common species in Britain. The insect itself is like a long yellowish or whitish thread, a couple of inches or so in length, with a multitude of minute feet on each side. It moves along with an undulating and sinuous motion. It has no eyes. ! ae The female sits upon her eggs like a snake, coiling herself round them in a little cell, which she makes for them in the ground, and according to Newport’s observations never leaves them until they are hatched. The period of incubation is about a fortnight or three weeks. MYRIAPODS. 23 ‘ASE GEOPHILUS SUBTERRANEUS.—4. Specimens (several in phial) ; 5. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 6. Vignette illustration of its phosphorescence. This species is one of those which have the remarkable property of occasionally (more especially in spring and autumn) secreting a phosphoric light, which seems to exude from the body, and is left like a shining trail on the spots over which the insect has passed. It soon fades and disappears, seldom being seen for a longer space than a couple of feet behind the insect. ‘This is the species whose luminosity has been most frequently observed in Britain, but there are reasons for believing that the property is common to all the section of centipedes known as Geophilide, and that it is evolved only at the breeding season. Mr. Newport mentions having found two individuals of this species on the - ground in contact with each other at midnight, on the 25th of September, which shone almost as brightly as the glow-worm, for which, at the instant, he mistook them. On taking them into his hand the luminous matter was exuded and adhered to his fingers, and continued to shine for some time, like phosphorus, The individuals appeared to be able to give it forth at pleasure, This property appears to be common to some tropical, as well as European, Geophili. Oviedo, the friend and companion of Columbus, as quoted by Newport, mentions it in his account of the island of St. Domingo:—‘“ There are in this island (St. Domingo) many kinds of Scolopendra or hundred legs ; some are slender, and as long as one’s finger, and like to those of Spain, and these bite and cause considerable pain. There are others of these worms about half the length of the finger and slender, with many feet, and these shine much by night, and leave a light where they go, and may be seen 50 or even 100 feet off. Yet the whole animal does not shine, but only the joints where the legs spring from the body, and the light is very bright.” From this property | this species, or the G. longicornis (it is doubtful which he meant) was named by Linnzeus, Scolopendra electrica. Numerous observations are recorded of Myriapods of this 24 SCOLOPENDKID ZZ. oe section, after having caused lingering headache, having been sneezed forth by men from the nose. As Van der Hoeven says, ‘it is easier to reject these observations than to explain the continued life of these insects in such an unusual situation. Scolopendra morsitans (natural size). Genus SCOLOPENDRA. Eyes, four on both sides. Feet, almost always twenty-one. Antennze with from seventeen to twenty joints. This genus consists chiefly of large exotic species, which can inflict a painful and poisonous bite with their powerful nippers. The structure of the poison apparatus has been per- fectly well ascertained, and the poisonous character of the secretion sufficiently proved by experience. As to the latter, the larger the species naturally the more powerful should the poison be expected to be, and the bite from one of them causes pain and suffering, even to man himself. Brown, in his “ History of Jamaica,” says of one of the larger species (S. morsitans )}—“ This insect is reckoned very venomous; the prongs of the forceps are very strong, bending and pointed, which enable them to bite very hard, and they probably emit some venomous juice also, as some who have been bit by them informed methat the part bitten is very painful for two or three hours, and turns frequently of a livid colour. I have seen them often kill MYVRIAPODS. 25 L cockroach with a single nip.” Another example of the severity a of the bite came within our own personal knowledge. The sufferer was the manager of a sugar plantation in Jamaica in the bygone _ days, when there were still slaves, and Jamaica was still Jamaica ; and in the “boiling season,” when the juice of the cane is boiled to produce the sugar, it was his duty or practice to visit the boilers during the night to see that the fires were kept up and no inter- mission allowed in the process. On these occasions he merely threw on a dressing-gown and thrust his naked feet into slippers while he took a hasty round through the works. While thus engaged he was once bitten on the leg a little above the ankle by one of these large centipeds. They are nocturnal animals, and of course most lively and alert at night. He described the pain as sO excruciating that he almost fainted on the spot, and had to be assisted into the house. As to the structure of the apparatus for poisoning the wound made by the bite, that was satisfactorily made out by Mr. Newport, the eminent entomologist, whose loss is still deplored by our older naturalists. Until he worked it out, the gland by which the poison of the centiped is secreted had not been shown. Leewenhoek discovered at the apex of the man- dibles an orifice that communicated internally with an elongated cavity, and he also saw a drop of fluid exude from the orifice, but he did not discover the true secreting gland—which, however, Newport did. He not only confirmed Leewenhoek’s observation in regard to the existence of a longitudinal opening at the inner margin of the apex of the mandible, but also traced it backwards to a sac with which it communicates, and discovered the gland of which it is the reservoir. It is to be observed, that the effect of “ the bite of a centiped in warm climates is very various ; sometimes excessively virulent and painful, at others causing little incon- ‘ venience. It is, no doubt, in a great measure due to the state of — health and constitution of the individual sufferer and his conse- quent susceptibility to disease ; but, moreover, from experiments on venomous snakes, we now well know that the virulence of the 26 - SCOLOPEND Klip, oa poison, and the degree of injury inflicted by it, may depend much > on the circumstance, whether or not the animal has recently bitten and expended its venom on some other object, in which case, the injury occasioned is less severe; and, the reason is obvious, for not only may the reservoir of venom be exhausted, but it may also be satisfactorily accounted for by what we now know of the manner in which the secretions of all glands are elaborated, viz., by the growth, bursting, and diffluence of successive series of epithelial cells that line the interior of these organs, the fluid contained within, and into which these cells and their nucleoli are resolved being the proper secretion. When this is expended too frequently, and the organ in consequence is excited by what may be called the stimulus of want, the secreting epithelial cells are hastened in their development, and the fluid into which they are resolved is imperfectly elaborated and its properties are doubtless less active. | No. 7, SCOLOPENDRA CEYLONENSIS (JVewfort ?).—7. Specimens (2). This is one of the larger Centipeds above spoken of. They are probably all to be equally avoided. It is from Ceylon. No. 8. SCOLOPENDRA PLATYPOIDES (/Vewp.).—8. Specimens (2). Another large and hurtful species. It is from Brazil. No. 9. SCOLOPENDRA PLACE (/Vewp.).—9. Specimens (2). From Brazil. No. 10. SCOLOPENDRA VARIEGATA (Vew/.).—10. Specimens (2). A handsome species from Brazil. Scolopendra variegata (natural size). MYRIAPODS. — 27 eee eos POLL ts (Murr. vs. J-11. Specimens (2). From me of the Australian species, such as S, sulcidens,—a curious mblance which has been observed in other species of this family from these far-separated lands. Denticulations of labium small. Antenne 17-jointed. Body of 22 segments, including the - cephalic segments. ‘The scutes at the neck are short and narrow ; _ those that are farther back gradually become broader. The third 4 segment (that immediately behind the cephalic), the fifth and the 7 seventh, are shorter than those between them. ‘The teeth on the _ femoral joint of the terminal legs are on the inner side, one rather - large one at the posterior angle; then three small ones nearer the _ Dbody, and a lower row of three other small ones; on the outer - side three in a lower row. | zz. SCOLOPENDRA LEAcHII (/Vewf.).—12. Specimen (1). _.-___- From the Cape Verde Islands. 13. ge OP ENDRA TUBERCULIDENS (/Vew/.).—18. Specimens (2). This species derives its name from the tooth on the inner angle _ of the thigh of the last legs, being composed of five smaller teeth. ‘It is from the East Indies. s: SCOLOPENDRA C@RULEO-VIRIDIS (Murr. n.s.).—14. Specimens (2) ; 15, En- _ larged figure of ditto. From New Holland. _ This is one of the middle-sized species, about 23 to 3 inches long; of a rich bluish green, with head and terminal feet orange- red. Antennz 17-jointed, of a lovely turquoise green, and legs of a pale semi-transparent light green. Body of 22 joints. Ter- 2 minal legs rather compressed and tumid, and with a tooth at the inner angle of the femoral joint, two small ones in a row farther Pback, two more in a lower row, and two again below them. In 28 SCOLOPENDRIDAZ, CASE small and not full-grown — specimens these teeth are absent, or | only showing indications. ‘This was presented to the collection | as giving a very venomous bite. It does not appear to have been hitherto described. Genus Cryptops (Leach). No eyes. as CRYPTOPS HORTENSIS (Leach).—16, Specimen (1); 17. Enlarged figure of 16, 17. - ditto. Cryptops hortensis (slightly enlarged). This is one of our British species. It is yellowish brown in colour; has no eyes; 21 pair of feet; and antennz with 17 joints. Genus LitrHosius (Leach). Bs LITHOBIUS FORFICATUS (Zizz.).—18. Specimens (4); 19. Enlarged figure ot a ditto. Head of Lithobius forficatus. Lithoblius forficatus (natural size). Antennz with numerous joints tapering to the tip; in adults above forty. Fifteen pair of feet and two groups of eyes in the external margin of the head behind the antenne. It is about an inch in length, and broader than any other British species. MYRIAPODS. 29 > Geer practically watched the proceedings of this species, and says of it, ‘‘I have seen a fly after being bitten by one of the ~ Scolopendree die almost Matar Sapa which would seem to indicate that their bite is venomous.” The jaws may be seen in _ the enlarged woodcut of the head of this species. Genus CERMATIA (JZ@.). The genus Cermatia, or Scutigera as it was called by Lamarck, is distinguished from all the rest of the Myriapods by its long legs, bringing it, in this respect, near to the spiders, which it resembles | ____also in its very rapacious and carnivorous nature. The eyes are | two, compound. One pattern of colouration runs through the whole of the Cermatize, viz., longitudinal stripes on the body and annulations on the appendages. The colour varies in different species, and although very evanescent after death or when ex- ____ posed to alcohol, is probably a good specific character. Mr, Wood mentions that he has seen specimens of one of the North American species, C. forceps (which is greenish brown with longi- tudinal stripes of dark green), changed almost immediately to green or blue, or, still more commonly, to bright purple by al- cohol. ‘The legs in all the species are banded. ‘They are also __ very easily detached, it being almost impossible to preserve a ___ specimen without losing them, which prevents the use being made of the relative proportions of their parts which might otherwise be done. In one respect the Cermatidz seem to form an excep- tion to a character which is universal in the family in which it is q placed ; but it is only apparent, not real. The head in the Chi- ___ lognaths is composed of only one segment ; but in the Chilopods, _____ to which Cermatia belongs, it is always developed into two sepa- rate segments, the posterior of which gives origin to the immense © foot jaws of the family. In apparent contradiction to this, the ____ head of the Cermatidze, when viewed from above, appears to con- sist of but a single segment ; but this is merely because the two 1 {2 Sat Se ee iar Ve Nas ‘ sg as) 7 - LS % "- ‘ i e ‘ nd Pee cephalic scuta are fused together and consolidated, just as two body scuta are, to form one segment. ‘The sternum of the pos- terior segment is entirely separate, and leaves the foot jaws as in other families. It was from observations on one of this genus © (Scutigera araneoides) in the south of France that Latreille satis- fied himself of the poisonous nature of the bite of this family. 30 SCOLOPENDERTDZ, Nos. CERMATIA CAPENSIS (Westw.).—20. Specimens (1); 21. Enlarged figure. orc. From the Cape of Good Hope. ee [Nos. CERMATIA SMITHII (Mewfort)—22. Specimens (1); 23. Enlarged figure. [ 22, 23. From New Holland. Cermatia Smithii (natural size). MYRIAPODS. 31 Section PAUROPODA. _ The little creature which alone composes this section can be a. brought neither into the ranks of the Chilognaths nor into those of the Chilopods; and there seems no help for it but to make a separate section to receive it. It certainly is a very insignificant object to be entitled to so much honour. It is a semitransparent little animal, only the twentieth of an inch in length, and with much more of the appearance of the Thysanura (among whom and in whose haunts it lives) than of a Myriapod ; and only one species of it seems yet to have been found. Sir John Lubbock, to whose researches we owe our knowledge of the creature at all, indeed describes wo species, and gives, as the only character that he could find, some difference in the antennz. He thinks that he has found both sexes in one of his species; at least, in some that had organs, which he was unable to trace in all, he found sperma- tozoa, and these consequently must have been males, although it does not absolutely follow that the rest were not. If he is right in this, the present will be the first case that we can call to mind of the antennz differing materially in species of the same genus. It is a very common thing for them to differ in the sexes of the same species; but the generic character, as a rule, subsists through all the species of the same genus. ‘This tiny and solitary species, although it looks so like the Thysanura, cannot go with them ; for although it has only six feet in the earlier stage of its life, it ends by having eighteen (9 pairs). Now, as Mr. Wood, the American myriapodist, has well put it, when a spider, an insect, a Thysanura, or a Crustacean, leaves the egg, its body has its maxi- mum number of segments, and development takes place by the coalescence and disappearance of some of these. ‘The embryonic Myriapod, on the contrary, has its minimum number of segments, and develops by their increase ; so that while the adult insect has generally fewer, never more segments than the young, the adult Myriapod may have eight times as many, and never fewer than Sz SCOLOPENDERID A. CASE its young. ‘Tried by this test, the Pauropus must be a Myriapod; | but it cannot be a Chilopod, because it has no foot jaws, but feeble mandibles. It is apparently a herbivorous, not a carnivo- rous Myriapod, and has a better nght otherways to be placed among the herbivorous Chilognaths ; but although it at first sight appears to have two legs to each segment in the middle of the body, still they are not placed together as in the Julidz, and the difference of the antennz is very great. ‘The latter partake more of the crustacean character than those of any insect that we are acquainted with. It has ten segments, the first two of which compose the head, or if they be reckoned from the under side, counting a segment for each pair of legs, there would appear from Sir John’s cut to be 13, the same number that is possessed by true hexapod insects. It has also 18 legs, the smallest number in any species yet described being 26, For other details we must refer to Sir John Lubbock’s paper. PAuROPUS HUXLEYI (Lubéock), Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. 26. A bustling, active, neat, and cleanly little creature, living throughout the year in consider- able numbers among dead leaves and other. decaying vegetable matter in company with the various species of Thysanura, mites, &c., that frequent similar situations: found throughout the winter on the warmer days, about half a line in length. Pauropus Huxleyi (magnified). PAUROPUS PEDUNCULATUS (Lubbock), loc. cit. Perhaps the female of the above. It cannot be the male, for it was in the other that Sir John Lubbock found spermatozoa. ARACHNOIDEA. 33 Order ARACHNOIDEA. (SCORPIONS, SPIDERS, AND MITES.) THE system of classification which is adopted for the chief part of this collection, viz. that of beginning with the lower orders and advancing to the higher, has been departed from in the spiders ; first, for the sake of making a natural connection with other orders, and second, for reasons special to Economic Ento- mology, such as keeping together as much as possible those species that attack a common class of objects, and separating those that attack a different class. In the present case (the arachnoids), the arrangement has been made from above downwards, commencing with the scorpions and terminating with the mites, instead of the reverse; this brings the mites into closer connection with the lice, with which it will be found that they have certain points of analogy if not of affinity. The arachnoids are generally considered by zoologists as a group apart, belonging neither to the crustaceans nor the insects. Like crustaceans, spiders possess the- property of reproducing such limbs as have been detached or mutilated; and this curious physiological phenomenon is intimately connected with the cast- ing of their skin, for legs, palpi, and spinners, which have been amputated, are observed to be restored, and afterwards to have their dimensions enlarged, at the period of moulting only; but there are much more important grounds for removing them from the crustaceans and classifying them with insects. For example, _ the crustaceans breathe by gills, the spiders do not. The sepa- ration of the spiders from insects is not nearly so well marked. Insects breathe by trachez, that is, air-tubes opening on each side of the segments of the abdomen. Spiders breathe by something called pulmonary sacs, which are placed at the base of the abdo- men. But not only are these pulmonary sacs (although fewer than c 34 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE the trachez) placed in the abdomen as in insects, and not only are they in many respects analogous to the trachez, but in some spiders they are supplemented by one or two trachez. Again, one distinction between insects and spiders is, that the former — have never more than three pairs of legs, while the spiders have four pairs; but the first pair in the spiders are only modifications. of the palpi. Again, insects are divided into three parts, head, thorax, and abdomen. Spiders consist of only two or one part, as in some mites; but all this is a mere modification of parts. The head of the spider is merged in its thorax, so that no line of separation can be drawn, but we know that the front belongs to the head, and the back part to the thorax, by the organs which they respectively bear. The mouth and its parts (along with the anterior legs) in the one case, and the rest of the limbs in the other case. It seems to us, therefore, that the arachnoids. are to be regarded as modified insects. Family SCORPIONID: or PEDIPALPS (Scorpions and their allies). Anterior palpi elongated like legs, and provided with nippers like the claws. of a crab. Sub-Family, PsEuDo-ScorPIONES (False Scorpions). The cephalothorax is united to the abdomen, which is divided into segments. No tail. Genus CHELIFER (Zaz). Cephalothorax parted in two by a transverse furrow. Nos. CHELIFER MUSEORUM (/ad.).—1. Specimens (8) ; 2. Enlarged figure. - i, 2. The chelifers are harmless minute insects, like scorpions in appearance, but which, although possessing their nippers, are destitute of the armed tail; as in this species, the fore-legs (palpi) are sometimes very long. They live in dark and moist places, CHELIFERS. 35 1 and feed on mites and wood-lice. ‘The present species has re- ceived its name from being often found in neglected books and museums. Found in Britain and throughout Europe. Chelifer museorum (magnified.) Chelifer cancroides (magnified and natural size).. CHELIFER CANCROIDES (Koch). Found throughout Europe. CHELIFER GEOFFROYI (Koch).—38. Specimens (3); 4. Enlarged figure. 2 SX ‘ y Another British species, but with less % L\ A fh elongated anterior legs. iE as cae WER WE A's: We fas a Ta oe } Genus OsisiuM (//iig.). Cephalothorax not divided by a transverse furrow. ¥ OBISIUM CARCINOIDES (Herm). Obisium carcinoides (magnified and Found in Germany and other parts natural size). of Europe. CASE JONG 36 ARACHNOIDEA. Sub-family ScorPIoNneEs (True Scorpions). Tue characters of the family are two large ocelli, placed close together in the middle of the cephalothorax, smaller lateral ocelli, various in number, distributed along its anterior margin, and the six last joints of the abdomen narrowed into a tail terminating in a sting. ‘They have also two curious comb-shaped appendages on the under side at the base (anterior part) of the abdomen, the use of which is doubtful. They live in tropical regions in all parts of the world, extending their range more or less into the warmer districts of the tempe- rate zones. ‘Their sting is not barbed, but its point is perforated, and it wounds simply by penetrating the skin, and conveying poison into the wound through two orifices from a poison bag. The poison is said sometimes to be as white as milk. Although the scorpion is much dreaded, and widely renowned for its sting, there is no doubt that its injurious effects are much exaggerated. According to Kirby and Spence the only means of saving the lives of our soldiers who were stung by them in Egypt was amputation ; and they add that one species was said to occasion madness, and that the black scorpion, both of South America (Query South Africa, Buthus afer,) and Ceylon, frequently inflicts a mortal wound. All this is very doubtful, but it may be true that, as is stated on good authority, the sting of certain kinds common in South America causes fevers, numbness in various parts of the body, tumours in the tongue, and dimness of sight, which symptoms last from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. It is curious, however, that the only approach to personal authentic information on the subject which Kirby and Spence had, is against the sting-being so hurtful. Mr. W. S. MacLeay told them that soon after his arrival at Havana he was stung by an immense scorpion, but was agreeably surprised to find the pain con- siderably less than that of the sting of a wasp, and of incom- parably shorter duration. SCORPIONS. 37 in their hands and make them run along their naked arm, turning _ them back as they came to the edge and threatened to topple over. | 7 They do not lay eggs, but are viviparous. They are, however, most unnatural parents, for they devour their offspring as soon as they are born. Mr. Riley, the State entomologist of Missouri, says of the American species, that the boys sometimes call them teetotallers, from the fact that they cannot endure alcohol; and that a drop of whisky deposited upon one of them will cause it to immediately commit suicide by stinging itself to death. They have been divided into a number of sections, according iy, A) or! ¢ ff EZ ARLES: Buthus afer (natural size, small specimen), to the number and position of eyes on the head. The big black species, with thick, heavy, hard claws constitute the genus Buthus. CASE ETT. 38 ARACHNOIDEA. Some of the narrow yellow species, with slender long pincers, form the genus Androctonus, signifying in Greek ‘Man-killer,” and other genera, Ischnurus, Brotheas, Opistophthalmus, Vzejovis, &c., have been established on the shape of the cephalothorax, the number and position of the eyes, the characters of the tail (as square, or round, &c.), and the form of the back. Vejovis, sp. (natural size). ANDROCTONUS (Sf.), from Rangoon.—5. Newly-born specimens (3); 6. En- larged figure of do. ANDROCTONUS PRIAMUS (Koch) (?), from Java.—7. Specimens of do. ANDROCTONUS (Sp.), from East Indies.—8. Specimen of do. (1). _ BurTuus (SZ.) from the Cape.—9. Specimens of do. (2). This probably should form another genus. _ BUTHUS C4SAR (och), from the East Indies.—10, Specimens of do, (2). . BUTHUS AFER (Koch), from East Indies. —11. Specimen of do. (1). . BUTHUS IMPERATOR (Xoch).—12. Figure natural size, copied from Koch’s Araneide. This is the largest species we have seen described. It is at least six inches in length ; but it seems nothing but an unusually large immature specimen of B. afer. PHRYNID : 39 a | ee _ Sub-Family PHRYNIDA. Abdomen separated from thorax by a slight constriction. Tuil either absent _ or unprovided with a sting. PHRYNUS CEYLONICUS (Koch).—18. Specimen (1); 14. Figure (natural size). From Ceylon. We have placed this and some of the following species here, ~ not as being either hurtful or beneficial to man, but as showing the passage between the Scorpions and the Spiders; and as Phrynus ceylonicus is too large for our page, we give a figure of a smaller species, Phrynus palmatus. Phrynus palmatus (natural size). TELYPHONUS GIGANTEUS (Xoch).—15. Specimen; 16. Figure of natural — __ size. From the East Indian region. The tail in this genus is in the form of a jointed bristle, but unarmed. 40 | ARACHNOIDEA. eee TELYPHONUS PROSCORPIO (Koch).—17. Specimens (2) ; 18. Figure of do., Nos. 17, 18. Nos. 19, 20. natural size. Another species from Java. Telyphonus proscorpio (small specimen, natural size). Family SOLPUGIDA. Cephalothorax distinct from abdomen, which is segmented. No tail. Has the aspect of a spider. GALEODES ARANEOIDES (fa//.).—19. Specimen (0) ; 20. Figure of do. slightly magnified ; 21. Illustrative vignette—camel. This is a large spider-like animal, which reaches nearly two inches in length, and has a pale thorax and legs, and dark abdo- men. It is easily distinguished from the spiders by its abdomen being segmented, as well as by having a different kind of breath- ing apparatus, viz.: tracheze instead of pulmonary sacs. The genus is chiefly found in the Old World, and for the most part in Africa and the borders of the Mediterranean, but species have also been found in the New World. They live in sandy GALEODES. 41 Jeserts, and their bite is said to be venomous, and even dangerous, _ but proof is wanted of this. There seems to be no doubt, how- ever, that they are a great torment to the camels in the countries where they abound, and from the formidable nature of their man- dibles, and the ready ferocity with which they present them for attack when interfered with, they have obviously both the will and _ the power to inflict a severe bite, whether any poison is instilled into it or not. They feed upon other insects, particularly a kind of Acridium (grasshopper), of which they are fond. They dig great Galeodes araneoides (natural size). galleries or pits in the sandy soil, removing the déris to a distance by means of their mandibles, and using the stiff hairs which ac- company them as a sort of broom to sweep them away. ‘The present species has been found in the South of Russia and Greece, but its chief range is further south, extending from Egypt and one or more of the oases in the desert, to India, where it is common and troublesome. It there reaches a large size, its body being some- times two inches long without its legs, or with them ten inches. It is seldom seen except by night, and runs with great rapidity, more like a mouse than a spider, but covering much more space. 42 ARACHNOIDEA. oe The Rev. J. J. Wood, in his Natural History Illustrated, mentions the following particulars regarding this insect, which were com- municated to him by Lieut.-Gen. Sir J. Hearsey :— ‘When the Galeodes approaches any creature that it desires to attack, it thrusts out its long palpi, touches the body with the rounded tips of those members, and immediately raises them aloft, as if fearful lest they should be injured. ‘The whole action is wonderfully like the manner in which an elephant flings its pro- boscis in the air after touching anything of which it is not quite sure. ‘The tips of the palpi are rounded and soft, and when they are applied to any object, a sort of phosphorescent flame seems to be emitted from them. Having satisfied itself by the touch, the creature rushes in at once to the attack. “In order to ascertain whether the Galeodes would really attack and eat vertebrated animals, an ordinarily-sized | specimen: was captured and placed under a bell-glass. A very young musk-rat was then inserted under the glass, the Galeodes being on the opposite side. As the creature traversed its transparent prison it came suddenly on the young musk-rat, which was quite a baby and could not open its eyes. Without hesitation it sprang on the little animal, killed it, and in a short time had eaten it. “The manner in which the Galeodes kills its prey is really re- markable. ‘The double set of pincers are sharply hooked, hke the beak of an eagle, and are capable of being separately opened and shut like lobsters’ claws, and of being used conjointly to secure prey between them ; and, moreover, the upper joint of each claw } can be pushed far over the lower. When the creature seizes a large animal, such as the musk-rat above mentioned, it buries the pincers in the flesh, and deliberately shears its way onwards, each pair of pincers working alternately,.one pair being engaged in holding the prey and the other in cutting. “The same Galeodes was then pitted against a little bat, about three or four inches across the wings. ‘Though small, it was full- grown and lively. When placed under the glass shade it fluttered GALEODES. ; | 43 C feud not ce shaken off. In vain did the bat try to bee the enemy with its wings, or to rid itself of the foe by flying in the air. Nothing could shake off the Galeodes ; the long legs clung tightly to the victim, the cruel fangs were buried deeper and deeper into its flesh, the struggles gradually became weaker, until the point of a fang touched a vital spot, and the poor bat fell - lifeless from the grasp of its destroyer. “The next antagonist of this redoubtable warrior was a bogplee about four inches in length. The Galeodes seemed nothing ~ daunted, seized the scorpion by the root of the tail, just where it | Beould not be touched by the sting, sawed its way through the tail, severed that deadly weapon from the body, and then killed and q ate the scorpion, together with its tail. : _ “There was, however, much uncertainty as to its mode of attack in this instance, for no one could exactly ascertain whether it was - directed to the one point of safety by chance or instinct. Another ; similar scorpion was then procured and placed in the glass bell. _ The Galeodes darted as usual to the attack, but unfortunately _ seized its foe by the front. The scorpion immediately grasped the q Galeodes in its nippers, quickly brought its tail over its back, and % _by a well-directed stroke succeeded in stinging its enemy. At the moment of receiving the stroke, the Galeodes started back, _ opened all its limbs, began to quiver throughout its whole frame, and rolled over quite dead.” Family ARANEIDE (Spiders). _ THE spiders come strictly within the limits of Economic Ento- : — as beneficial insects. ‘They are among the most powerful - insect-friends of man, and they contribute more perhaps than any - other family to check thé too rapid multiplication of insects. | aa SD irney derive their chief sustenance from them, securing them in | : various ways, some by pure hunting and speed, others by watching 44 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE in corners and out of the way holes, but a large proportion by forming the webs for which the family is best known. Their vora- city is extreme, and the numbers they consume are consequently © very great ; a quality, however, which is sometimes directed against themselves, for they make no exception in their search for food, often devouring one another, the weaker falling a prey to the stronger; and as the females are, with few exceptions, larger and stronger than the males, a courtship among the spiders is a service by no means unattended with danger. Like other carnivorous animals whose prey is precarious, and like the venomous snake, which lies in wait for its prey, and must often have a long and weary vigil before it comes, the spider, although so voracious, 1s capable of long abstinence from food. Mr. Blackwall notices the case of a female Theridion quadri-punctatum, which still survived after being eighteen months without food corked up in a phial, a period exceeding the usual natural duration of most spiders’ lives, which is said to be about twelve months ; some, however, have a longer time, individuals having been known to live four years. All spiders at present known have either two, six, or eight smooth eyes, which vary much in size and relative position, supplying characters which have been much used in the sys- tematic arrangement of species. The falces or modified mandibles or jaws with which the spider seizes its prey are inserted immedi- ately under the anterior margin of the cephalo-thorax, and have usually at the extremity of their inner surface a longitudinal groove, — provided with sharp teeth on the sides, which receives the fang when in a state of repose. The fang, or last joint of the falcis, is ~ very hard, curved, acute, and has a small fissure near the point, which emits a colourless, more or less venomous, fluid secreted by a gland. The palpi occupy the same place and relations as in other insects, but they are distinguished by those of the male being swollen at the extremity into a curiously twisted, variously formed organ. Those of the females remain simple. In most other SPIDERS, — 45 respects, the general form and structure of spiders is that of _ insects. There is one important peculiarity however, viz., the spinnerets by which they spin the webs, which are the most dis- tinguishing and remarkable feature of the family. The spinnerets are placed at the tail end of the abdomen, and consist of two, three, or four pairs, according to the kind of spider. They vary also in form, being round, cylindrical, or conical, and their tips and under surface are pierced with numerous minute holes, like the rose of a watering-pot, through which the liquid that becomes the thread is pumped out. It is a liquid glue, and each jet of it comes out as a thread of infinitesimal tenuity; and the whole multitude of fine threads is compacted together into a single line of extreme fineness, but great comparative strength. That this is so may be easily proved by taking any of the large spmning spiders, say one of the diadem spiders (Epeira diademata), and after pressing its abdomen against a leaf or other substance so as to attach the threads to its surface—the same preliminary step that the spider adopts in spinning—drawing it gradually to a small distance. It can then be plainly perceived that the proper thread of the spider is formed of four smaller threads, and these again of threads so fine and numerous that there cannot be fewer than a thousand issue from each spinner, The glue is a viscid fluid, which is secreted by glands in the abdomen, and is conducted to the spinneret orifices by tubes : when exposed to the air—and it is very probably for the purpose of exposing it all instantaneously that it is made to issue in such fine threads—it hardens into a most elastic silk, so elastic that its apparent rapid lengthening or shortening has given rise to the erroneous belief that the spider can retract it into its abdomen. This it cannot do; after it has once come out and hardened, there it remains. But there must either be more than one kind of glue or silk secreted, or else the one kind must be capable of modification by the animal in its passage out, for while the spider’s thread itself becomes immediately hard and unadhesive, CAS i, 46 hone -ARACHNOIDEA. it is studded all over with minute globules, which do not imme- diately dry up, and remain viscid to the touch; and it is by means of this sort of bird-lime that its prey is detained and. attached, until the spider has time to spring upon it from its ambush. This viscid gum is not distributed over all parts of “the web alike. That would interfere with the spider's own freedom of motion. It therefore forms the main radii or stays of the web of threads free from this gum, and on these it runs freely, while the prey, ignorant of these safe bridges or gangways, flounders hopelessly in the net itself. It is probable that the glue that forms the viscid globules is supplied by different tubes from the kind that hardens, and that the tubes of both kinds are inter- mingled, so that as the threads are forced out they come in con- tact with this viscid secretion, which runs together in globules through the elasticity of the thread, drawing it out more than it can bear without division. The silken threads of which the webs are thus made are used by many species belonging to various genera for other purposes besides catching their prey—one is to enable them to take aerial excursions. Some have thought that the creatures could dart out their threads from their spinnerets to such a distance as to use them like rafts to float on in the atmosphere. That they do float through the air so supported is true—but not by darting out the threads. Experiments have proved that it is the rarefied air of fine weather that wafts the thread away from the spider, and that it only avails itself of their support to take the journey. Such threads, or webs, broken from their moorings, compose the filmy webs named gossamer, which, on being brought into contact by the breath of gentle airs, adhere together until, by continual additions, they accumulate into irregular white flakes of surprising quantity. Efforts have been made to turn the spinning powers of spiders and the silk they secrete to practical purposes, but without much success. In the beginning of the last century an ingenious SPIDERS. | 47 Frenchman, M. Bon of Languedoc, succeeded in manufacturing Some stockings and gloves of spider silk. The silk was grey, and was said to look well, but not to be equal in lustre or so durable _as silk from the silkworm. M. Bon did not attempt to wind the silk, but passed it through the carding machine (treating it ‘like shoddy or broken cocoons). He published an account of his discovery or manufacture, and the Royal Academy of Paris appointed Reaumur to report upon it. His report was not favourable ; the thread of the spider was eighteen times weaker than that of the silkworm, and it was found extremely difficult to obtain it in sufficient quantity to Operate on. It was calcu- lated that 27,648 female spiders were required to make a pound weight of silk, for it appears to have been only the silk bags con- taining the eggs that were used, and, owing to the natural ferocity and voracity of the spider, it was found impracticable to get the silk in sufficient quantity. It seems that some thousands of spiders were placed together in cells containing from fifty to two hundred each, but these were soon reduced to one or two in each, the rest having been all killed and eaten by the survivor, who, if the fittest in One sense, was at any rate not the fittest for the manufacturer’s ‘purpose. A similar manufacture is mentioned by Mr. Blackwall as having been tried by Mr. Tremeyer, a Spaniard, also without practical success. It should be mentioned, however, that D’Azara . in his Voyage dans Americ, (quoted by Kirby and Spence), states that in Paraguay a spider, which is found near the thirtieth de- gree of South latitude, forms a spherical cocoon for its eggs, an inch in diameter, of a yellow silk, which the inhabitants spin on account of the permanence of the colour. Some specimens of M. Bon’s manufacture, or of that of some _ one else, are said to be still in existence; and we should have liked to illustrate our cases by a specimen. Not knowing, how- ever, where to get one we made an attempt to get samples spun and woven for ourselves, but without success. A quantity of webs was collected and washed, with the intention of being carded CASE VE 48 ARACHNOIDEA. and spun, as was done by M. Bon. But we never got the length of carding. Our difficulty was not in carding them or spinning | them thereafter, which we believe can be perfectly well done, but in cleaning them for carding. The webs collected were full of impurities, straws, chaff, dirt, portions of insects, Xc. ; and the process adopted for cleaning waste silk did not answer for the webs. ‘The process for getting rid of extraneous matter in the broken cocoons of the silkworm is boiling, but in the boiling, the spiders’ webs boiled all away to nothing. Another economic use of the spider’s web, is the use of the strongest thread (the one that bears the web) by astronomers and microscopists for the divisions of the micrometer attached to their telescopes and microscopes ; the thread is drawn in parallel lines and at right angles across the field of the eye-piece at equal dis- tances, so as to make a multitude of cross square divisions scarcely visible to the naked eye and so fine as to be no obstacle to the view of the object. Among other merits, both spiders and their webs have been supposed to be possessed of certain valuable medical properties, for an account of some of which see Dr. Watson’s lectures on the principles and practice of physic, where he treats of ague and intermittent fevers. To this day in some parts of the West of England, notably the low lying districts bordering the mouth of the Severn where fever and ague still maintain themselves, a spider’s web rolled up into a bolus and swallowed is still held to be a sovereign specific for these diseases. Even yet in some countries they have not been wholly expelled from the regular practitioner's pharmacopeeia. We have seen a work on Leprosy (Mal de San Lazaro), published so lately as 1352, in Mexico, by Dr. Rafael Lucio, and another medical man, the one the professor of medicine, and the other of surgery in the university there, and in that work the authors recommend pounded Mygales (as per prescription) as a medicine for that disease, which is common in some parts of that country, and a i ee SPIDERS. 49 for which there is a special hospital in the city of Mexico, of © which these two professors had charge ; the said medicine being sanctioned by the authority of their experience in the hospital. Leprosy there, for there are other forms of it elsewhere, is a disease of the inner coats of the arteries, which produces obstruction in the circulation and suppression of perspiration. They considered that this indicated the exhibition of sudorifics, and tincture of tarantula (mygale), and sarsaparilla were the sudorifics they adopted. The medicine is given either as an alcoholic tincture, or one of ether. If alcoholic, it is compound of twelve ounces of alcohol to one of tarantula (ze. mygale), the tarantula powder having been made by pounding up the spiders, and after washing the powder in strong spirits of wine, macerating it for fifteen days in the alcohol, and then filtering it. In the ether tincture, sulphuric ether is substituted for alcohol, and it is then treated in the same way ; an ointment and lotion are in like manner prepared from it. The dose varies, but four drops of the tincture is stated to produce powerful sudorific effects, although he adds, that it sometimes operates in a few minutes, and in other cases not until , after many hours. But the concurrent effect of various symptoms and cases enumerated by him, is to show that the tincture does produce the desired effect, if not in all cases, at least in the great majority. But there remains the question whether it is due to the supposed specific—the tarantula—or, to the medium in which the dose is given, that is, the alcohol or ether. Everyone who has swallowed a bowl of punch, or a tumbler of toddy, knows that one of its properties is to induce perspiration, and all medical men at least know that ether has a like effect. We have, however, no reason to suppose that the constituent particles of a spider’s body have any such effect. It is too obvious to have induced anyone to prove it, that, except the poison gland and its contents, there is. no essential difference in composition between a spider and any other insect. The poison is no doubt an active principle, but it is infinitesimally minute in quantity, and if it bears any analogy to D CA IV. E 50 ARACHNOIDEA. the poison of other venomous animals, it is inert and innocuous, unless introduced into the circulation by a wound. The credit, therefore, of the tincture of tarantula as a sudorific appears to be due to the alcohol or ether, in which the inactive constituents of the spiders are administered. Their real medical value is now, at least in European practice, restricted, if it even remains to that extent, to that of a styptic for stopping the bleeding of slight cuts by external application. Indirect advantage has been taken of the habits of spiders to supply the place of a barometer. There is a story of this having been done during the War in Holland, after the great French Revolution. Some years previously, when the Stadtholder had been re-instated in his dominions by the Prussian arms, a M. Quatremere d’Isjonval, a Frenchman (during the commotions which then occurred) was arrested and imprisoned at Utrecht, where he passed several years in captivity. To amuse the tedium of confinement he was wont to watch some spiders that happened to make their abode near him, and to cultivate their acquaintance. Whether he succeeded in taming them may be doubted, but he, at all events, satisfied himself that hke many of the lower animals they were very sensitive to meteorological changes, and he got to know what changes their different behaviours portended. ‘The information so obtained came to be useful by and by. In January 1795 he was released by the advance of the French. An intense frost had enabled them to pass the watery defences of the place. They had, however, scarcely taken possession when a rapid thaw commenced, and the French Commanders found their communi- cations about to be compromised by the melting of the ice on the various streams across which it had allowed them to advance. In much anxiety they were about to retreat, when M. d’Isjonval, who had noticed the behaviour of his spider friends, commu- nicated to the officers his confident assurance that the frost was about to set in again with greater intensity than ever. Whether relying on his assurance, or on other grounds, they suspended ia oA SPIDERS. SI ‘SE their movement, and the very next day the frost recommenced with great severity, and continued long enough to allow the Republican troops to overrun the whole of the then undefended country. Perhaps the consolation spiders have afforded to poor prisoners like M. d’Isjonval by giving them some object of interest — to occupy their minds, or the support to their courage which they — have supplied to men in difficulties—such as Bruce’s watching the seven times repeated efforts of his spider to attain its object —is even more deserving of commemoration; and although doubt- less it is only the very few who have had patience and ability to get the spiders to recognise them or to establish friendly relations with them, some men would appear to have actually succeeded in doing so, or at least to have thought so, which was perhaps, just as good. Not all, however; M. Alphonse Karr, in his “ Guépes,” tells that when he was consigned to prison for a few days for some infringement of the laws of the press ih the reign of Louis Philippe, he tried the experiment without his usual success. “In imitation of divers celebrated prisoners,” says he, “I searched for a spider in order to instruct it—I found a little black one, but it shows little capacity.” Spiders may be very naturally divided into two sections—the large, mostly tropical species, which have four breathing sacs and four spinnerets, and the ordinary spiders, with which we are familiar, that have only two breathing sacs (where there are apparently four, two of them are not sacs but tracheze) and six spinnerets. The first constitute the family of ee AIDS dt Caan Soinmes: As already said all spiders have a large claw or poison fang | hinged on to the front of their mandibles, but this family is dis- tinguished by this claw being very large, hard, and polished—so © much so that in Brazil it is sometimes set in gold and used as a toothpick, and it is thought to have some specific value in keeping away toothache. In the other section the fang moves D2 52 ARACHNOIDEA. rad laterally. In the Mygalide it moves vertically as if it were pinning the creature it seizes to its own breast or like the claws of — a lion closing on its prey. Species of these gigantic spiders are found in the Tropics all round the world. Nos. MyGALE AVICULARIA (Walck).—1. Specimen (0) ; 2. Sketch, natural size. I 2. e Mygale avicularia (natural size). This spider inhabits tropical South America. It is the species which has sometimes been called the bird-catching spider, (whence the name avicularia, which originated with Mme. Merian) from the idea that it occasionally caught or entrapped in its nest small birds, such as humming birds. The tale has never received actual confirmation, indeed it has been wholly denied. Langs- dorf insists that it only eats insects, and Kirby and Spence give Mr. W. S. MacLeay’s authority to the same effect from his own observations on Mygale avicularia, which was very common in his garden in Cuba. It did him great service by devouring the mite, achete, cockroaches, &c., which are so injurious there to cultivated vegetables. It issues from its hole in the night only MYVGALIDA. 53 CASE (never in the daytime) to attack these insects; and so far from "its having any bird-catching propensities, Mr. MacLeay having placed a living humming bird in the tube of a Mygale, it deserted it, leaving the bird untouched. Still, the size of the spider is sufficiently great to render it not impossible, and the deleterious effects of its venom have been sufficiently proved to render it likely that if employed on small birds it might kill them. And if we cannot cite direct proof that its prey is often small verte- brate animals, we can at least give some indirect circumstantial evidence to that effect. As we write we have received an envoi and a communication from our friend the Rev. Dr. R. H. Nassau, one of the American missionaries on the coast of Gaboon. He sends an enormous Mygale, of which he says, ‘It was caught here” (Akele country, 200 miles up the river Ogove, and 150 miles from the sea) “‘last June. One of the boys in pursuing it struck it and smashed its body. I was exceedingly disappointed at its mutilation, but the head is complete. J/ was amazed at the amount of blood that flowed from iz.” It is plain that Dr. Nassau here uses blood in its ordinary sense, viz., red blood ; and if so, then it is equally clear that the blood could not be the spider’s blood, which is colourless. It was obviously blood freshly sucked from some small vertebrate animal, such as a mouse or a bird. It is not uncommonly supposed that the way in which the spider obtains the humming-birds is by catching them in its web, which was imagined to be of proportionate strength and size to its own dimensions as compared with those of other spiders. ‘This at least is a mistake. It spins no such web. It does indeed spin a | cocoon of white silk to contain its eggs, but not aweb. It is a hunting spider, and lies in ambush in its nest or in crevices or burrows, which it makes for the purpose, and catches its prey by rushing out upon it or hunting it. Nos. MYGALE CALIFORNICA.—3. Sketch, natural size. From California. 4. a as Specimens of do. The genus extends from Tropical America northwards on the CASE Ve? Wos. 5, 6. Nos. 7, 8. Nos. Q, 10. Nos. rity ated NO, 13. 54 ARACHNOIDEA. west coast of America to California, in the south of which the present species occurs. It is of a pale colour, between fawn and madder, and is comparatively small. It is usually found under stones. ? MYGALE FASCIATA (Aoch).—5. Sketch, natural size; 6. Specimen (0). This is a very remarkable looking spider on account of the contrast between the white bands which cross the legs and the rest of the colour of the insect. The colour is produced by a thick felt of white hairs. MYGALE KLUGII (Koch).—7. Specimen from the Eastern Andes ; 8. Sketch of do. This specimen was taken in the dry country of the Eastern Andes, lying on the western side of the Pampas between Mendoza and San Juan, where it is dreaded as extremely venomous. MYGALE VERSICOLOR (Aoch).—9. Specimen from Brazil; 10. Sketch of ditto, natural size. The name versicolor is not well chosen, for there is no great variation in the colour, it only being black with tawny hairs. In addition to its biting powers, its hairs, which readily come off and adhere to the skin, may give annoyance. MYGALE ERICHSONI (Koch).—11. Specimen from Java; 12. Sketch of do. This has considerable resemblance to the Mygale fasciata, No. 5, and is also from Java. MYGALE CONVEXA (Koch) —18. Specimen from Old Calabar. This species is from Old Calabar on the west coast of Africa, is smoother, more convex, and clothed with shorter and finer hair than most others. Mien (Po MYGALIDA. ne GALE coke (Koch). . _ Mygale detrita is a Brazilian species, but in a subsequent case _ (VI) a specimen will be found from London docks. There is, ___ however, nothing surprising in any species from any quarter of __ the world being found under favourable circumstances in London docks. ny ] 0. x4. ATYPUS SULZERI. (Zatr.)—14. Sketch, natal size. | Although none of the genus Mygale are found far beyond the limits of the Tropics, one or two allied forms occur in the temperate regions, and among Meeierite present species, which 18 — ~ jryoussulzeri (magnified twice), found in Britain. It is one of our larger spiders, but is by no means common. It excavates, in humid situations, a subterranean gallery, which is at first hori- FR ee i ANU SNI OS ee JONG Nest of Atypus sulzeri. zontal, but inclines downwards towards its termination. In this gallery it spins a tube of white silk, of a compact texture, about half an inch in diameter, and the female deposits between thirty and forty eggs in a cocoon of white silk attached to its extremity, 56 ARACHNOIDEA. EAE Part of the tube hangs at the outside of the aperture to protect the entrance, as shown in the wood-cut. TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS. Some of the spiders belonging to the family Mygalidz, form subterranean burrows like the last species, which they line with a thick silken web, and, in addition, provide them with a door which opens on a hinge and fits closely. ‘These trap-door burrows were first described as observed in Jamaica by Mr. Patrick Brown in 1756, and afterwards in the south of Europe by the Abbé Sauvages in 1763, and an account of them with figures was given by Mr. Saunders in “The Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,” vol. 3, 1839. There is a difference in the character of the doorjomtiese spiders ; some have it falling loosely like a flap, others fitting into the tube like a cork or stopper. Nos. CTENIZA IONICA (Sazsders).—15. Nest of do., from South Europe; 16. Sketch Mer: of spider of natural size. Trap-door of Cteniza ionica, This belongs to the section with cork-fitting trap-door, and was given to us as coming from the Ionian Islands. Nos. ACTINOPUS NIDULANS (Arownz).—1i7. Nest of ditto, with specimens in the tes nest ; 18. Sketch of insect enlarged; 19. Specimens of ditto, male and female. The door of the nest of this species is an example of the kind TENIZA FODIENS (Camér.). This is a round-bodied blueish spider, from the south of Ay France, which, as already said, makes nests with cork doors. Cteniza fodiens a. | (slightly magnified). Diagram of tube of Cteniza fodiens, or of an allied species. More recent observations have shown that there are several species of different genera that make these remarkable structures, an interesting account of which will be found in Mr. Moggridge’s recent work on “ Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders.” From _ this work it appears that the contrivances of these creatures are = more complex than was formerly supposed. ‘The first known i piece of ingenuity was that the insect stoppered the hole into its J burrow by a trap-door fitting like a cork, which was loaded with ier earth on the outside, sufficiently heavy to make it shut of its own weight, a contrivance which facilitates its concealment when mosses, etc., grew on the earth so placed. One of these is here CAS IV. 58 | ARACHNOIDEA. represented. This kind is very often overgrown by mosses. ‘The flap, or wafer-door kind made by Nemesia eleanora, is much slighter, and the door not usually loaded with earth, nor has it anything grow- ing onit. There was at one time a doubt whether the insect did not hoid down the door with its claws, and some have thought that they observed foot-holds on the door for this purpose. It certainly, when it is near the door, and the door is then attempted to be LOD eS bp WS Trap-door of Nemesia czementaria, overgrown i 7 und, ‘iy suse Trap-door of Nemesia eleanora, on the bare ground opened, does hold it back to the best of its ability, but there does not seem to be any mechanical or structural preparation for such a contingency. Then it was ascertained that in Jamaica, at least, the nest had sometimes two doors, a front and a back door, as it were, that is, the nest was made in a raised bank which it entered at one side and came out at the other. This was supposed to indicate a deliberate selection of such a site, on the calculation that, whichever door was forced, it could then escape out at the other; but this implies a greater stretch of foresight than the circumstances warrant. It seems more likely that the spider commenced its burrow in ignorance, that it would break out on the other side of the bank, and that when it found it had done so, its trap-door-forming instinct came into operation, and led it to build a door at that opening as it had done at é Vogeridge has since shown that some of the south of Europe, near Mentone, carry their One species there named, Nemesia. = eae ee 7st Mgae "ae Diagram of tube of Nemesia meridionalis. ridionalis, makes a tube into the ground lke the others, d with the usual trap-door, but a short way down it makes another shorter tube sloping obliquely for a short distance upV ards and downwards and at the junction of this it places another trap-door, only in this instance less solid and more ‘ Bey flexible, and like a hanging curtain. It is, moreover, so con- ted as to suit the convexity of the tube in which it lies, so that, when in its natural position, shutting the entrance of the second tube there is no appearance of the door at The eye on looking in penetrates to the bottom, and sees parently nothing but an empty tube, whilst all the time the er may be reposing securely in the second tube protected | view by the concave door. But that is not all; the spider | CAS EV. ’ No. 20. ec ARACHNOIDEA. passage, the effect of which is, that on looking in at the upper door one only sees a short tube with nothing in it, while the spider is behind the termination, ready to fly up the oblique tube if the door at the bottom should be forced, which would neces- sarily fall back and conceal from view the entrance to the upper tube, leaving to all appearance nothing but a silk-lined tube uniform throughout. NEMESIA CAMENTARIA (ZLazz.). This is a rather large yellowish fawn-coloured spider, of which specimens are put in the next case. Nemesia ceementaria (scarcely magnified), Nemesia eleanora (slightly magnified). NEMESIA ELEANORA (Camé.).—20. Diagram of the double-branched nest of, with an outer and inner trap-door, from Mentone, as above described. This is a yellowish spider, very similar to Nemesia ceementaria. Mr. Moggridge describes and figures various kinds of trap-door nests that he observed near Mentone, and no doubt if the rest of — the shores of the Mediterranean were equally well searched, a greater number of species would be found. During the last year two or three specimens of a trap-door spider’s nest, constructed on another fashion in a peculiar locality, viz. in the bark of a tree, have been received in England from South Africa. The nest and lid are as nearly like the bark it- self, as those from the ground are Jike the soil where they are made. It would appear from more than one of the same kind Peicterial as bark or wood, and from the Tee canre of the place _ itself, where the nest that we have seen was made, it seems more probable that the spider had taken possession of the empty cocoon of some moth that, as many do, makes its cocoon in the bark of trees, and had woven a lid to it with silk and fragments of bark ; it may be a habit of this particular trap-door spider to select such situations. | Since the preceding case was prepared, and the above remarks written, the museum has received from Lady Jardine, relict of the late Sir William Jardine, the celebrated naturalist, the donation of a number of trap-door spiders and their nests, of the kinds found and described by the late Mr. Moggridge, in the neighbourhood of Mentone, Cannes, and other points on the French or Italian littoral of the Mediterranean. As Mr. Moggridge’s work has excited a good deal of interest in these creatures, an additional case has been added for their reception. Before describing them, however, it may be desirable to satisfy the reader’s curiosity on two points on which it is likely to arise. If he looks at the specimens in this case, he will acknowledge that without the key, which we have added to each, to indicate the position of the trap-door, he would have great difficulty in finding it for himself, even when his field of search is reduced to a couple of inches, and he will naturally ask how in an open country any one could ever detect them ; and his surprise will not be diminished when he is disabused of an erroneous impression, very likely to be created by the specimens of larger exotic trap-doors exhibited in last case. These would lead to the impression that their nests are much larger, and consequently more conspicuous than they actually are in the south of France, and its neighbourhood. The fact is that there, they are often very small, for both young and old spiders ies : y : . 62 ARACHNOIDEA. AAS make these nests, and the young ones, which are the most — | numerous, seldom go deeper than a couple of inches below the surface, and thus although the mechanism and structure of the nest is not far to seek when the entrance is once found, the dimensions are so small as greatly to increase the difficulty of finding them out. We have had the advantage of an explanation of the mode of procedure adopted by the late Mr. Mogeridge from his father, now in England, himself an adept not less skilled in observing them than his talented and lamented son ; and we do not think that we can better illustrate it, than by repeating a little anecdote told us by that gentleman.—It appears that not long since, Mr. Moggridge and one of his sons had occasion to visit Marseilles. Familiar as they were with the appearance of ground that was likely to be inhabited by trap-door spiders, it appeared to them that the neighbour- hood of Marseilles looked a likely place in which to find them. Consequently, one of. their first enquiries of the Ento- mological Curator of the museum there, to which they naturally paid an early visit, was whether trap-door spiders were found in the neighbourhood. ‘The Curator replied that he thought he might confidently answer that they were not, for he had taken much interest in them, and had devoted a great deal of time to seeking for them without success. Mr. Moggridge said nothing in reply, but when they left the museum he said to his son, “ Now let us go and try what we can do.” ‘They agreed to take different routes, so as to go over most ground, and separated on their search. Now itis plain that if these nests were scattered indif- ferently over the ground, a search for them would be a very hap- hazard affair, but there happen to be two circumstances which do not leave the searcher absolutely without a guide. In the first place they do not make their nests on the level ground, or if they do, the difficulty of finding them there has not hitherto been overcome ; but on the sides of earthen banks, like the banks on each side of a deep worn road or lane, which constant use has TRAP-DOOR-NEST SPIDERS. 63 fenenth the level of the surrounding country, or in roads ed on each side by turf walls or embankments. And the they affect in such banks is from two to four feet high, or a little below the line of vision of an average sized man. And in “the next place it turns out that the hinges of doors are very - slightly made (in London we should say that the work had been & _scamped), that they very soon wear through and give way, and "the doors then drop off and roll down the bank. It is probable that a strong and lasting hinge would not be sufficiently flexible. But the frequent loss of the doors is made up for by the ease with which they are renewed. If we remove a door to-day, a _ new door, hinge and all, will be hung by to-morrow at the same. _ hour; it may not be quite perfect, and may take another day ’ ‘or so to complete it to the spider’s mind ; but the door is on. _ The result of this insufficiency of hinges, is that doors that have _ dropped off and rolled down the bank, remain as tell-tale wit- ’ nesses, to indicate that there is a nest in the bank a foot or two q above, which only requires a careful search to be found. Some- times they are so ingeniously like the surrounding earth, that _ they defy detection, but generally speaking, they can be found, at all events by an educated eye. Acting on this plan, Mr. Moggridge and his son spent the morning in reconnoitring the lanes in the vicinity of Marseilles, and next day were each able to surprise the Curator with a donation of several specimens that had rewarded their search. When found, the next difficulty is to get them out entire, and for the purposes of such a museum as this, to bring them to’ England without crumbling to pieces. Here again care in cutting out, putting aside, and packing, and then, after filling the tubes with cotton, paying the earth around them again and again, with a weak solution of gum arabic, overcomes the difficulty. The nest can even be dissected out, so as to show the double tubes — and chamber door, &c., if sufficient skill and neat-handedness be | brought to bear upon it. We tried, but it would appear that we CASE Vie i, 12, 13, 14,15, HC, 4047/5 18, IQ, 20, 21, 22; 23 24, 25, 26, 64 ARACHNOIDEA. have not got these qualities in the requisite degree. We did not succeed to our satisfaction. Section I.—NESTS WITH CoRK Doors. Nest preserved in the ground, with relative key to show where the door is. From St. Cassien, Cannes, collected April, 1875. Specimens of its maker, Nemesia czementaria, male. Another nest of ditto, and key. Ditto Ditto. Specimens of Nemesia czementaria, female. Another nest of ditto, and key. — Section IIL—NESTS WITH WAFER DOORS. Nest with two doors and key. A portion of an old nest or door lies in the right hand corner. | | Diagram of double-doored nest, made by Nemesia eleanora. Another nest, with two doors, old inner door lying in the lower left-hand corner. Ditto Ditto.* Specimens of the maker, Nemesia eleanora, male. Another nest, with two doors close together, and key. A portion of inner door or tube lies in upper left-hand corner. Another two-doored nest, and key. Specimens of Nemesia eleanora, female. Single door, removed from No. 17. Magnified sketch of Cteniza fodiens, a cork-nest spider. * The specimen No. 17 was the one that we attempted to dissect, but, not succeeding, we were glad to restore it to the best of our ability. There was a third door close beside the other two, which we have put as a separate speci- men in No. 24. Nos. 17 and 24 are the only two where the ground has been meddled with, further than gumming together. - + ei edaaeanaaES in London Docks. See above (p. 55). THERIDIIDA. Europe, more particularly in Catalonia, and it possesses the dangerous power of in- flicting a poisonous wound that kills small insects instan- taneously, and affects the larger animals seriously—man himself having sometimes suc- cumbed to the stroke. Previous to 1830 its veno- mous properties appear never to have been noticed or heard of by any of the old inhabi- tants, but in 1830, 1833, and 65 E MYGALE DETRITA (Koch).—1. Sketch of insect ; 2. Specimen of ditto, taken _ THE characters of this and the next group (Lycoside), will be noticed when we come to speak of them as British spiders. At present we take in separately here one or two of them that are not British, but have acquired an ill reputation as pene dangerous and venomous. ‘They are the following, viz. :— LATRODECTUS MALMIGNATUS (Walck).—8. Enlarged figure of do. This spider is black, with ten blood-red spots, which are more or less semilunar. It is common in some parts of the south of Latrodectes malmignatus (slightly magnified). 1841 many dangerous accidents from its bite occurred, which — directed attention to it. The enquiries consequently made esta- blished beyond doubt its venomous properties. The spider was E 66 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE seen to despatch any insects detained in its toils, though as large as a locust or a cicada, by a bite, which was usually inflicted in the joints between the armour of the head and neck. The insect, if small, died instantaneously ; if larger, it appeared at first to undergo something like a convulsion, which presently gave way to a state of total prostration, rapidly terminating in death. It may be the same species, or at any rate an allied one, that is referred to by Kirby and Spence in their “ Introduction to Entomology,” of which they say: According to Mr. Jackson, a spider called there the Zendaraman is found in Morocco, which has formidable but no doubt much exaggerated venomous powers. It is about the size and colour of a hornet, and spins a web so fine as to be almost invisible. Its bite is said to be so poisonous that the person bitten survives but a few hours. In the cork forests the sportsman, eager in his pursuit of game, is said frequently to — cairy away on his garments this fatal insect. | | The insect is black, with ten blood-red mostly crescent-shaped marks on the abdomen. - | | There is an allied species found in Corsica, where it also is known by the same name, or at least a provincial modification of it, viz, Marmignatto or Marmagnatto (Theridion tredecim-gutta- tum). Although it does not there seem to be so formidable as in Catalonia, its bite is said to cause much pain, even to man, and, according to Rossi, induces serious symptoms, which require sharp treatment, copious perspiration being one of the best cures. Grasshoppers and locusts seem to be its favourite food, and it is said to stretch long threads across the furrows in the fields to entangle the feet of its more active prey. When it catchesa locust it, like other spiders, secures the insect by spinning threads round its limbs, when it inflicts a fatal wound at the junction of the head with the neck. Assoonas the locust has received the bite, it is attacked with a violent convulsion, and dies almost instantaneously. This species is black, with thirteen round blood-red spots on the abdomen. | oy exe LYCOSIDA. - 67 ~~ Another species of Latrodectes, from the south of Russia, having ‘similar properties, has been described by Motschulsky, and he has given it the name of Latrodectes lugubris. The same noxious properties are found in. a species of the same genus, called the Kalipo, that inhabits New Zealand. An account of the effects of its bite, and of the remedies used against it, will be found in the _ Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 18609. ‘THERIDION BENIGNUM (Walck.). Another species of Theridion (called benignum from its being so unusually benignant in disposition that husband and wife are actually able to live together without eating each other up) is ‘interesting to man from an economic point of view. In the south of Europe it is common in gardens, especially in autumn. Where the grape vine is cultivated its webs are thought to be useful in preserving the clusters of grapes from the attacks of other insects. Its webs, though of slender texture, are very plentiful in some places, so much so that almost every bunch of grapes has its protecting network of web thrown over it. | LYCOSID (Wolf Spiders). The wolf spiders are a family of rather large spiders that take their prey not by lying in ambush but by regular chase. The most celebrated of them is the Lycosa Tarantula, which was supposed to give rise to the disease Tarantismus or Tarantula dance. It was named after the town of Tarentum in Italy, where it is common, and where no doubt it occasionally bites people. So far as actual scientific observation has gone, the result of the ite appears either to be nothing at all, or to be limited to some ‘uneasiness or swelling. Kirby and Spence mention that Dr. Cavitro submitted to be bitten by this animal, and no bad effects ensued, and that the Count Deborch, a Polish nobleman, bribed a man to undergo the same experiment, in whom the only result was a swelling of the hand, attended by intolerable itching. The E 2 68 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE fellow’s sole remedy was a bottle of wine, which charmed away his pain without the aid of pipe or tabor. . That it does this extent of injury is probably the true ver- sion of the tale, because Count Motschulsky de- j scribes another species, — from the south of Russia, to which similar offensive properties are ascribed. But such moderate an- TL ycosa tarantula! chantiyescened)! noyance is by no means the effect which in the last century was popularly supposed to be produced by the bite of this spider. The Tarantismus either affected anyone bitten by throwing him into a profound and moody melancholy similar to what is often to be seen in our lunatic asylums under the name religious depression, or in frantic dancing and gesticulation, which often terminated in convulsions. ‘The remedy was music, which timed the dancing, and the curious thing was that it did not seem necessary that each patient should be bitten by the Tarantula—a Tarantula patient infected all that came near him. ‘The consequence was that the disease ran through whole districts and villages like an epidemic. There is no reason to dispute that it did so, and that hundreds were affected at the same time by this dancing disease, but the Tarantula had nothing to do with it. It was one of those examples of the results of unnatural ex- citement which in all countries, and especially under the influence of religious impressions, has produced similar consequences. ‘The dancing dervishes of India, the shakers of America, and individual examples at religious revivals in our own country, probably all suffer more or less from something allied to the Tarantula of Italy. No. 4. LYCOSA TARANTULA (Zinz.)—4. Sketch of ditto, slightly magnified. BRITISH SPIDERS. , 69 BRITISH SPIDERS. In order to give some general idea of the different kinds of spiders that inhabit Britain, we have next displayed a series of examples and illustrations of the different families and most of the genera of British spiders. The arrangement is that of the Rev. O. P. Cambridge, published in the Linnean Society’s Transactions 1874, which seems in some respects an improvement upon that adopted by Mr. Blackwall, our great British arachnologist, in his important work, “The Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland,” published by the Ray Society. Family MYGALIDA, Sub-Family THERAPHOSIDA. ATYPUS SULZERI (Latr.),—See Case IV., No. 14. Family DYSDERID. The Dysderide, along with the genus Scytodes, which will be found further on, are the only British spiders that have six eyes, the rest all having eight, and they have consequently been placed in a separate division by themselves, but they are clearly nearly united to the genus Atypus, on the one hand, and the Drasside on the other, which shows that too much value must not be placed upon the number of eyes as a character of natural affinity. The Dysderidz live in holes in the ground and crevices in rocks and walls or in cells and tubes of silk constructed under stones and take their prey by hunting. No. s. OONOPS PULCHER (Zemfil.).—5. Sketch of ditto, enlarged. This is a minute fawn-coloured spider. CASE VI. « Nos. 6, 7- No. o. No. 10. Ome: ARACHNOIDEA. DYSDERA CROCATA (Koch), D. rubicunda, 47.—6. Specimen from near London; 7. Sketch of ditto, enlarged. ; Rather a large reddish spider, about half an inch in length, with a whitish abdomen. | HARPACTES HOMBERGI (Scog.), Dysdera | Hombergi, 47.—8. Sketch enlarged. A smaller species with black thorax, fawn-coloured abdomen, banded legs, black and pale, plentiful. Found in the wooded districts of Denbighshire, Carnarvonshire, Lanca- shire and Yorkshire, living in crevices in rocks and walls, and under lichens growing on trees. - Dysdera crocata (slightly magnified). SEGESTRIA SENOCULATA (Li7z.).—9. Sketch of, natural size. About the same size as Dysdera crocata, with a rich brown thorax, and fawn-coloured legs and abdomen. Family DRASSIDA. The Drasside are rather. narrow spiders of moderate size, which obtain their prey by hunting. They conceal themselves in silken cells, often open at each end, which they construct under or among the leaves of plants, in the crevices of rocks and walls and under stones and decaying or exfoliating bark. MICARIA PULICARIA (Suzd.), Drassus micans, G/.—10. Sketch, enlarged. Some few spiders, more especially from tropical countries, are as brightly polished and burnished with metallic colours as beetles often are. This. one has a moderate share of such bulla on the abdomen. ey ‘ ; BRITISH .SPIDERS. 7% D. sericeus, B/,—11. Sketch, enlarged. fe. BL. —12. Enlarged sketch, a rather large brown species with ; a Peik abdomen. —13. Enlarged sketch. Pale species, with a darker abdomen | 7 bearing a high longitudinal marking. Drassus sericeus = (very slightly magnifie cd). 9.14. HECAERGE Macutata (/.).—14, Enlarged sketch, _ Pale fawn- coloured ; thorax longitudinally striped, and abdomen spotted with black. Family DICTYN IDA, g This family is a new one, proposed by Mr. ‘Cambridge, com-. 4 posed of the genera Eresus and Ergatis of Blackwall (Dictyna of _ Sundeval). These genera do not in all respects combine well together. _Eresusis a hunting spider; Ergatis a kind that spins aweb. There are also material differences in the struc- ture, and the family may probably notstand. Blackwall places Eresus among the Salticide and Ergatis among the Ciniflonidee, a family that Mr. Cambridge suppresses, and distributes its members in other families. Eresus cinnabarinus (slightly magnified). | s ERESUS CINNABARINUS (Oliv.).—15. Enlarged sketch. : Above black, with a scarlet patch at the base of each side of- CASE VI. Nos. 16, 17. No 18. 72 7 ARACHNOIDEA. the thorax; abdomen, bright scarlet above, with six black spots on the scarlet abdomen, each of which is surrounded by a ring of white hairs: below, all black except a white patch near the posterior extremity. DICTYNA ARUNDINACEA (Ergatis benigna, 4/.).—1€. Enlarged sketch ; 17. Do., sketch of cocoons of do, This is a dark-coloured spider, with a sort of herring-bone pattern on the back of the abdomen. It spins an irregular web at the ends of the twigs of heath and gorse, and the female con- structs two or three lenticular white cocoons of a compact texture, which she attaches to the stems surrounded by her web, envelop- ing them with the refuse of her prey. Family AGELENID/A. Mr. Cambridge proposes some alterations on this family. He removes the water-spider (Argyroneta aquatica) from the Drassidee and places it here. Its aquatic habits had already suggested to other authors to place it by itself—but there are species in other families which take to the water in the same way as it does. He includes with it the most of the Ciniflonidz of Blackwall and his Agelenidz or house spiders (Tegenaria). They all spin webs, and lie in ambush for their prey; but the fabric of the web is not the same in all. In the Ciniflonidze it is peculiar, and they have a special apparatus on the hind leg called a calamistrum, which is used in the manufacture. On that account we hesitate as to the propriety of absorbing the Ciniflonidz ; but on the other hand it is to be acknowledged that the whole of the spiders composing the group as adjusted by Mr. Cambridge have all the same general type and facies. ARGYRONETA AQUATICA (Zivz.).—18. Enlarged sketch. About half an inch in length; thorax, dark reddish brown ; abdomen, olive brown. BRITISH SPIDERS. 73 interesting habits of this species are well known, and have 0 their being often kept as pets. Indeed a few years ago it became so much a fashion that, like sea anemones during the "rage for aquaria, they have become scarce, even in localities such ; as the ditches about Oxford or Cambridge, which are most adapted for them, and where they were formérly plentiful, they having been caught and sent up to London in quantities for sale by _’ dealers in objects of Natural History. 2 They can live indifferently either on dry land or under water, but practically they spend the greater portion of their time in the Jatter. Their eggs are moored in _ silken cocoons to the stems of aquatic plants, under a dome-shaped cell, which is filled with air like a _ diving bell, by the spider carrying down successive globules of air be- tween its legs, which it liberates ‘under ‘the dome until it is filled,— and the young are hatched there. _ The spider on its way through the water never gets wet. It is clothed with hair, which, combined with its respiratory organs, enable it to sur- round itself with a halo or envelop- Argyroneta aquatica, water spider, ing bubble of air in which it moves female (shghtly magnified). about protected from wet and well supplied with air to breathe. It can be drowned for want of air, however, as well as any other animal. Mr. Blackwall mentions such a case. One of these creatures which had been got in the fens of Cambridgeshire was given to a friend. On being placed in a large goblet more than half filled with water, it speedily formed its dome-shaped cell beneath the surface, attach- ing it to the side of the glass by means of numerous silken lines, and being well supplied with insects, it lived in this state of ARACHNOIDEA. 74 i | i | = From Messrs. Blackie and Son’s work ‘‘The Universe.” Water spiders under the water. BRITISH SPIDERS. — Ri oe - entered the cell and remained there in a state of 7 with its head downwards. A gentleman on a visit at se, whose curiosity to examine the spider minutely in its aculum was greater than his prudence, inclined the glass wich that the air escaped from the cell, the water flowed and before information of the circumstance was given the ant spider had perished. The spider feeds upon any insects t can catch, whether water or land species ; and whether she gets them on shore or not she generally carries them into her cell to suck their juices there. Aw UROBIUS FEROX (Walck.), Ciniflo ferox, B/.—19. Enlarged sketch. | Pale brown; abdomen darker, with pale pattern on its - ck, . | The web of this species, and of three or four others, considered by some a distinct family, under the name of Ciniflonidz, is pecu- liar. It escaped notice for long, for it presents at first sight an irregular, ‘ragged, and generally a ‘dirty appearance, and might e sily be passed by with little otice, as an old or deserted web. Mr. Blackwall pointed out, owever, that even with the naked ye ‘it can be seen to differ greatly from the webs of other | 2 ders, which—whether as in the Theridide they are a mass of fear distinict lines; or, as in the Ciniflo ferox (twice magnifiee). | Agelenide, of a close even texture ; pt ss in the Zfeiride, open nets, constructed on a regular plan— 76 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE are all composed of simple threads ; (more correctly, of threads - composed of many strands, which become entirely united), whereas the web of the Czzzflo is a loose, irregular open net, formed of Fabric of the web of the Ciniflonidz. flocculous compound threads. ‘These are very beautiful under the microscope. One straight line usually forms the foundation of the compound thread, and this is accompanied by several lines of extreme fineness, some of which are merely slack, while the rest are curled and twisted in every direction, by the operation of the spines forming the calamistrum. When newly spun, these threads have to the naked eye a bluish colour, but being very apt to en- tangle dust, the net is most fre- quently found in a foul and dis- coloured state. When handled, it clings to the fingers with remark- able tenacity. This is said to arise from the structure, rather than from any peculiar viscidity of the thread. Cae cate. ‘The bluish colour of tie qwemmiacm been already noticed, and viewed in the microscope with the help of the parabolic condenser, the com- pound thread appears to be enveloped in something like a bluish cloud or vapour. Whatever this substance may be, (and it is so | transparent as easily to escape observation under even the most LO SON ea FEZ ——— i } | BRITISH SPIDERS. Ty Fawn-coloured ; about half an inch in size. a : : AGELENA LABYRINTHICA. (Clerck.)—21. Enlarged sketch. _Agelena labyrinthica, female (slightly magnified). Brown, with a paler herring-bone pattern on the back of the abdomen. _ The specific name of this species (labyrinthica) is probably derived from the form of its web or nest. In autumn we often see in hedges or heaths a rather considerable and thick mass of eee strong compact spider’s web, from part of which a sort f funnel or cylindrical tube runs downwards; the mouth opens wide and extends outwards usually for some distance as a simple ‘single horizontal web, but gradually narrows at the inner end -unti it ends in a tube or tunnel large enough to admit one’s finger. This tube frequently opens into one or more tubular 78 - ARACHNOIDEA. cae chambers. The walls also gradually get thicker until they look :| like a complicated mass of irregular web running in every direc-_ | tion. ‘This is the nest or web of an Agelena. No. 22. TEGENARIA GUYONII ee ), Tegenaria domestica, B/,—22, Enlarged sketch. Not unlike the nreeecins but with larger legs. Tegenaria guyonii (somewhat enlarged). The Tegenariz are the spiders that spin their webs in the _ angles of walls, in outhouses and neglected rooms, and come especially under the cognizance of the house-maid. From their | position their web is usually a horizontal triangular sheet with a short little tube or nest at the inner angle. With occasional repairs it will last a considerable time. . | Family SCVTODIDA, The Scytodidee prefer warm countries. They are of moderate size and have long legs, but are slow in their motions and feebly armed. One or two females have been taken 1 in ‘Britain, but as yet no males, he ae THORACICA (Latr.).—23, Enlarged sketch. lowish. The abdomen is spotted with black. Family PHOLCID. 1 -PHOLCUsS PHALANGIOIDES (Waélck.).—1. Enlarged sketch. Easily recognised by its long body and very long legs. It is of a pale colour, with irregular faint markings; the knee joints are thick and dark. It forms a loose hanging web in the corners Pholcus phalangioides (slightly enlarged). of rooms, &c. Like many other spiders, the female carries about with her the cocoon containing her eggs: it is of a slight texture, and the eggs and young when newly hatched may be seen through its walls. | Family THERIDIIDA. The species of this genus are distinguished by the abdomen being large rounded or angular, and overhanging the thorax. They form snares composed of fine threads crossing each other in all directions, attached to the surrounding bushes or herbage, and the general character of the snare is constant throughout the family, however it may vary in individual species. Some of them also form curious delicate tents for the protection of their cocoons from the weather. To this family belongs the venomous species Latrodectes malmignatus, &c., already described. 80 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE THERIDION TEPIDARIORUM (Koch).—2. Enlarged sketch. VII. No. 2. Theridion tepidariorum (magnified twice). # Dark brown, with a paler abdomen mottled with dark brown and black. : | Not uncommon in conservatories in this country, but as it is confined to them there is little doubt that it is an exotic species which has been imported. ‘The colour is brown and black, with a wavy marking. It makes one of the curious tents for its cocoons of which we have above spoken. THERIDION RIPARIUM (JS/.). — 8. Sketch of nest. Reddish brown, with abdomen variegated with black and white. This is another species which . fabricates a curious tent, or nest, of which a figure is given. It is’ a slender conical tent of silk, something like a flat cap, mea- suring from one and a half to two | and a half inches in Iength, and Nest of Theridion tepidaviorum, Coniedfom about half an imei (@iaueemen at its lower extremity. It is ss BRITISH SPIDERS. 2 irregular snare. In the upper part of the tent the female spins _ several minute globular cocoons of yellowish-white silk, of a slight _ texture, containing each from twenty to sixty small spherical eggs, of a pale yellowish-white colour. The young remain with the mother for a long period after quitting the cocoons, and are provided by her with food, which consists chiefly of ants. THERIDION LINEATUM (Walck.). Usually pale greenish or yel- lowish white, tricked off with delicate black lines; but it is __ variable in colour, and in some RR.) Qs a cae 2 a DAN Sn Qe ii individuals has a bright crimson S oval or linear space on the abdo- men. It provides for the safety ____ Of its cocoon (which is globular and formed of blueish white or greenish blue silk) by fastening it to the surface of a leaf and curling the edges of the leaf over Cocoon of Theridion Tineatum, (Copied from it, as here shown. THERIDION PALLENS (£/.). A small pale-coloured species. The female has a brown irre- gular semilunar mark enclosing white on the back of the abdo- ____ men; the male has a dark stripe down the middle of the thorax, and a dark brown irregular mark on the abdomen. We notice this species for the sake | —sof its cocoon, which may often be seen in on the under side of leaves of shrubs Cocoon of Theridion pallens, on part of an oak leaf. CASE Wit. 82 ARACHNOIDEA. and trees. It is white, of a close fine texture like plaster of Paris, and is somewhat pear-shaped, with several little points projecting from its surface. Family LINYPHIIDz. This family is included by Mr. Cambridge among the Theridiidz, but in this instance we prefer to follow Mr. Black- wall’s arrangement. ‘They are small insects, many of them black or brown and others grey, and often the abdomen is more or less barred with black. ‘They frequent foliage or overhanging banks or other projections, and fabricate a fine horizontal sheet of web, supported by its margin and threads like guy-ropes stretching out in various directions, on the under side of which they take their stand in an inverted position: LINYPHIA MONTANA (Wailck.)—4. Enlarged figure. A very common species. It constructs, in hedges and rank herbage, a large horizontal web, which is connected with sur- rounding objects, especially above by numerous fine lines, that not only serve to support the web, but also to precipitate such insects as strike against them, on to the horizontal sheet, where they are quickly seized by the vigilant occupant. WALCKENAERIA PRATENSIS (A/.),—5. En- larged figure of male; 6. Enlarged figure of female. The genus Walckenaéria is composed, with very few exceptions, of minute dark brown or black glossy spiders, without any pattern or variation of colour on the body. They are the tiny creatures that everyone must remember to have come against in autumn, hanging by a thread from door lintels or branches, Walckenaéria pratensis, female (magnified). when they become entangled in our BRITISH SPIDERS. — 83 » hair or garments, and are rather difficult to be brushed away from the adhesiveness of the thread by which they hang. There is another genus named Neriene, that comes next to this, and is similar to it in appearance, and has similar habits— also one named Pachygnatha, which is of a brighter colour (red- dish-fawn), and is distinguished by having very thick diverging mandibles. Family EPEIRID-. Facsimile of web of Epeira diademata. The Epeiride are the hump-backed, globose looking spiders that are usually found in gardens, often watching in the centre of a radiating geometrical web placed vertically. -Many of them are very beautifully marked on the back of the abdomen. ‘Their web differs from that spun by any other spider. The thread consists of an elastic spiral line, thickly studded with minute globules of liquid gum, whose course is crossed by radii converging to a common centre, which is immediately surrounded by several F 2 CASE VI No, 7. No. 8. 84 ARACHNOIDEA. circumvolutions of a short spiral line devoid of viscid globules, forming a station from which the toils may be superintended by their owner without the inconvenience of being entangled in them. ‘The spiral thread is also peculiar. It presents the appear- Threads of web of Epeira. ance of a string of glittering beads, sometimes uniform in size, and sometimes of different dimensions. These glittering beads are globules of gummy matter, which does not harden on exposure to the air, as that of which the other threads are composed does. The nets are renewed either wholly, or at least their concentric circles, every twenty-four hours, even when not apparently injured. EPEIRA QUADRATA (Wailck.).—T. Enlarged figure of ditto. This is a large and handsome species. The colour of the abdomen varies, in different individuals, from sage-green, through orange yellow, to dark brown with white marking. It is not uncommon in some of the uncultivated districts of England and Wales. It spins a yellow cocoon for its eggs, which looks very soft and flossy, from being formed by a succession of loops, exactly on the same principle as that adopted by ladies for making a similar texture in their silk or worsted work. EPEIRA ARBUSTORUM (Koch), Bicornis (Waick.), Bl.—8. Enlarged figure of ditto. A rare species, remarkable by its having two humps on its back. . The thorax and back of the abdomen is brown, the rest green. BRITISH SPIDERS. 8s se EPEIRA DIADEMATA (Clerck), Diadema, 47.—9. Enlarged figure of ditto. _ This is the species known as the “ garden spider.” In France it is the “* Porte-croix” or ‘‘ Croix de St. Denis.” It is common in our gardens in September. The cocoon is formed in October, and is about 2 in. in diameter, of a roundish shape and yellow colour, and contains a flattened mass of eggs. When the eggs are newly hatched, which takes place in spring, it is said that the following curious sight may be seen. ‘The little spiders, almost as soon as they leave the egg, spin a small irregular mass of almost invisible lines, in the middle of which they cluster BR aoe ne together, forming themselves into a little ball about the size of a cherry stone. This hangs apparently in mid-air, and if an observer, approaching it to discover its nature, touches some one of the slender lines by which it is suspended, or some twig near enough to communicate the motion to them, in an instant some six or eight hundred living atoms begin to dis- perse—the solid little ball seeming for a moment to be turning into smoke, so minute are the animals, so rapid their motions, and so invisible the means of their dispersion. After a few seconds, if the disturbance be not repeated, the little creatures begin to sub- side again into a cluster, but this is not at once restored to its former small size ; and, indeed, it is easy to understand that up- wards of six thousand legs, however small, must require some time in the packing, not to mention six or eight hundred pairs of poison fangs, which perhaps, even at this early age, may exact due observance on behalf of their respective owners. This spider has, like some others, a habit of quivering rapidly in its web. It has, also, a mode of disabling a victim, by twirling it, and at the same time winding threads around it, till it is entirely swathed in a strong silken covering. By this means large and strong insects are reduced to a meekness of demeanour which CASE VII. No. ro. 86 ARACHNOIDEA. enables their host to keep them alive in the web, and so secure himself a supply of fresh provision. Family ULOBORID/E. This section has been proposed by Mr. Cambridge for two genera, which it is difficult to arrange elsewhere, Uloborus (Veleda — of Blackwall) and Hyptiotes. ULOBORUS WALCKENRIUS (Za¢r.), Veleda lineata, G/.—10. Enlarged sketch of ditto. A small fawn-coloured species marked with longitudinal lines on the abdomen. The length of the female is 4 of an inch. It is very rare in England. It is said to form a web like the Epeiridee. Family THOMISID/Z. This is the most crab-like family of British spiders. Like many crabs, the body is short, broad, depressed, and angular, and their two anterior pairs of legs are long and powerful, while the two posterior pairs are generally small and feeble, and the whole are so constructed that the spider moves backwards, forwards, or side- ways, with equal ease. ‘They live by hunting, and some run with extraordinary celerity ; others are more tardy, and lie in ambush in holes and crevices, to spring upon any prey that may come within their reach. They are generally pale with darker markings and waving black Jines round the margin of the abdomen. XYSTICUS CRISTATUS (C/erck). Pale, with a dark stripe on each side of the thorax, and a zig- zag border on the abdomen. : This is a very common and variable species, found on the ground and in old pastures. One of its habits is that of rising in the air by the help of fine silken threads spun by it, and which, being carried upwards and onwards by currents in the air, Bk PISE SPIDERS. 87 : ise the spider, and enable it to float to considerable distances. These threads must not be confounded with gossamer, which is > e “composed of numerous lines or webs, brought together by gentle currents of air, and adhering by the viscid properties of the web. There is nothing remarkable in this; but the circumstance that Xysticus cristatus (twice magnified), : Xysticus audax (twice magnified), excites our surprise is the vast quantity of gossamer that may be seen ON a warm misty morning in autumn, covering every bush and tuft of grass for miles. It is only in autumn that it occurs, when the young broods of spiders are in full numbers, and. it shows not only their great numbers but the rapidity of their manufacture. This, however, we already knew, for it is matter of common observation that a large web of the garden spider may be swept away and replaced in a few hours. In fact, there is not anything more industrious in the matter than in the Great Eastern ploughing its way through the ocean, and paying out a deep-sea cable as she goes. The whole industry of the spider consists in its walking from one point of attachment of the web to another, no doubt guiding the line with her claws as she goes, and of course to make a large geometrical web there must be a good deal of walking ; but there is no industry in spinning the web. It is manufactured and payed out by nature as fast as it is wanted. 88 , ARACHNOIDEA. CASE XysTIcuUs PINI (Hahn), Thomisus audax, B/,—11. Enlarged sketch of ditto. Vil. No.rr. Similar in appearance to the last. \ No. 12. THomisus onuSTUS (Waick.), Th. abbreviatus, Bi,—12. Enlarged sketch of ditto. A yellow species with the ab- domen so much turned down as — to appear abruptly truncate. D12@A DORSATA (fad.), Thomisus flori- colens, B/.—18. Enlarged figure of ditto. ' Found in chalk and limestone districts; the male and female differ much in appearance. ‘The female has the cephalo-thorax Thomisus abbreviatus (slightly magnified). and legs green, the abdomen yellowish, with a large brown mark on the back. The male is slenderer, has the cephalo-thorax red, and the abdomen yellowish, with oblique brownish bars. The legs are reddish and green. No. 14. PHILODROMUS MARGARITATUS (Clerck), Ph. pallidus, 4/7,—14. Enlarged figures. Rather a large species (more than } of an inch in length), pale greenish olive, barred a little with brown, and with pale brownish legs mottled with light brown. Nos. MICROMMATA VIRESCENS (Clerck), Sparassus smaragdulus, B/,—15. Enlarged 25; 26. figure of male. 16. Ditto of female. The female and young male of this spider are entirely green, but the full grown male has the abdomen with a broad yellow longi- tudinal stripe down the upper side, bordered by two bright red lines, and a bright red angular pointed one in the middle. Like its congeners, it is a hunting spider, and is very rapid in its my BRITISH SPIDERS. 89 d large, but slight in texture, by rolling together two or three es, and tying them together by threads. Family LYCOSID. G ont, large. They construct no snares, but lead a vagabond and j hunter's life. ‘The cocoon is peculiar, like two flat cups or saucers joined together, which give way at the suture, and allow of the escape of the young, which hang about the body of the mother for about a fortnight, being dependent on her for food until they are able to provide it for themselves. ‘There are two broods in the course of the year. a. DOLOMEDEs FIMBRIATUS (Clerck).—17. Enlarged figure. Dolomedes fimbriatus (slightly magnified). spider from its habits. It is one of the largest British spiders, is of a brown colour, with a broad orange band encircling the upper go ARACHNOIDEA. surface of the thorax and abdomen. A double row of small white spots are ranged longitudinally on the back of the abdomen, and the legs are pale red. It is only to be found in fenny or marshy places, and its best known habitat is the fens of Cam- bridgeshire, where its remarkable habits have long been known, Mr. Wood, in his “ Homes without Hands,” gives the following : Not content with chasing insects on land, it follows them to the water, on the surface of which it runs freely. It needs, however, a resting place, and forms one by getting together a quantity of dry leaves and similar substances, which it gathers into a rough ball and fastens with a silken thread. On this ball the spider sits, and allows itself to be blown about the water by the wind. Apparently, it has no means of directing its course, but suffers its raft to traverse the surface as the wind or current may Carry it. There is no lack of prey, for aquatic insects are constantly coming up to breathe the air, and although they may only remain on the surface for a second or two, the spider can seize them before they gain the safe refuge of the deeper water. Then there are insects, such as the gnat, which attain their wings on the surface of the water, and can be taken by the spider before they have gained strength for flight. Also there are insects which habitually traverse the water in search of prey, and which are themselves seized by the more powerful and equally voracious. More than this, moths, flies, beetles, and other insects, are con- tinually falling into the water, and these afford the easiest prey to the raft spider, who pounces upon them as they vainly struggle to regain the air, and then carries them back to its raft, there to devour them in peace. The spider does not merely sit upon the raft, and there capture any prey that may happen to come within reach, but when it sees an insect upon the surface, it leaves the raft, runs swiftly over the water, secures its prey, and brings it back to the raft. It can even descend below the surface of the water, and will often crawl several inches in depth. This feat it a BRITISH SPIDERS. gt often the means of saving its life ; for, when it sees an 'y approaching, it quietly slips under the raft, and there lies rfect security until the danger has passed away. There i in the same localities a closely-allied species, the e Spider (Lycosa piratica), which has similar habits, chasing rey on the water, and descending as well below the sur- It does not, however, possess the habit of making a It carries its cocoon about with it, like other spiders, " od 2 ROCHOSA CINEREA (fadé.), Lycosa allodroma, 4/.—18. Enlarged figure. A rather large grey and white species. It has been found in | Family SPHASID/L. A separate family has been made for a single transition- cies Oxyopes lineatus, which unites three groups, the Lyco- the Thomiside, and the Salticide. It has the principal cters of the first, the appearance of some of the second (- ae and the habits of the third, of leaping bik, on its S prey. a OXYOPES LINEATUS (Za¢r.), Sphasus lineatus, B/,—19,. Enlarged figure. It is light brown, with pale markings on the back, and black spots on the legs. % Family SALTICIDAL. ‘This family derives its name from its habit of leaping on its pr ; (Saltus, a leap). They run with great velocity, and move sideways with ease. They are easily recognised by their oblong CASE Vil. ’ No. 20. No. 21. No. 22 No. 23. 92 ARACHNOIDEA. form, the cephalo-thorax being massive, truncated in front with parallel sides, and large in proportion to the abdomen. Mr. Blackwall keeps the whole of the family in one genus, but other authors have sub-divided it into several genera, of which it will be sufficient to notice the more remarkable. EPIBLEMUM SCENICUM (Clerck), Salticus scenicus, 47.—20. Enlarged figure. This is the type of the family. A grey species with transverse oblique whitish bars on the back and legs, very common. When it springs upon its victims, it, by the act of leaping, draws from the spinners a line attached by its extremity to the station whence it took its spring; an ar- rangement which has been supposed to be a precaution against falling should it miss its alm. Epiblemum scenicum (magnified twice). HELIOPHANES CUPREUS (Walck.), Salticus cupreus, 4/.—21. Enlarged figure. Easily distinguished by its colouring and markings. The cephalo-thorax is dark brown and green with white markings behind ; the abdomen dark green with a white margin in front, and four short transverse white lines on the back. Not common ; found in Wales. BALLUS DEPRESSUS (Walck.), Salticus obscurus, B/,—22. Enlarged figure. A minute dark brown species; very scarce. SALTICUS FORMICARIUS (Za/r.).—28. Enlarged figure. Also very rare. It is remarkable from its great resemblance to | an ant ; a character possessed by several exotic species. ited like the ee nor pedunculated (that is, joined to the body by a narrow point of attachment) like the spiders. It is always in one piece, and united without any well-marked groove of separation to the last of the segments that bears the legs. _ Asa tule all mites have eight legs when mature, some indeed have their posterior legs atrophied and apparently absent, but traces of them can always be discovered, or their absence is an exceptional peculiarity. In their earlier stage they all have six. This statement may be made with confidence, for numerous - species in every section and in almost every genus have been reared or observed, and in every instance the young were hexa- pod. ‘The only apparent exception is the Phytopti, which in all stages appear to have only four, the two hinder limbs being ab- “sent ; but, as we shall hereafter show, even this is in all proba- bility only an apparent exception, not a real one. _ The following is the arrangement which we propose for this order. It is very nearly the same as that generally adopted by naturalists, some few modifications, which recent researches seem _ to have rendered necessary, only having been made. eee 1, TromsBiIDIIN&, containing— 8, ACARID :— 1. TETRANYCHI, spinning mites, I. HYPODERID#, subcutaneous 2. TROMBIDIIDA, harvest mites. mites. _ 2, BDELLID&, snouted harvest mites. 2. HypoprD&, ichneumon mites. _ 8. HypRACHNIDA&, water mites. 3. TYROGLYPHID&, cheese mites. : 4 GAMASIDA&, insect mite-parasites. 4. SARCOPTID&, itch and louse _ 5, IxopIpa&, ticks. mites. j 6. HALACARID&, marine mites. 5. PHYTOPTIDA, gall mites. 7. ORIBATIDA, beetle mites. We shall not go into any minute scientific description of the _ characters of these different mites; but they have hitherto been so little studied in this country that we feel sure we shall J i a CASE VIII. 94 ARACHNOIDEA. render an acceptable service to naturalists by giving a general 4 resumé of the state of our knowledge regarding them in more detail than we shall do for any of the other orders of insects. We shall first offer a few hints which may be useful in assisting the reader, in a general way, to determine the place or genus of aay species he may have in hand. In the first place, the locality where they are form will be a great assistance. The first section of the Trombidiinze or spinning mites belong to the genus Tetranychus, or red spider of gardeners. ‘These are found on plants, and are readily distinguished from their con- geners by their very minute size, and by being semi-transparent ; some species have little colour, and, to one unacquainted with them, might seem not unlike the cheese mites, but the form of their palpi and other characters, which will be found noticed as we go along, at once distinguish them from that group. a The Trombidiide, or harvest mites, are distinguished by their brilliant colouring, which is generally scarlet or some modification of red. Some, however, are marked with black or brown. They are usually found on the ground or under stones. The Bdellidz, or snouted harvest mites, have the same character of colouring, but are distinguished, among other things, by their mouth being protruded like a snout, and usually narrowed behind the palpi, giving them the appearance of having a head and neck, and still more by their palpi being bent at right angles in their midst like those of many weevils. The Hydrachnidee are merely Trombidiidz converted into ae mites, and adapted for their different spheres of life. ‘They have the same general arrangements of structure, and retain the brilliancy of their colouring ; some being as bright scarlet as the harvest mites, and others having a distribution of colouring still more startling. The Gamasidee are, for the most part, parasitic, chiefly on in- sects, but some on other animals, or ranging about free. They SPINNING MITES. 95 some peculiarity on their second pair of legs, such as being much enlarged or provided with hooks, &c. _ The Ticks, or Ixodide, are at once known by their jer any abdomen, by having a sort of shield on the back, immediately behind the head, and by their fastening on warm-blooded animals a and sucking their blood, for which they have a specialized mouth- a _ The Halacaridz are marine, and the Oribatidze have a chitonous _ skin, like beetles. __ The Acaridze are semi-transparent, and nearly colourless. The cheese mite section may be distinguished by having the skin smooth, and the tarsi usually terminated by a single claw with or without a sucker, which when present is not conspicuous. In the Sarcop- tides the sucker is conspicuously the chief organ of locomotion, and the skin is always covered with more or less transverse lines or wrinkles. The Phytoptidz also have the skin wrinkled, but only four legs, the two posterior pairs being replaced by bristles. They are excessively minute, and only found in buds or leaf-galls. Family TROMBIDIIN. Besides the general aspect and habits which we have already noticed, this group is to be distinguished by its palpi, which have 2) 4 Palpi of Trombidium fuliginosum, Typical palpus of Trombidium. Copied from Dugés. generally the second joint longest, and the last bearing an append- age which with it serves to act as finger and thumb ; sometimes it is like a claw, and at others is diminished to a hair, but is almost | always present in some form, and usually easily enough dis- tinguishable. It is however not absolutely confined to this family, _ similar appendages sometimes reappearing in the Gamaside. CASE VIII. 96 ARACHNOIDEA. The types of this group are the red spider of our hot-houses, and the harvest mites of our fields. These form two distinct sections ; the former consisting only of vegetable feeders, while there is little doubt that the latter are predacious and carnivorous. One would naturally expect from this that they should be easily distinguished from each other, and so for the most part they are, so far as general facies goes, the former being very minute semi- transparent, and not what is called very loud in their colours: white, pale yellow, pale orange, pale flesh colour, pale rust- coloured, or pale red ; while the harvest mites are larger, velvety, and opaque, rarely semi-transparent, and of the most brilliant and decided colours, generally some shade of scarlet, vermilion, or red lead, varied sometimes with black. Some species have seven joints in the leg, others only six; and Koch has used that as a distinctive character for separating a portion of the family-from the rest. All have two claws to their tarsi; but the Tetranychi have them short, rigid, close together, Claw of Tetranychus prunicolor. Copied from Dugés. Claw of Trombidium holosericeum. so as to look like a single claw, and much curved; the others not so much so. The woodcuts show the forms of these claws. The eyes have been used as a character, but they seem to have no more than specific value. The comparative length of the palpi and legs, as well as that of their different joints, has been more relied on, but this too fails to keep obviously allied species together. SPINNING MITES. 97 on IL—TETRANYVCHID (SPINNING MITES). Genus TETRaNnycuus (Dufour). Legs with seven joints. This genus shows a special affinity with its allies the spiders, some of the species at least being endowed like them with the power of spinning a web, for which purpose the claws of the feet are specially adapted, ‘being very short and much curved, and provided with long stiff hairs, some of which have globular Bi: Tarsus of Tetranychus terminations, and are Mouth and palpi, and one mandible of Bb telari''s, Copied from Tetranychus telarius. Copied froim Claparéde. th ou ght to b Qnaneet Claparéde. essential part of the spinning apparatus. The mouth has a _ barbed sucking apparatus, and the palpi are chelate. TETRANYCHUS TELARIUS (Zizz.). The red spider. 1. Magnified sketch of larvee (with six feet). 2. Ditto of perfect male (with $ feet). 38, Ditto: of perfect female. Tetrinychus telarius ; young state. Tetranychus telarius, perfect insect, male. Copied from Claparéde. Copied from Claparede. G 98 ARACHNOIDEA This species has been found on a great variety of plants, and from its form and manners, it was supposed to be the same on all of them long before this had been proved by breeding them—a conclusion which could not have been arrived at had reliance been placed upon their colour, for some are greenish, and marked only with brown specks on the sides, but variable, and evidently dependent on the alimentary matter within them; others are rust-coloured, or reddish, or brick-red, and that is the colour with which horticul- Tetranychus telarius (female). eee Re ce turists are most familiar. Upon the holly- hock Dugés found at the same time individuals presenting almost all shades of colour, a circumstance probably connected with some. peculiarity in the nutrition derived from that plant. On the vine, Dr. Johnston found the colour to vary in intensity in different individuals. So far as our own observation goes, the rusty colour is an indication of greater maturity than the green. This, and most, if not all the species of the genus, spins a web on the back of the leaves of the finest and most delicate texture. The threads of its web are secreted from a conical nipple situated underneath, and very near the extremity of the abdomen. ‘They are drawn out and guided by the motions of the insect, and by the action of the minute claws and hairs of the legs, which seem to be only used for this purpose. The threads are so slender that we fail to see them, even with the assistance of a magnifier, until after they are woven into a web, or network. In the construction of this web, all the feet are moved with great agility; but the movements of the mite itself are not quick, and it moves with difficulty over smooth and polished surfaces, as over glass. Upon leaves, espe- cially on the under side of them, it finds a fitter hold, for, sup- ported on the bristles that jut out beyond the claw, it spins its web, affixing the threads to the prominences and hairs of the SPINNING MITES. 99 oo | in its ae yellow hue: the sap is sucked by “myriad insect mouths from the vessels of the leaf, its pores are "choked by excremental fluids, and the gardener mourns the inefil- _ cacy of his remedies and the loss of his cherished flowers. The mode i in which they feed is by eating their way into the leaf with % ‘their nipping mandibles (shewn in the woodcut), and then plung- __ ing in its barbed sucker and sucking the juice. The egg of this mite is spherical, colourless, and proportionably 4 large. The larva which comes from it is minute, transparent, and in shape not unlike the parent; but it has six legs only, and _ creeps very slowly. M. Dugés says that it undoubtedly passes _ through the immovable nymph or pupa state before the full com- plement of legs is acquired. M. Dugés believes that these mites pass the winter under stones, concealing themselves there when _ the infested leaves have fallen. In a garden near Paris he found _ several individuals thus concealed in the month of October ; they _ were of a uniform brick-red colour, and had lost as yet none of _ their agility, nor of their spinning power; and on them he ob- _ served most distinctly the secreting papilla of the thread. The leaves which are attacked have a languishing air ; they are _ yellowish or greyish above, with some patches of a lighter shade, _ forming a kind of marbling; their edges are slightly folded back, and as if they were slightly rolled on the under side; the lower side is whitish and slightly shiny. If in that state we examine with the microscope the under side of a leaf, we find hundreds of individuals of all ages, as well as the eggs, pasted to the warped stuff on the leaf. _ The remedies that have been found by our horticulturists most effectual against such enemies as the red spider are various pre- parations of soap, sulphur, and quassia water; sulphur being the active principle and most efficient agent. Gishurst Compound, G2 CASE VIII. 100 ARACHNOIDEA. Veitch’s Chelsea Blight Composition, Frettingham’s Liquid Com- pound, are all good. Sulphur, in any form, seems potent. Laying flour of sulphur upon the pipes in the greenhouse or hothouse is much recommended. It has been used with very decided success also against the growth of microscopic fungi, as in the case of the Oidium Tuckeri (vine fungus). Mixed with soap, as is done in Gishurst Compound, and applied to the leaves by the syringe, it is also very useful. Even plain soap and water is said to be an effectual remedy if it reaches the insect. A quarter of a pound of soft soap whisked until it has become dissolved, is to be applied with the syringe so as thoroughly to wet the leaves ; but in water- ing and bathing the leaves, we must remember that if we content ourselves with watering the upper side of the leaves we have done nothing, because the mites remain very quiet during the opera- tion and in perfect security on the lower side. It is necessary, to secure success, to use a bent syringe to send the water upwards, and to wet the under side of the leaves well with the decoction used. The gardener is assisted in his war against them by other mites and insects, that help to keep them in check by preying on them. The grub, or larva, of the Hemerobiidze, or lace-wing flies (the same which prey on the Aphides), devour them in such numbers and so fast that entire colonies quickly disappear before them. TETRANYCHUS TELARIUS Var.; CINNABARINUS (Borsd.), Ent. Hort., p. 88. We can see nothing in the following account of this species, which is from the pen of M. Boisduval, to distinguish it from the ~ red spider, Tetranychus telarius :— “Tt was in the warm greenhouses of M. Savage that we became acquainted with this acarus on the tufts of Draceena australis. ‘Thanks to that able horticulturist we have been able to observe it from the egg stage to that of the perfect insect. When it hatches it is then green or a yellowish green ; later it is variegated with black and green; after its last change of skin, it becomes a beautiful aurora red in colour. It is a little larger SPINNING MITES. vehr SE than that of the camellia ; it carpets the under side of the leaves of the Draczena with threads of silk, on which it walks like a | - spider. _ It does a great deal of harm to the leaves that it sucks, _ stopping their vegetation and causing them to become diseased. It is not difficult to destroy them ; to do so it is sufficient to place _ the plants attacked by this vermin in a cold house during two or three days. M. Savage brought us a Draczena australis on which these parasites could be counted by hundreds. It had scarcely remained twenty-four hours in our cabinet, when all had disap- peared ; the change of temperature had completely killed them.” The only specific character here given is the colour, which, as we have already said, varies much in the red spider. The following for the same reasons does not appear any better entitled to rank as a separate species. TETRANYCHUS TELARIUS Var.; HAEMATODES (Boisd.), Ent. Hort., p. 88. M. Boisduval says that this little parasite was observed by M. Riviére on the leaves of the red variety of the Ricinus (Ricinus communis), frequently cultivated now-a-days in the squares and gardens of Paris. It is rounded oval, of a deep blood red; it spins under the leaves, between the divisions of the first nervures, a slack tissue like little spiders’ webs. It is very small, and only visible with a strong magnifying glass. M. Boisduval suggests that his hzema- todes approaches a good deal to the Raphignathus ruberrimus, which Dugés discovered under stones, and which he described as a new species ; but there is nothing in his description that supports this except the colour, and that may depend on the food-plant. TETRANYCHUS TELARIUS Var.; TINI (Boisd.), Ent. Hort., p. 91. The laurustinus, which grows naturally in the south of France, » and those which are cultivated in the gardens of Paris, are subject to a kind of grise, as it is called, occasioned by a little red- dish mite, which multiplies in a prodigious way on the under side CASE VIIl 102 ARACHNOIDEA. of their leaves. M. Boisduval calls it Acarus tini, but we see nothing in his description to distinguish it from telarius. M. Boisduval, in his “ Entomologie Horticole,” also mentions, without much description, a number of other Acari, which he thinks have probably been erroneously confounded with telarius, but which from their different forms and habitat he regards as distinct. The above, in our opinion, do not differ from that species. Others we have allotted elsewhere. As to the following we are in doubt, although it seems not improbable that they too, or at least some of them, may be merely varieties of T. telarius. TETRANYCHUS CUCUMERIS (Zorsd.), Ent. Hort., p. 84. This mite lives on the cucumber and the gherkin ; it is more globular than telarius, a little smaller, of a uniform shade. In some years it is common enough in the kitchen garden. When the Cucur- bitaceze are attacked by the grise, the best plan is to take out the sick plants. We must not confound the grise with a species of Myce- lium, a kind of Erysiphe, which forms milky white spots on the leaves. TETRANYCHUS ROSARUM (ZSoisd.), Ent. Hort., p. 84. This, according to Boisduval, is more elongated than the pre- ceding ones, and is of a very pale green colour, almost trans- parent ; it lives under the leaves of certain varieties of rose trees, and is found sometimes alone, and sometimes together with another little red mite which he designates under the name of Acarus puccinize. 3 He says that he never met with these two Acarids but on diseased leaves, of which the lower surface was covered by the Uredo roses and the Puccinia rosze growing pell mell one beside the other. They seemed to be living at the expense of these two hypophyllous fungi. The rose leaves invaded by these two vege- table parasites are underneath of a yellow-ochre colour besprinkled with large brown dots; on the upper side variegated with spots and marblings of different colours, in which we may sometimes see the little larvee of a tenthredo eating the parenchyma. SPINNING MITES. 103 RANYCHUS FERRUGINEUS (Bo7sd.), Ent. Hort., p. 90. _ This mite lives in greenhouses on the Cyclamen Coum and ey persicum, and often makes great ravages. It pricks the leaves underneath, beginning at the base of the petioles. When these are attacked by the little insect they take a violaceous or reddish hue above ; their vegetation is stopped, they fade and fall. In examining them with the glass, the underside is seen to be covered with small blackish dots caused by the prickings of this microscopic parasite. It is excessively small, of a more or less dark ferruginous red. When the cyclamen begins to be attacked, which can be seen at the first glance, the only remedy, according to M. Boisduval, is to lift the pots and burn the tubers in order to prevent these little beings spreading over the neighbouring plants. Flower of sulphur has been tried as a remedy with little success. TETRANYCHUS RUSSULUS (Boisd.), Ent. Hort., p. 89. This is a little mite mentioned by M. Boisduval, which he thinks has probably been imported from Mexico, or from some other country of Central America. It is only found on cacti, particu- larly on the mamillaria, the echinocactus and neighbouring kinds, and is known to amateurs of succulent plants under the name of rouget. It is ferruginous red and almost microscopic, and does much damage to the plants on which it establishes itself, and if remedies are not promptly applied, it soon destroys them. Fumigations of tobacco, or powdering the plants with it, have been used in such cases with success. TETRANYCHUS VITIS (Loisd.), Ent. Hort., p. 92. M. Boisduval gives the following description of this species :— “When towards the end of summer we see the leaves of the vine marbled above with broad yellow blotches, it is often the indication of the presence of a very small parasite, which lives in family on its under side. On examining such a leaf with a very powerful lens, we see at first that it is carpeted with a rather loose CASE VIII. No. 4. 104 ARACHNOIDEA. silken tissue like very small spiders’ webs, in the midst of which we can see numerous Acarids of very small size moving about. They are greenish yellow, transparent, a half smaller than the Tetranychus telarius, to which they bear some resemblance. We have not found this minute insect mentioned in any of the authors that we have consulted. Can they have confounded it with that which produces the ‘grise’ (the red spider, T. telarius) ? It is extremely unlikely, because the red spider clothes the under side of the leaves with a close tissue which adheres very closely, while this species spins a very loose web like that of a spider. For gardeners this malady is a species of ‘grise.? As it only appears towards the end of summer, it does not do much harm to the ripening of the grape or to the vine itself.” TETRANYCHUS LINTEARIUS (Duff, Ann. Sc. Nat. 1832). Acarus coccineus, Schrank and Lois%., Ent. Hist., p. 87? 4. Magnified sketch of ditto. M. Dufour was the first who observed this species. He lived in the suburbs of St. Sever, and in the course of his rural excursions, his attention was often drawn. to clumps of gorse ( Ulex Europeus) some Tetranychys Anteanus(copied from feet in diameter, which he ftoumesemme loped completely in a spider’s web of milky or opaline white, which was visible from a distance. He describes it as being exactly as if a web of fine muslin had clothed this thorny shrub in every direction, and penetrated by adherent folds into the space between the branches. In spite of repeated poring over these tufts to discover the artificers of this delicate tissue, they eluded his researches for a long time. He sometimes met here and there upon them various spiders, such as Epeire, Linyphize, Ulobore, and Dolomedes ; but he was too familiar with the works and the kind of life of these Araneides to allow himself SPINNING ALITES. - 105 to suppose that it was produced by them, and he remained thus several years without being able to resolve this entomological pro- - blem. At length, during the autumn of 1830, which was remark- able for the long continuance of fine weather, these white webs being still more numerous than usual, he again took his place of ob- server. He then perceived upon this web a kind of red dust, some- times disseminated, sometimes gathered together, or agglomerated. He at first took this for inert or excremental molecules. But the magnifying glass came happily to dissipate this illusion, and crown his wishes, for it showed him that these red dots were living. The extreme abundance of these animalcules, for there were thousands of them, made him presume that they were the makers of the tissue which supported them, and his presumption was soon changed into certainty. He shut up in cornets of paper crowds of these little Arachnides, in order to examine them in the silence of the study by the aid of the microscope. Scarcely had he placed them in a little glass bottle, than they began to separate, to scatter, to examine their new habitation, and at the end of two hours, there were already some hundreds of these workers estab- lished on a web, and working under his eyes with ardour. Some were placed under the web in such a way as to present the under side of the body to the observer, others were above it; some went down, some came up; he often saw them cross each other obliquely, but far from running against each other, from entangling themselves, they mutually yielded the way, so that no gap, no fault in the fabrication of the web resulted. He found that the tissue fabricated by these myriads of pigmy weavers was not a net or thread, but a fine and well-joined web. The threads of this are a little oblique to the horizon, and cross at very pointed angles. When their cloth is finished, they keep themselves generally under it, as if to put themselves in shelter — from the direct influence of surrounding bodies. He satisfied himself that the thread which they emit comes from underneath the abdomen, and probably from imperceptible papille. But he CASE VIII. 106 ARACHNOIDEA. was not able, owing to the diminutive size of these Acarides, to establish the fact of their existence by direct observation. He could not ascertain what they fed on; but their great numbers indicate that they, like their congeners, are herbivorous. Animals that are social are very rarely predaceous. M. Lucas mentions (Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr., 1869) that it is much rarer in Normandy than, in Brittany, ice it may be doubted whether it is likely to be met with in this country. Being desirous of carrying off a souvenir of this able weaver, he cut some branches of gorse on which a few millions of this species had established themselves, and, putting them in a box, the mites set themselves to spin a web of milky white, which he exhibited to the Entomological Society of France, and he draws attention to its thickness and its extreme delicacy and fineness, and its quality of not adhering to the touch, justifying entirely M. Leon Dufoutr’s ~ comparison of it to a piece of the finest muslin. In the environs of Marseilles, where the camellia is cultivated on a great scale, the underside of the leaves is often observed to be disfigured by white spots or blotches. M. Laboulbéne (Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr., 1865) ascertained that these were caused by Tetra- nychus lintearius. The largest individuals are scarcely the third of a line im length, obtuse, oval in shape, of a vermilion red, more or less intense, and with the legs pale, one or two obscure patches on the back at the sides, two or four ranges of long white hairs | run down the back. In the fresh individual, in which the body is plump and the skin well stretched, no trace of a division — between abdomen and thorax is visible, but when somewhat shrunk a slight constrictive division becomes visible. M. Dufour gives a figure of this species, which we have copied, although we do not think it has the look of being a good portrait. M. Boisduval observed it under the leaves of the syringa or sweet pipe. It is possibly, too, the same species that is noticed by him under Schrank’s name of Acarus coccineus. He says that it makes a tapestry of fine silk, very light, to which the dust sticks, ‘ SPINNING MITES. 10) It is of a deep upper side of the leaves of the camellia. Rarcines it, one sees that it is Ocha from place to vibes and that the points where this little parasite had inserted its sucker had di become of a reddish colour. He observed it in the autumn in several gardens on the camellias, and also on some other plants of the greenhouse. a 5] fo 5. TETRANYCHUS Sp.—5. Magnified sketch of ditto. | This is a species which we found inhabiting a slightly decayed crack in the twig of an oak-tree. It has several points of resem- ‘blance with T. telarius, but is not dull or downy-like in texture like it, but somewhat shiny. It was rubicund, transparent, and had a dark patch on each side, and an indistinct division between the thorax and abdomen. It may, however, only be a variety of telarius, and we have therefore refrained from proposing a name for it. TETRANYCHUS FICI (d@wrr.n.s.).—6. Sketch of leaf attacked by ditto. 7. Enlarged sketch of insect. Found in great numbers on the leaves of fig-trees, near London, ‘probably imported. It is ovate, dull yellowish, and not glabrous or very transparent. TETRANYCHUS TILIARUM (J@u//.), Flexipalpus tiliarum (Schewten).—8. Enlarged sketch of ditto. 9. Lime leaf covered by ditto. Claparéde considers this species to be only a variety or synonym of T. telarius. We have not met with it since we learned that this was his opinion, so as to subject it to a careful comparative examination ; but our remembrance of a more superficial exami- nation some years ago is opposed to their identity. It especially attacks the lime tree, but it is not confined to it, having done con- f siderable mischief to many crops in France in 1874—as French | t beans, cucumbers, and melons. It is a minute yellowish or orange- coloured species ; and it occasionally occurs in such numbers as almost to denude the trees of their foliage ; and it has been noted CASE Vili. Wo. 10. 108 ARACHNOIDEA. that the stems and branches of such trees seemed covered with a bright glaze. Can this be a fine web? It is similar to the red spider in form, but a trifle smaller, more elliptical, slightly broader in front, and pale whitish vellow instead of reddish. Like it, it is seml-opaque and velvety, the con- tained food being at times visible through the skin. The figure here given is a magnified representation of it. It covers the under side of the leaves with a slight web of silk, which gives it a brilliant surface. On this the mites move about with a good deal of quickness. They do not gnaw or eat away the leaves. Like their fellows, they merely suck — the juice of the leaf; but although almost microscopic in size they make up for their minuteness by their numbers, and under their attacks the leaves rapidly shrivel up and die. They chiefly congregate on the under side of the leaf, those found on the upper side being mere wanderers, while on the under side they are sometimes crowded together in vast numbers ; for example, we have seen them so thick on the leaves that they looked as if they were not merely sprinkled with a yellow orange- coloured powder, but as if it was actually in parts heaped up on | them, so that none of the green colour of the leaf was visible. Their appearance in such excessive numbers is said to follow — certain peculiar states of the atmosphere. Tetranychus tiliarum. The Lime Tree mite. TETRANYCHUS SocIUS (Herm.), Acarus sociarius, Mull.—i10, Enlarged figure of ditto. This species also is regarded as a sy- nonym of T. telarius by Clapareéde, as to which we give no opinion. It was first described by Hermann, and the most pro- Tetranychus socius. Copied eae eee minent character given was that the palpi SPINNING MITES. 109 und facing a little outwards, so as to make the mouth look It is semi-transparent, with a faint blush of flesh- The eggs of these mites are garnet-red in colour, and are to be seen early in the spring on the young buds of clover. The larve which are out spread themselves over the hairy underside of the leaves, which, in consequence of continued sucking, become covered with yellow punctures. In buds injured by Phytopti we have found in place of them, in July, what we suppose to be this Tetranychus ; but instead of hundreds in a single bud we have only met one or two here and there. Nos. 21, TETRANYCHUS ERIOSTEMI (J/urr. n..s.).— 11. Specimen of leaves of Eriostemon neriifolium attacked by ditto. 12. Mag- nified sketch of leaf showing the mischief. 13. Twig showing mischief on ditto. 14. Magnified sketch of ditto. 15. Magnified sketch of insect. Tetranychus eriostemi. This species is found on plants of Eriostemon neriifolium in greenhouses in the neighbourhood of London, and, no doubt, elsewhere. It injures the plant consider- ably, making unsightly ulcerous-looking scars on the stems and branchlets, and white blotches on the leaves. It is a more clumsy thick-legged species than the others. : Nos. TETRANYCHUS AUTUMNALIS (Saw) (the harvest 36, 17 bug—le rouget of the French; the Leptus au- tumnalis of authors); 16, Magnified figure of larva. 17. Magnified figure of perfect insect on under side. Until Claparéde drew attention to the fact, that all the characters of this species _-__—-were those of a Tetranychus, it was gene- = Tetranychus (Leptus) autumnalis larval form - rally regarded as a Trombidium—and in CASE VIII. ¢ IIO ARACHNOIDEA. its six-legged stage as a Leptus—we think that any one who ex. amines the palpi will acknowledge that Claparéde is right, and the wonder will rather be how it ever came to acquire a settlement among the Trombidii. It is of a brick-red colour, and is so minute as to be scarcely visible to the naked eye. T hough bred upon plants, such as French-beans, currants, raspberries, gooseberries, and other vegetables, yet it deserts them whenever opportunity presents itself to fasten on animals, and it has apparently a particular pre- dilection for the human species, especially women and children. They fasten upon their skin, chiefly where any part of the dress fits closely, adhering by their claws and palpi so firmly, that when once fixed they can scarcely be detached without violence. When disengaged their motion is quick, though not so rapid as — that of some other species of mites. On the part where one of them fixes it causes a tumour, generally about the size of a pea, sometimes much larger, accompanied with severe itching. ‘The point of a fine needle is best calculated for removing them with the aid of a magnifying glass. Different persons suffer in different degrees from these attacks, and some persons they pass over alto- gether. For instance, a case is mentioned (see notes to White’s Natural History of Selborne, Brown’s Edition (9th) p. 113) of two persons who had been together during a day’s nutting in the woods, and who afterwards slept in the same bed-chamber, one of © whom was entirely covered with red blotches from the attack of this mite, while the other was untouched. White also, when mentioning their uncommon abundance in the chalky districts of Hampshire, relates that he had been assured, that they swarmed to so infinite a degree in the rabbit warrens on the Downs, as to discolour the nets of the warreners, and give them a reddish tint, whilst the men were so bitten as to be cast into fevers. In some parts of Scotland (East Lothian for example) we have known them so numerous and troublesome in the fruit gardens as to deter ladies and children from gathering gooseberries. The ‘ SPINNING MITES. 70x | Dr. Johnston of Berwick also mentions (Acarides of Berwick- | ire, in “ History of Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club,” p. 221) that } in Berwickshire this mite was very troublesome to horses, cattle, . _ sheep, dogs, and rabbits, and to the “herds’ bairns,” and people j ~ engaged about the infested animals in that county. It adhered to _ the skin, and in numbers occasionally so great as to be collected - into small clusters, hanging like a drop of congealed blood from the hairs. They produced extreme itchiness ; and his correspon- dent says, ‘in the worst case I have seen, that of a horse, the skin seemed exactly as if it had been rubbed with a liquid blister.” Hence he inferred that the mite had penetrated beneath the skin, as it is known that it easily does into that of man. When examining it, some individuals got upon his hands, over which they dispersed themselves with considerable quickness, and in a few seconds they had burrowed in the skin so deep as not to be perceived, but the place in which they had burrowed was indicated by itchiness, and by a blister that exactly resembled the pustule occasioned by the sting of a nettle. One individual was watched. Its race over the hand and the moment of its fixation was unfelt ; neither was any uneasiness felt by its penetration of the skin. On getting under the cuticle it was killed by a strong squeeze. No itchiness ensued, nor blister, and the dead insect remained after an interval of more than three months unaltered, the red speck _ then still marking the spot of its death and burial. Latreille com- pared the symptoms to those of the itch. M. Greeby calls the affection the autumnal erythema; M. John has observed an exan- thema due to this cause; and M. Moses cites a case of vesicular and papillar inflammation, with unsupportable itching produced in a family by this insect. Perhaps its effects are more severe in France, where these cases occurred, than in this country. M. Megnin says that the insects are got rid of by means of sulphur ointment, by friction with benzine and oil of petroleum or phenic acid, which we may say in passing are also common remedies for the itch. And here we may put the question. What do these little creatures Lia ARACHNOIDEA. CASE do when they burrow under the skin? Do they suck the blood or not? Some entomologists of eminence have thought so; _ and certainly the Trombidii have a double tubular sucker, and no doubt can do it if they choose. a This troublesome insect most prevails near the sea-shore, where | the soil is light. It begins to appear in the early part of July, and is very troublesome in August. Then great numbers may be observed crawling upon and over all green things,—on turnips, grass, and corn. Cats suffer greatly from them through their prowling habits in gardens, so much so, that they are sometimes thought to be suffering from the itch, when it is only from daily reinforcements of this tick. It can always, however, be easily dis- tinguished from the itch insect. It attacks the cat’s head, while the harvest mite has no particular point of preference, but is naturally — found chiefly on the feet and legs, which are most exposed to it. When examined under the microscope, the lower part of the body appears to be coated with stiff bristles. It is provided with a tubular snout, formed by the two mandibles, which is generally concealed or sheathed, but which may sometimes be distinctly seen. On the top of the head are two little processes, or sharp implements, which turn outward each way. The larval form is that in which this species is generally en- countered ; and, although it has for long been supposed that it © was merely the larva of a similar mite, yet it is only a few years since the fact was determined by direct observation. ‘This, how- — ever, has now been done, and we find a figure of the perfect eight-footed insect, in “ L’Insectologie Agricole ” (1868), by M. Megnin, who observed them. Kirby and Spence mention a similar insect which occurs in Brazil, abounding in the rainy season, particularly during the gleams of sunshine or fine days that intervene, as small as a point, and moving very fast. These animals, say they, get upon the linen and cover it in a moment; afterwards they insinuate themselves into the skin, and occasion a most intolerable itching. SPINNING MITES. 113 y are with difficulty extracted, and leave behind them large _ livid tumours, which subside in a day or two. An insect very Eto rmenting to the woodcutters and settlers on the Mosquito shore j ind Bay of Honduras, and called by them the Doctor, is thought a to be synonymous with this. They add, on authority which they Bt give, that more serious consequences have been known to follow _ the bite of another mite related to the above, if not the same species, common in Martinique, and called there the béte rouge. When our soldiers in camp were attacked by this animal, dangerous ulcers succeeded the symptoms just mentioned, which in several instances became so bad that the limb affected was obliged to be taken off. _ TETRANYCH us TLALSAHUATE (Lemaire). To this irritating group also probably belongs a small insect that occurs in Mexico, called by the Indians Tlalsahuate. It lives. among the herbage, and is almost imperceptible to the naked eye. It attacks man, and fixes itself upon the eyelids, or arm- pits, &c. Its presence is announced by an itching sensation on the part where it is, which is followed by redness, swelling, and some-. times suppuration. These morbid phenomena usually last for six days, and always remain local, which would seem to indicate that the insect does not propagate. All that is required, in order to get rid of the morbid sensations, is ‘to remove the insect. ‘This is done by the Mexicans by a needle or fine stalk of grass. The insect appears only to occur in ‘the temperate lands of Mexico, being unknown in the hot regions. An instance is recorded in the “ Annales de ’Académie des Sciences,” ( 1867), of its importa- tion into France. “On Saturday last (15 July),” says M, Lemaire, who reports the circumstance, “ Madame Biart brought me her daughter, about four years of age, who complained of a smart itching in the eyelid of the left eye. I found there, between the eye-lashes, some redness and swelling. From the information given me, it occurred to me that this might possibly arise from the H CASE VIII. No. 18. No. 19. II4 ARACHNOIDEA. Tlalsahuate, inasmuch as M. Biart, who had passed a long time in Mexico, had recently received numerous boxes from thence, the packing and contents of which had remained for a good while close to the lawn on which his children habitually played. I, therefore, looked for the insect, and, by the assistance of a magnifying glass, discovered it fixed between two eye-lashes in the middle of the redness. Its form is oblong and its colour bright orange yellow. M. and Mdme. Biart, who had been familiar with it in Mexico, at once recognised it.” The specimen was unfortunately dropped and lost, so that we are still without a scientific description of it. It is possible that this species may have some relation to that in a case quoted by Kirby and Spence, from Sir Joseph Banks, who, in a letter to Dr. Adams, related that some seamen belong- ing to the Axdeavour brig being tormented by a severe itching round the extremities of the eyelids, one of them was cured by an Otaheitan woman, who, with two small splinters of bamboo, extracted from between the eyelashes abundance of very minute lice, which were scarcely visible without a lens, though their motion when laid on the thumb was distinctly perceived. Older authors quote similar phenomena, but as their knowledge of the - subject was imperfect, and we cannot cross-examine them, it 1s perhaps best to ignore them. TETRANYCHUS TROMBIDINUS (Dwg., Ann. Sc. Nat. 1834. Trombidium glabrum, Dug., Ann. Sc. Nat. 1834).—18. Enlarged figure of ditto. This has all the appearance of a Trombidium, but it is smooth and not velvety, and M. Dugés found that it had two spinning papillz behind. Genus RaPpHiGNATHus (Dugés). Tarsi thick, palpi long, and mandibles sharp-pointed. RAPHIGNATHUS RUBERRIMUS (Dwg., Ann. Sc. Nat. 1834).—19. Enlarged figure of ditto. This is a Tetranychus, with long palpi instead of short ones, Raphignathus ruberrimus. Copied from Dugés. _ RAPHIGNATHUS RUBER (Koch, Ubers ). aoe, vee aoe” SPINNING MITES. Irs ms the chief character of Dugés’ genus Raphignathus. The structure of the mouth is adapted for living on plants. M. Dugés found, moreover, in the hinder part of the body, two papillz adapted for spinning. We have no hesitation therefore in regarding Raphignathus as belonging to the Tetranychide. Tetranychus ruberri- mus is of a bright red colour, but smooth. Dugés found it fre- quently under stones and in shady places, but it doubtless would also Raphignathus ruber. be ound, on plants: at “Pye. the proper season. __ Described by Koch first under __ the name of Caligonus ruber. Genus MEGAMERUS (Duzgés). A genus, established by Dugés, of which the more important _ characters are, that the palpi are long, the mandibles provided with nippers, and the hind thighs enlarged. The Megameri live in nume- rous families, running swiftly and occasionally leaping, which their large hind thighs enable thfem to do- and they appear to spin a i \ fr es Y Megamerus celer. Copied from Dugés’ figure. HI 2 116 ARACHNOIDEA. wa network of fine threads of silk, in which they suspend themselves. M. Dugés says that some of them are certainly carnivorous; but there are some, the green colour of whose intestines indicate a vegetable diet. The larvee, like those of all the others, have been proved to be six footed. He places the genus among the Trom- bidii ; but its spinning qualities seem to show that its proper place is with Tetranychus, with which its other characters do not disagree. No. 20, MEGAMERUS CELER (Dug., Ann. Sc. Nat., 1834).—20. Magnified figure of ditto. SPECIES INCERT SEDIS. No, 21. TETRANYCHUS? AMERICANUS, young (Lep- tus americanus, A2/ey, Sixth Ann. Rep. Missouri, 52).—21. Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Mr. Riley’s_ woodcut. Mr. Riley states that this species is found along with Leptus irritans in North America, and that both are there called Jiggers, or harvest mites. They are red like their congeners. Our information regarding both is Tetranychus? (Leptus) Americanus. in sufficient to en able us to fix their Copied from Mr. Riley s figure. place. No. 22, TETRANYCHUS? IRRITANS, young (Leptus irritans, /z/ey, loc. cit. supra).— 22. Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Mr. Riley’s woodcut. This is the Jigger of the Mis- sissippi valleys, where it is ex- ceedingly irritating—whence its name. It acts as one of the representatives in that country of our Tetranychus (Leptus) au- tumnalis; but until the perfect insect is known its place must Trombidi Leptus), irritans. i ° 1 idium (Lep eB roe Copied from Mr be conj ectural. HARVEST MITES. 117 £ -— SECTION II.—TROMBIDIIDAZ. (Harvest mites.) _ M. Dugés divides this section, like the last, into two sub- _ sections, according to whether the tarsi are long or short, and _ makes further generic divisions depending upon whether the _ mandibles are hooked or pointed, and upon differences in the _ claws of the feet. Koch has divided the whole of the Trombidiine, including Tetranychus, into two groups; the one having seven joints in the leg, the other only six, and he has used the comparative length of the legs, and the presence or absence of a line of separation between the cephalothorax and abdomen as characters for further subdivision. We have disposed of Tetranychus, and shall now for the remainder of the family borrow what seems best from each of the above authors, and propose the following system of arrangement :— 1. Subsection. Legs composed of six joints (Eupodidee of Koch). A. Cephalothorax distinguished from abdomen by a more or less distinct line of separation. Bryonia, PETROBIA, TYDEUS, EUPODES, PENTHALEUS, SCYPHIUS. B. Cephalothorax not distinguished from abdomen by a line of separation. § Anterior legs exceedingly fine and long. LINOPODES. §§ Anterior legs normal, PRENTHALODES. 2. Subsection. Legs composed of seven joints. C. Cephalothorax distinguished from abdomen by a line of separation. STIGMZUS, CALIGONUS. D. Cephalothorax not so distinguished. ‘TROMBIDIUM RHYNCHO- LOPHUS, SAMARIDIA, PACHYGNATHUS, ERYTHRUS, We shall briefly notice and figure each of these genera. Ist SUBSECTION. Genus BryouiA (Koch). Anterior legs longer than the others. Eyes moderately large, near the hinder angles of the cephalothorax. The margin of the abdomen is studded with short, somewhat triangular, widely separated papillee. ‘3 "ta oe Po, © ee ie ae ae, , eh vex Bo 118 ARACHNOIDEA. BRYOBIA SPECIOSA (Koch), Ubers., 61. Genus PETRoBIA (AZurr., n.g.). Characters the same as those of Bry- obia, but with three eyes in the posterior angles of each side of the cephalothorax, and abdomen without triangular margi- nal papille. Dugés hesitated whether to place the species from which we have named this genus among the Tetranychi or Raphignathi. It appears to us to come so near Bryobia that it would not Bryobia speciosa. Copiedfrom figure be well to place it apart from if and ge aia yet too different to be put in the same genus. We have therefore thought it better to make a separate genus for it. Nos, PETROBIA LAPIDUM (Koch). Trombidium lapidum (Herm., Apt. pl. vil.); 43> Pie Tetranychus cristatus (Dugés, Ann. Sc. Nat. 1834).—28. Magnified figure of larva. 24, Magnified figure of perfect insect. ihe Vie. \\ Senet Petrobia lapidum, young. Ditto, full grown. This is easily recognised by a sort of crest or rid ge which crosses the back like a girdle, as shown in the woodcut. It, however, disappears when the insect is very well filled. The presence of 1 HARVEST MITES. TIQ e eyes in a triangular cluster in the posterior lateral angles of the thorax is a good character, but Dugés failed to see these Reyes. Should there prove to be any error about them, and should the marginal papillz on the abdomen of Bryobia not be present in all the species of that genus, then there would be nothing to prevent this species taking its place among them; or for that matter, if we once begin to speculate on the possibility of errors in the figures, there is not much to say against its being the same species as the preceding Bryobia speciosa, or the following Tydeus mutabilis. Without some special ground of suspicion, however, this is not warrantable and we must act according to our lights. The young is rose-red, the perfect insect varies from dirty red to dark brown, with a tinge of red with some white spots on the back and on the margin. Its anterior legs are much longer than those of the young. ‘The male is smaller and redder than the female. Dugés found isolated individuals on many plants and under stones. In the south of France he found it in families in the light down which clothes the under side of the leaf of the plane-tree. In autumn he found it under the stones in the public walks, in entire families, which led him to think that, at that season at least, it quitted the trees in order to multiply more securely. In this — country, Mr. Albert Miiller mentions (Entomological Monthly Mag. 1867-8, p. 71) that it occurred when he wrote (August) in countless numbers on the flint gravel covering the approaches to Elmer's End Station, near London. It is also probably this species to which the following notice in Cooper and Busk’s Aficroscopic Journal refers. ‘Vhe pebbles of the gravel, say they, on Blackheath and the neighbourhood were at the time they wrote abundantly covered with the ova of the Acarus lately described by Mr. White, and formerly considered as a fungus under the name of Craterium pyriforme. Before the late rains these bodies were to be seen on pieces of wood, and many other substances, as the stalks of plants, etc., as well as on the pebbles. They add that they had seen specimens of the same deposit on CASE VIIl. 120 _ARACHNOIDEA. pebbles from Lincolnshire, and from Devonshire or Cornwall in the neighbourhood of Plymouth, from which it would appear to be very generally distributed throughout the country. Genus TypEus (Koch). Similar to the preceding, but without eyes. The anterior legs only slightly longer than the rest. ‘This species is very minute, being no larger than a fine pin’s point. TYDAUS MUTABILIS (och), Ubers. Tydcus inutabilis. Copied from figuve in Koch's Ubersicht, Found in damp moss, or on moist earth. Koch has described thirteen species of Tydzeus. 'RHAGIDIA GELIDA ( Zhorell, Oefv. Sv. Ak. xxviil. 700, 1871). This is a new genus and species described by Thorell from’ Spitzbergen. He says it belongs to this section, but gives no figure of it or its characters. Genus Europes (Koch) Shoulders of abdomen prominent. Eyes on the posterior margin | of the thorax. EUPODES HIEMALIS (Koch, Ubers.).—Size, a small pin’s head. fLupodes hiemalis. Copied from figure in Koch’s Ubersicht. I2! Eupodes celer, young. Copied from Hermann’s Di to, perfect insect. Mem. Apt. 2 Copied from Hermann’s Mem. Apt. __ The larva is scarlet, and the perfect insect pale brown. M. Dugés placed this among the Tetranychi, but we think the figure of the perfect insect will justify our having placed it here. Koch has described twenty-eight 4 ‘species. They are found in damp moss _and under stones, &c. Genus PENTHALEUS (Xoch.). _ Somewhat elongate. Anterior legs _ rather slender and long, and the poste- rior thighs thickened. . PENTHALEUS HMATOPUS (Koch). ‘ _ Koch divides this genus into three ? enthalus, bene eaae sections, which should probably repre- | ee . ° y sent as many genera. In the first the legs are filiform (eight _ Species), in the second gradually thickened towards the extremity 122 ARACHNOIDEA. oa (two species), and in the third there is no line of separation on — the back between the thorax and abdomen (two species). In this latter Koch includes Dugés’ Megamerus ovalis. Our arrange- ment, however, will not admit it here, and we have made a new genus for it elsewhere. It is exceedingly minute. Thorell describes a new species, P. insulanus, from Spitzbergen. Genus ScyPHIuS (Koch). This genus also reminds us of Megamerus by its elongated narrow body. It is very minute, but not quite so much so as the last genus. SCYPHIUS DIVERSICOLOR (Koch). ees \\ t oS \a\ AHL Wa SONS TA {us —— = i l/ \ =k ry << | tf Wh Ze Wi ZA NS x f \ is pS a d Pp EN A Ge LZ SS NG BURST EE E Yt Veen SLA = ae Be Za a RNG fi KK WSs CZ it Nees WE 4 = sy A \ IN ve = eK Se A\ A Scyphius diversicolor. Copied from figure in Koch’s Ubersicht. Found in damp moss, and under decaying leaves, &c. Genus LINOPODES (Aoch). Legs six-jointed ;. anterior pair excessively long and slender. One hesitates whether to regard these long-legged mites as the representatives of Phalangium among the spiders, or of the exotic tribe Gonyleptes, which have legs more than a foot in length, and scarcely thicker than a pin. The Linopodes are all extremely minute. No.1. LINOPODES LONGIPES (Zerm., Apt.).—1. Magnified figure of ditto, copied from Hermann’s figure. HARVEST MITES. 123 a INOPODES RAVUS (Koch, Ubers. Arach. ). \ ie Magnified figure of ditto, copied _ Fiom Guerin. 3. Magnified figure of ditto, copied from _ _Walckenaer. The elongated and thickly haired palpi of this species would seem to call for its separation from the two preceding. All the above are bright in colour, but more inclining to orange than to scarlet. Genus PENTHALODES (JZurr., n.g.). A new genus made to receive the \_ following species. sf PENTHALODES OVALIS (Megamerus ovalis, Dugés, Ann. Sc. Nat. 1834). This species having only six joints to the legs, falls into the section of _ Eupodide, instead of the Trombi- _ diidz, where Dugés placed it (in rinopoaes longies,, Copied from Hermanns _ Megamerus) ; but it has no line of se separation between the thorax and abdomen, and cannot therefore go into Penthaleus (where Koch put 4 it), or any of the other genera having that for a cha- acter. The only other place for it is the section with six legs, and no throracic line of separation ; but the “a only genus yet known of these is Linopodes, with which it obviously has no relation, all its legs being _ moderate in their proportions. Anew genus,therefore, —_Penthatodes ovalis. is required for it, which we have named Penthalodes. “pied /rom 124 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE 7 Genus Sticmus (Koch). No eyes. STIGMAZUS CRUENTUS (Koch, Ubers.) S V4 We MNAWE LA Ee Stigmzeus cruentus. Copied from Koch. figure of larva ; 11. Ditto of perfect insect. This genus has the mandibles chelate, or quasi chelate, that is, provided with a nipper or its equivalent. Other characters are drawn from the different relative proportions of the joints of the legs. The legs are ciliated, but the ciliae are so fine, and their Diplodontus scapularis, larva, Ditto, perfect insect. About the size of a sweet pea. motion so rapid, that although tolerably long, the naked eye cannot see them when in motion, and the animal at the first glance seems to move by some interior hidden mechanism. There are several species of this genus. The colour of the present species is red behind, interrupted in the middle, and black in front, with some specks of red scattered through it. Dugés places this species in the genus Diplodontus. Koch removes it into his genus Hygrobates. We have preferred to follow Dugés. Genus HyprocHoreuTeEs (Koch). Nos. HyDROCHOREUTES GLOBULUS (Hydrachna globulus, JZu//.).—12. Magnified Sm sketch of first stage of larva; 18. Specimens of Belostoma grandis, Linn. (the large water scorpion), with nymphs of Hydrachnidz ad- hering to various parts of its body ; 14, Enlarged sketch of hinder part of British water scorpion (Nepa cinerea), with nymphs of Hydrochoreutes globulus adhering to its body ; 15. Sketch of nymph of ditto still more 154 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE highly magnified ; 16. Magnified sketch of Hydrochoreutes globulus, ot perfect insect. Ditto, perfect insect, under side. About the size of a No. 5 lead drop. for an explanation of the above figures, see p. 151. This species is pale red in the larval stage, dirty white in the nymph, and rich maroon or purple in the perfect stage. Genus AtTax (7a0.). In the genus Atax the palpi are subulate, with the last joint falcate or inguiculate. In the males of some species the body is truncate behind. These M. Dugés supposed to belong to a different genus, which he named Arrenurus, of which Koch describes no less than forty species, many of which, no doubt, must be referred to other genera besides Atax. WATER MITES. Iss A TAX Bonzi (C/aparede, Studien an Acariden).—17. Magnified sketch of newly developed larva, copied from Claparede’s figure. Atax Bonzi, which formed the subject of careful study, and an j admirable memoir by M. Clapareéde, is a parasite, which lives _ within the shell of the fresh-water mussel. It is semi-transparent and pale yellowish, with some brown. ATAX GLOBATOR (JZu//.)—18. Magnified sketch of male; 19. Ditto of female ; both copied from Miiller’s figures and descriptions. The male has a prolongation of the body behind like a tail. It is virescent, except this prolongation, which is pellucid. The female is round and pale blue, with virescent legs. oF 3 : ET AK ‘as pas <5 sS om “Y —CopSS (on 7 CEE =f | | | WE —~ Ja I | 7: *\ pe AM WN % as MA ) | IN ms fi i A RY \4 | KA 2 A \ | \ ] i) | Hydrachna globator, inale. Hydrachna globator, female. o. HYDRACHNA BUCCINATOR (JZ//.).—20. Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Muller’s figure and description. Another tailed species. The body is red, black behind, and the tail yellow. . ATAX MINIATA (Koch).—21, Magnified figure of ditto, copied from Koch’s Arachnidee, Of a rich red-lead colour. ATAX VARIPES (Koch).—%. Magnified figure of ditto, copied from Koch’s Arachnidee. _ Body pink with dark markings behind, legs varied with white and brown. . CASE ba Nos. £3, 24. No. 25. 156 ARACHNOIDEA. ATAX HISTRIONICUS (Herm. Mem. apt.).—23. Magnified sketch of male, Arrenurus viridis, Dug. ; 24. Ditto of female, Atax histrionicus, Dzg., copied from figures by Dugés, in Ann. Sc. Nat. 1834. Atax histrionicus (Arrenurus viridis, Dzce.), male. Atax histrionicus, female. About the size of a mustard seed. The male is pale yellowish green, the female a rich purple, with four large black blotches. Besides the foregoing, Koch proposes several other genera for species of this group, viz.: NEsEA, Piona, HyGROBATES, ATRACTIDES, ACERCUS, and MaRICca; but neither his figures nor his descriptions are sufficiently precise to allow of our judging as to their value, especially in a family where the general resemblance and the sexual differences are both so great. e Genus PONTARACHNA (/7/zp7). PONTARACHNA PUNCTULUM, /7/.—25, Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from drawing a. d description of Filippi. This is a very minute and inconspicuous Hydrachna, with a madder-brown irregular shaped patch covering the back; but it 1s interesting from its having been found in the sea at Naples, instead of in fresh water. Since then another from the North American Seas has been described by Dr. Packard. Filippi made the separate genus for his species, which we have adopted on his responsibility. GAMASIDS. | 157 Family GAMASIN. _ THE members of this family are either found on the ground in damp places or parasitic on some animal or other; and subject to _the usual qualification of occasional exceptions, the palpi are fili- form, that is, of nearly uniform thickness throughout; they usually _ project forwards on each side of the mandibles, and have the ter- _ minal articles bent downwards. The mandibles are chelate, that is, provided with minute nippers. There are no eyes. The legs are not ciliated, but adapted for motion on dry land. They have seven joints, and there is a tendency in the second pair of legs in some species to become larger and thicker than the others, often with knobs or excrescences on different parts of them. The tarsi have two claws, which emerge, as it were, from or alongside a kind of frill or bag, which is called a caruncle, and which no doubt ful- fils to some extent the office of a sucker. The accompanying figures show some of the different forms this caruncle assumes. Claw and caruncle of Claw and caruncie cf Claw and caruncle of Gamasus tetragonoides. Dermanyssus avium, Sejus auris, In some species the skin is chitonous, like the covering of a beetle, but not so hard; and the colour is usually pale brown or fawn. In certain species the skin is chitonous only in part, the rest being soft, pliant, and colourless ; and in others it is entirely soft, and naturally white or yellowish, but showing the colour of CASE XI. Nos. I, 2. 158 ARACHNOIDEA. the food it has taken (as for instance, blood) through the walls of the body. With few exceptions they are parasitic, at all events at some period of their life, the majority being so on in- sects; but there are others that are troublesome to birds and other animals, forming the passage to the next section, the Ticks. They form a very natural and easily recognised group. If we capture a “‘shard-borne beetle” or a humble bee, we shall, very often, find them infested by a large number of yellowish mites hanging about — : their legs or adhering to their abdomen. ‘These are almost sure to be Gamasidz. They are sometimes of large size compared to that of the animals on which they are parasitic. Did the same proportion exist on man, we should have lice as big as our fists or our hats. Sub-Family GAMASID/. When not free, parasitic on insects. Genus Gamasus (Laiv.). i In this genus the body is covered Ne Wy either in whole or in part by a Wa smooth and even chitonous shell. The labrum is trifid. The second | pair of legs often thickened ; the first Wass as pair usually the longest, but also the ; \\ — slenderest. * GAMASUS COLEOPTRATORUM (Linm.).—1. ih Enlarged figure of ditto ; 2. Specimens (2). ‘ This species has only part of its say iss Wins ee outer skin hard and chitonous ; there is a soft white space between the upper and under surface, and also a similar band across the back. Its colour is fawn. Found on various beetles. In winter it is found under stones. It is a peculiarity of all these parasites on insects, that they soon die after being removed from the insect or GAMASIDS. 159 from the stone under which they have taken refuge, unless they are kept moist. The insects on which they live are chiefly sub- _ terranean, making burrows in damp soil, or under cow dung, &c. GAMASUS MARGINATUS (Dug.).—8. Enlarged figure of ditto; 4 Specimens. NNO at col SA S i yy x By RS d ! 7 ! "4 . A tn { ! Gamasus marginatus. Gamasus (Laelaps) hilaris. Copied from Koch's figure. About 3 line in length. : out the size of a pin’s head. Broader, rounder, and darker in colour than the last, and with- out the transverse soft white space across the back, but with the marginal space wider, especially behind. ‘This species is also found on beetles more frequently even than the last, and some- times along with them; but, generally speaking, more than one 3 species of mite is not found on the same beetle. Hermann, in his Mémoire Apterologique, reports that this species lives on dead bodies, and cites the curious fact that one was observed by his artist running on the corpus callosum of the brain of a soldier who died in the military hospital at Strasburg, which had been opened but a minute before, and the two hemispheres and the pia mater just separated. Hermann thought not, but we have no doubt that it was merely a case of first come, first served. Prompt as the doctors had been with their examination, the mite had been prompter. Koch has established a genus which he has named Laelaps, and the only character wherein it differs from Gamasus is in not CASE XI. 160 ARACHNOIDEA. having the anterior legs slenderer and longer than the rest; in other respects it corresponds with the section containing Gamasus marginatus ; but the elongation of the anterior legs does not seem a generic character, but rather one of degree; indeed, Koch’s own figure of Laelaps hilaris, of which we give a copy, does not bear out his own diagnosis, the anterior legs in it being both longer and slenderer than the other legs. We have, therefore, not adopted the genus Laelaps. GAMASUS HILARIS (Laelaps hilaris, Koch, Ubers., p. 88, t. x., f. 48). Koch says that this species and three others belonging to the same genus Laelaps are parasitic on mice, although he never found any on the house mouse. He regards them as specially assigned to mice, and only to be found upon them. This figure, however, looks so like other Gamasi which are found wandering at times, that it may be well to wait for confirmation of Koch’s assumption before definitely adopting it. | There are several species formed upon the same plan as these, which are difficult to distinguish from each other. Koch describes about a score. One is the G. testudinarius of Hermann. We possess another of comparatively large size and very pubescent, with a fringe of long hairs on each side, especially in front. It was taken from the under side of the neck of Phanzeus lancifer, a large South American dung beetle. The portion disclosing the soft skin is in it larger than usual. Dugés mentions a very large species which he, too, found on a Brazilian Copris- (C. mimas), and which, from its size, he called Gamasus gigas. He says it was as large as our common Ixodes. If he means. the male Ixodes, it may be the species of which we have been ' speaking, which then would sufficiently correspond with his description. If a replete female Ixodes, then it must be some- thing different. We have several other species taken from beetles from different countries differing but slightly in size, but probably distinct. GAMASIDS. 161 US QUADRIPUNCTATUS (n. s.).—5. Enlarged figure of mite; 6... Specimen (t1). This species is more than a half larger than our common a species. It is more elongated, shows less of the white margin at | i. ES through the brown hard skin of the back, four black round spots. It is from Old Calabar. Gamasus crassipes, About Fy a line in length, Gamasus tetragonoides. Copied from Hermann’s figure. Copied from Dugés’ figure, ; v0. s. GAMASUS TETRAGONOIDES (Dug.).—8. Enlarged figure of ditto. Nos. GAMASUS PODAGER (JZurr. n. s.).—9. Enlarged figure of ditto; 10. Epeci- :. men (1). i | iF : ; ) | i . ‘ = i \ ill 1 Hi Aer Citi | f / = a Pua Ne Fe Gamasus podager. About 1} line in length. CASE XL Nos x1, 12 162 ARACHNOIDEA. _ The preceding three species are all distinguished by the curious thickening of the second pair of legs to which we have above alluded. They have, also, all got more or less of the knobs or projections upon them which often accompany the thickened legs. The last species, which we have called podager, will be easily recognised by the figure. It is fawn coloured, and nearly 2 lines in length. From the mouth being under the projecting body, this may probably be taken as the type of a new section or genus. Genus Uropopa (La?r.). The chief character of this genus is the existence of a cord attaching the mite to the beetle on which it is found. The other characters are like those of Gamasus, only slightly modified by the buckfer-like form of the body, which also entails a shortening of the legs. UROPODA VEGETANS.—11, Magnified sketch of ditto; 12, Specimens. The young naturalist is sure to be puzzled with this species ; when a beetle is infested by it, it seems covered by a multitude of minute fawn-coloured shining convex scales (convex above and flat be- /jow) gummed on to various parts of the under side of theMbectlews like tortoises or cocci, allowing none of the parts of the body they a{ilbthe eee ora aug iohetd! cover to be seen. They are not easily detached, and when by washing or scraping they are made to move, they do not fall off, but still hang on to the place where they were fixed, by a fine thread, which is attached by the one end to the beetle and by the other to the under side of the Uropoda. The older natu- cA > xr. GAMASIDS. 163 E ralists, De Geer, Latreille, &c., thought that this was something of the nature of an umbilical cord, by which the mite drew nourishment from the beetle, or from others of its own species, on which it might be fixed, for they are sometimes found in clusters, one piled above the other. Others imagined that it wa. a silken cord by which the parasite attached itself so that the beetle could not get rid of them by brushing them off. The latter may be the purpose of it, but it is neither an umbilical tube nor a silken cord. Examination of the cord shows that it-is not silk, and not a tube, neither can it be used in any way for conveying nourishment, fer the mite can, at will, detach itself from the beetle. De Geer knew this, but supposed it was the end of the cord next the beetle that became detached. He says that they are able to remove when they please by crawling in a certain direction until the cord is sufficiently strained to cause the end to be detached from the beetle. This is a mistake: it is the end of the cord next the mite that becomes detached. Dugés ascertained its real nature. He says that he has found the Uropoda free under stones in bad weather as well as fixed to burrowing beetles. The pedicle or cord he describes as a horny filament, stiff, elastic when dry, soft, becoming flexible in water without dissolving ; and in it there is to be found neither cavity, nor fibres, nor any organic structure. Fixed firmly on the coat of the beetle by a sort of spreading base, it is attached to the mite at the other end bya similar base, which exactly covers the anus of the mite, which, as in the other Gamaside, is situated on the under side, a short dis- tance within the posterior margin of the body; and hence he con- cluded that it is not a silken matter spun by special organs, but the viscous and dried excrements of the animal, and of which it. can get rid whenever it makes a new excretion. Dugés knew only one species, but we have two or three from beetles in different parts of the world which differ in the propor- tions of the buckler or back, some being more rounded or more oval than others. In other respects they all look very much alike, E2 164 ARACHNOIDEA. Genus ZERCON (Koch). Koch describes and figures a genus under the name of Zercon. It has parallel sides, and a transverse line across the middle. We give a copy of his figure. Genus SEyus (Koch). Without any separation on the back between the thorax and abdomen, and without any soft portion exposed behind. This is a genus of Koch’s which we adopt Zercon dimidiatus (copied from pe oen eur) with satisfaction for a well-known portion About the size of a pin’s point. of the Gamasidz, which is usually referred by naturalists to the genus Dermanyssus. Deducting Koch’s twe genera, the Gamasidz above noticed are limited to those Gama side in which the body is enclosed in whole or in part in a chito- nous skin. They are all parasitic on insects. There are other species which have the skin soft and not chitenous, for which the genus Dermanyssus was established, and its original type was a species (D. avium) that infests fowls. But there are many species of soft-skinned Gamasidz whose affinity is greater with those that are parasitic on insects than with those that feed on warm-blooded animals. We find it a great convenience to remove these from the latter, and to bring them alongside Gamasus; but in a separate group confined to the soft-bodied species that are either parasitic on insects or found free. The other characters by which they may be distinguished from Dermanyssus are, that the posterior two pair of legs are placed further back than in that genus, the body less elongate, and not so swollen behind. The facies of the two are sufficiently distinct: Dermanyssus reminds us of Ixodes, with which its habits correspond ; Sejus reminds us of Gamasus, with which its habits agree. Dermanyssus will then be confined to the soft-bodied Gamaside parasitic on warm-blooded animals. GAMASIDS. 165 Sxyus vipuus (Koch, Ubers., p. 92, t. x. f. 50). The shoulders longish, rounded behind and without projecting ip ——< bristles. Ny, ‘ ; J It is to this genus doubtless that SQ ha) YF yb , | another species found by M. Dugés = 4 Q we | upon the leaves of Bindweed should \ : be referred. He had gathered a Wy PS quantity of these leaves on account _ ‘i fe SS of the great number of Tetranychi 16: with which they were covered, and f \ amone tiem he found also a certain «seus viduus. rhe size of a small pin’s head, number of what he has named the Dermanyssus of the Bindweed ; they walked freely upon the water where these leaves were soaking. ‘Their size, their general form, that of the feet and the palpi, resembled those of the Dermanyssus avium ; but their colour was of a greenish grey, and the intestines, and even the prolongations of its feet up to the sixth joint, were full of a green matter. He asks, was this matter the result of the suction of the vegetable juices directly from the leaf itself or indi- rectly from it after having been first swallowed by the Tetranychi on which the Gamasi fed. The same difficulty as to their food occurs in a species which M. Megnin has described (Insectologie Agricole, 1868) under the name of the Forage mite, which is found in great quantities among old hay, and which, when shaken down from the rack on the head and neck of the animals feeding on it occasions them considerable annoyance. The species of this genus infest various insects as much as the other Gamasidze of which we have already spoken, and many species also occur in all sorts of places, and some of them even lead an amphibious or semi-marine life. In the species with such habits, we naturally feel a more parti- cular interest, for mites being land animals we may expect to find «166 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE some peculiarities of structure in those that have deviated into an aquatic mode of life, and still more when the aquatic mode of life is marine. No other insects have ever been found inhabiting the sea; certain beetles indeed live under high-water mark, but they are no more sea-beetles than divers are sea-men. Both are terrestrial, and their existence under the sea is exceptional, and provided for in both by special contrivances for breathing. Some mites that have of late years been described as found in the sea, are the nearest approach that we have to insects living in the sea. The first notice we have of any with this peculiarity, either real or supposed, is one which, in 1842, M. Dujardin is said to have found under the sea. It seems to have belonged to this group. Next, three species were described and figured some years ago by M. Laboulbene (Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1851), which had been found (like the above) living between tide marks. He named them Gamasus salinus, G. maritimus, and G. halo- philus. The accompanying wood- cut represents his G, maritimus. They all live in the chinks of rocks that are submerged at high water. M. Labeulbene says that the two first hke to congregate together in great numbers, which _ may perhaps be partly owing to a whole colony of eggs having been deposited at the same place. These two have a series of tooth- comb-like appendages on the third and fourth articles of the palpi, which are suggestive of the raptorial palpi of the Trombi- Sejus maritimus, Ry pled trom have ul bene sae uve: diide ; but the curious prolonga- tions or excrescences which occur in other Gamasi (as in G. tetragonoides) forbid our attaching so much GAMASIDS, 167 importance to them as we otherwise should have done. One of M. Laboulbéne’s species (G. halophilus) is imperfect, the palpi being wanting. It looks very like M. Hermann’s Trombidium celer, and it may prove a Trombidium when its whole structure is known. In the meantime it has this amount of resemblance with 4 them, that when in life it is said to have been of a fine red colour. a _Mr, Brady, of Sunderland, has recently added the following 4 quasi-marine species to those above spoken of, which he has described under the name of G. marinus. No. 13 SEJUS MARINUS (Gamasus marinus, Brady, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1875). 13. 4 Enlarged sketch of ditto, copied from Mr, Brady’s figure. Found pretty commonly in crevices of magnesian limestone rocks, between tide marks near Sunderland ; Mr. Brady has also a specimen that was washed 4 from among the roots of algae dredged off Cumbrae in the Frith of Clyde. It is very like, but distinct from, one of the species described by M. Laboul- bene, and both it and they are obviously a parallel case to the species of A‘pus, Trechus, Bembidium, and other beetles i uik is eS a that have been found in similar places. (a ieuem) vie SEJUS AURIS (Gamasus auris, Ze/dy, Pr. Ac. Phil., 1872). Professor Leidy describes a species under this name from the ear of anox. He gives a figure of the claw to prove that it is a Gamasus, but no figure of the insect itself. A copy of his figure of the claw will be found on page 157. Genus HALARACHNE (A//i2.). Nos. HALARACHNE HALICH2RI (A//m., Ann. Nat. Hist. 1847).—14. Enlarged — figure of larva of ditto; 15. Enlarged figure of perfect insect. This is another claimant to the title of ocean mite, whose claim 168 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE cannot be allowed. It is an extraordinary species of mite, which was found on the posterior nares of the seal named Halicherus gryphus, in the Irish seas. Both larvae and perfect insects were found in abundance; we give copies of the figures, which will save description. It is no doubt most interesting and most Halarachne halicheeri, larva, Ditto, perfect insect. Copied from Allman. About $ of:an inch in length, curious, but it is not an ocean mite, any more than the seal on which it is found is a fish. It is merely a parasite on an amphibious mammal, which spends much of its time in the sea. Notwithstanding the name which he imposed upon it, Professor Allman, whose acute discrimination of affinity is second to none, at once referred it to its proper place. In fact, as soon as he got possession of the young mites there was no room to doubt—they are soft-bodied Gamasi (Seji), as plain as possible,’ | but the perfect mite would have been much more puzzling. Guided by the light of the larvee, we see that it belongs to this’ section of Gamaside, although the elongate form of the perfect in- sect suggests an approach to the Dermanyssi, and notably of one nearly if not quite as long and narrow as itself, that is found in the nostrils of the common goat-sucker. It is curious to speculate on the causes which led to the selection respectively by two species of ee GAMASIDS. 169 the same genus of the same place of abode in two animals living under such different conditions, a selection apparently followed or attended by a certain similarity of appearance, due no doubt to the equally restricted and confined limits of their place of abode. We can imagine the Gamasus of the animal that became a seal, being driven to take shelter in its nostrils to escape from being drowned by the washing of the seas, to which it would be exposed if it stuck to any unsheltered part of the body; and the Dermanyssus of the nostrils of the goat-sucker may have taken refuge there as its only place of secure retreat from the danger of being scratched off by the pectinated claw of its host. Sub-family DERMANYSSIDA, Genus DEermanyssus. (Dugés.) Soft-skinned ; parasitic only on warm-blooded animals. ‘No 16. DERMANYSSUS NITZSCHII (Giebe/, in Zeit. ges. Naturw. iv. 29).—16. En; 4 larged figure of ditto, copied from Giebel’s figure. This is the species from the nostrils of the goat-sucker, of which we have above spoken. It feeds on the blood of its victim; it is as big as a head-louse, and as many as twelve to fifteen were found together in the nostril of the same bird. Nos. DERMANYssUS AVIUM (Dug.)—1%. Enlarged = x8, — figure of ditto, empty ; 18. Specimens thereof; 21, 19, Vignette of chickens (realistic chick); 20. apeeermanyssus nitzschit, Enlarged figure of ditto fed; 21. Specimens Copied from Giebel. thereof. The so-called ‘‘tick” that infests domestic poultry, canaries, and Other cage birds. It lives especially in fewl houses, and on their CASE Al. 170 ARACHNOIDEA. inhabitants, and they sometimes migrate from the birds to the per- sons of those who have charge of them, and occasion them much» annoyance. Alt (a German observer) saw these mites, or a mite which he supposed to be of thes same species, upon the neck and 4 wpe oe eC ae anh ‘NAN A Mt MANN a at CHF! \\ C we i I Dermanyssus avium, full fed (upper side). Ditto, empty (under side). About the size of the cheese mite. NY m Wy A ead Sb ‘i ‘ i ( in nie aA arms of a cachectic old woman. According to him they were white, of the size of a grain of sand, extremely agile, and slipped out of little excavations (occupying the space of 14 square line), ran over the skin, and back again into their holes. Simon narrates a case in which the mite nestled upen the skin of a woman, who was otherwise healthy. She was constantly infested with little louse-like animals, notwithstanding great clean- liness and many attempts at extirpation of the mites, which were recognised by Erichson as the Dermanyssus avium. It was found at last that the woman went several times daily into the cellar, over which the hen-roost lay. As often as this was the case, the fowls flew up into their roosting-place, and by this means the woman was sprinkled with mites. The removal of the hen- roost cured her of her supposed phthiriasis. (Kuchenmeister, Manual Parasites, vol. 2, p. 64.) It also infests dove-cotes ; although no doubt it is sometimes GAMASIDS. 170 - confounded there with the Argas reflexus, which is more specially assigned to pigeons. It may be most easily observed in the cages and aviaries of singing birds, and they may harbour there, even although the most scrupulous cleanliness is exercised, especially if the perches used for the birds are made of hollow canes, and not solid wood. It is in these hollow canes that they most particularly harbour, and we may generally find them there at all seasons of the year. But it is very probable that, although it is in these recesses that we find them when we seek them during the daytime, they sally out during the night, and settle on the sleeping birds, in order to suck their blood. ‘That they do so, is shown by their digestive organs being generally full of it in all individuals, both young and adult. It is this blood which gives to these animalcules their colour, which is dark purplish or brown, when they are filled; when empty, they are colourless. In the same retreats, are found a multitude of excessively fine exuvice, or white cast skins, attesting sufficiently numerous moultings. In this heap are seen also colourless eggs, ellipsoid, nearly equalling in length the fifth part of the adult animal, which is scarcely a third of a line at the most. These eggs are said to become larger in maturing, and to take gradually, like those of the spiders, the form of the young one which is coming out. ‘The young have only six feet ; the body is much longer and more inflated than that of the individuals of the same size which have already their eight legs; these last are slenderer, and more agile, and the posterior pair are much longer than the body, and continue pellucid and colourless as at first ; but it is not long before they go and fill their stomachs, and the blood that they swallow makes them bright red at first, then dull, then brownish, in proportion as it becomes more altered and digested. Bory de St. Vincent (Ann. Sc. Nat. rst Ser. xxxv.) relates that a woman of forty years old, who felt the most intolerable itching 172 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE all over her body, had only to scratch herself to see minute mites come out of her skin, but none of them spread to, or propagated the disease to, her attendants. Gervais named this species Der- manyssus Boryi, ¢ compliment to the narrator. DERMANYSSUS HIRUNDINIS (//ermann, Mem. Apt. 84.) About the size of a large pin’s head. Found on the swallow with other vermin. No. 22, DERMANYSSUS PIPISTRELL& (Gerv., Ann. Sc. Nat. 1841).—22. Enlarged sketch of ditto, copied from Gervais’ figure. The Dermanyssi are not abso- lutely confined to birds—they are also found upon bats. The present is a species found upon the smallest of European bats (Vespertilio pipis- trelle). It is very like the common bird species, but more oval, and the colour (reddish brown) is more diffused. It would even appear, from M. Dugés’ observations, that some species attack snakes also. He speaks of two so attacked that had Dermanyssus pipistrellz. Copied from Gervais’ figure. come under his observation; one, — the common Coluber natrix, which he kept domesticated for several months, and which perished exhausted by these parasites nestled under its scales, which all his efforts had failed to destroy. . There are other Dermanyssi found on bats—new species from new countries almost always furnishing them, as well as new species of Pteroptus. Kolenati has described a number of these, and proposed various genera for their reception, under the names of Liponyssus, Ichoronyssus, Macronyssus, J.epro- GAMASIDS. 172 nyssus, Steatonyssus, and Pimelonyssus:—some of these are _ smooth, some heavy, others rough, and some with shields on the back and under side similar to those on the Pteroptide, to which these species have perhaps as much affinity as to the Dermanyssi, and Kolenati has made use of these differences to characterise his genera. We shall not follow him into these species. It may be a sufficient indication of their character to quote the names of the groups into which he divides them. He calls the whole group of Dermanyssi skin mites, and these he divides into the fat mites, the dirty mites, the big mites, the rough mites, the broken-shield mites, and the jointed-shield mites. We merely figure three of the principal types of these genera to give the reader an idea of them, but not having seen them or any carefully enlarged figures of their parts, we would refer the reader who wishes further information about them to Kolenati’s own works. From Kolenati’s figures and descriptions they seem to us (at least those with shields) to form a tribe apart midway between the Dermanyssi and the Pteroptide. LIPONYSSUS SETOSUS (Xolen. Sitz. Acad. Wiss, Wien. 1859, p. 172.) Liponyssus setosus. Copied from Kolenati, Macronyssus longimanus. — o’oorz2 of a Parisian metre in length. 0'0007 to o’oorr of a Parisian metre in length From the Rhinolophus euryale in Banat and Servia. MACRONYSSUS LONGIMANUS (olen., loc. cit. 178). On Xantharpyia «egyptiaca in Egypt. 174 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE LEPRONYSSUS RUBIGINOSUS (Kolzz. loc. cit.). XI. Reddish white, chiefly found on Myotus murinus but also on all other bats that hibernate with it. Moravia and Silesia. LEPRONYSSUS LOBATUS (Kolenati, loc. cit. 182). Lepronyssus rubiginosus. Copied from Kolenati. Lepronyssus lobatus. Copied from Kolenati, o'0008 of a Parisian metre in length. o‘oor5 of a Parisian metre in length. Cherry red, and with an overlapping after-expansion, inclining to that of Periglischrus in the Pteroptide. On Myotus murinus in the Moravian Caverns. , PIMELONYSSUS BISCUTELLUS (olenatz. loc. cit. 188). This is one of the jointed-shield mites, the shield on the back is, as it were, cut trans- versely across the middle, and on the under side there is a corresponding fold which ob- viously serves as a hinge allowing the body to bend back and forward in a way that could not have been done had there been a stiff shield without joint. On Rhinolophus ferrum-equi- Pimel s biscutelius, : Can ee eeae num in the Golubaczer Cavern. | 00005 of a Parisian metre 5 in length. We shall conclude our notices of the Dermanyssi with a doubtful species. No. 23. DERMANYSSUS(2) AGILIS (obi), (MELICHARES AGILIS, Hering, Nov. Act. Xxviil.).—28. Enlarged figure of ditto. Hering, who figures this species, says that it vas found on old dates and figs along with Glyciphagus pruncrum. The figures GAMASIDS. - 175 iven by him in his paper are in general very accurate and _ characteristic, especially considering the time when they were - made ; but this is not equal to the rest. There are various critical g points left unnoticed, and amongst others the number of joints te _ the legs seems left uncertain. Professor Robin, however, before whose knowledge of this subject we bow, regards it as a Der- manyssus. If it be so, it must be one of the Gamaside which come under the genus Sejus, and ought to be removed from those that are parasites on vertebrate animals. Sub-family PrEROPTIDAE. Genus PrEeRoptus (Dufour). Readily distinguished by their very thick, short, and conical legs, which are thicker and the joints shorter than in Dermanyssus. The majority of the species composing it are either more or less lozenge-shaped or baggy behind. All the species are parasitic on bats, to which they are confined, and they are sprinkled with bristles, which are j ointed in a manner not unlike the hairs of the bats themselves. | The resemblance between the structure of the hairs of the bats and those of their parasites is certainly very remarkable. We give a comparative view of a different kind of each in illustration cf this. Magnified hair of a species of Vampire, Magnified hair of Diplostaspis dasycnem®. after Queckett. a European Fteroptus. Here of course there can be no question of the resembiance CASE XI. 176 ARACHNOIDEA. being due to affinity, but the teleologist may perhaps say that it indicates that there is some condition of life shared by both, which makes it necessary or advantageous for the animals exposed to it to be so provided. The genus Caris of Latreille was established upon the six-footed young of the Pteropti, and the names Celeripes and Spinturnia, given respectively by Montagu and Heyden, are synonyms of Pteroptus. Kolenati has paid much attention to this group, and has pub- lished important contributions to our knowledge of its species in various works, of which the more important are ‘“ Die parasiten der Chiroptern,” his “ Bietrage zur Kentniss der Arachniden,” published in the “Sitzungs. Akad. Wissenchaft. Wien,” and various papers in other scientific journals, such as the ‘‘ Wiener Entom. Zeitschr.,” the “Stettiner Entom. Zeitung,” the “ Bulletin of Imp. Acad. Nat. Moscow,” &c. In these she has described and figured many species and established so many new genera, that he found it necessary to make a separate family for the group (Pteroptidz). We have thought a sub-family sufficient. His two most important new genera are no doubt rightly put apart—indeed we do not think that either of them belong to the Pteroptidze at all—but the rest of his genera seem all very close to each other, and, although we note and figure them, it is for the reader’s information, not because we believe them to be good genera. The two genera (Otonyssus and Peplonyssus) which differ in a marked manner from the species among which Kolenati places them, are only six-footed, and therefore probably the young of some eight-footed species. The natural supposition would be that, being parasitic upon bats, they are the young form of some Acaroid parasite of that class of animals—such as Dermanyssus, Pteroptus, or Ixodes—and Pteroptus being, par excellence, the bat parasite, it is most natural that it should be the genus looked to. But there are such material differences here, and equally o GAMASIDS. 177 for doing so more in detail. _ The sub-family divested of them may be divided into two sections, those which are so constructed as to attach them- __ selves by the inferior margin of the body all round, lke a a limpet to a rock, and those which are not so organised. _ The first of these sections constitutes the genus Periglischrus of Kolenati, and is also characterised by the posterior end of the body being more or less baggy. Section I.—ADHERING BY THE EDGE OF THE BODY. PERIGLISCHRUS RHINOLOPHINUS (Koch. Arachnid, 38, tab. 21). (Periglischrus asema, Kolenat?, Sitz. Ak. Wiss. Wien. 1858, p. 81). Kolenati’s species seems to be the same as Koch’s. It is yellowish white in colour, and is found on Rhinolophus ferrum- equinum throughout Europe. a PERIGLISCHRUS CALIGUS (Kolenaii, Sitz. Akad. Wiss. Wien. 1858, p. 79). ‘fF Periglischrus rhinolophinus. Copied from Koch’s Periglischrus caligus. Copied from Kolenati. + Ubersicht. o*0006 of a Parisian metre in length. o‘oorx of a Parisian metre in length, A Brazilian species found on the wing of Glossophaga amplexi- caudata. It is dull yellow. M 178 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE TINOGLISCHRUS PUNCTOLYRA (Kolenati, Sitz. Akad. Wiss. Wien. 1858. XI. No. 24. p- 82). Tinoglischrus punctolyra. Copied from Kolenatt. ; Do. underside. o0'0005 ef a Parisian metre in length. This differs from Periglischrus in having the body attenuated both before and behind. It is found on Rhinopoma macrophyllum in Egypt. TINOGLISCHRUS AUDOUINII.—24. Enlarged sketch of ditto, copied from figure by M. Audouin. This species was found by Audouin on Rhinolophus unihastatus. It was described and figured by him in the Annal. Sc. Nat. 1832, but without name. We have appended his own to it. There seems little doubt that it belongs to this section and this sub- genus. Tinoglischrus audouinii Copied from Audouin’s figure. Section II.—NoT ADHERING BY THE EDGE OF THE BODY. Almost all the species of the genus Pteroptes have, in some form or to some extent, a horny shield over the upper or under side of the body, and this applies both to this and the preceding section. The latter, being small, called for no further subdivision, and in it no genera have been proposed founded upon variations in these shields. In this section, however, Kolenati has used them as characters for a number of genera that he has founded GAMASIDS. 179 ‘upon them. -Of those that have a single shield on the back and __none on the belly, he makes the genus Monostaspis. Those that have one shield on the back and one on the belly, he makes Diplostaspis. Of those that have one on the back and two on the belly, he makes Tristaspis. Those with a divided shield on the back and one below, he calls Heterostaspis. One that has remarkably thick anterior legs, with the claws developed into something like an anchor without a caruncle, he calls Leiostaspis, and so on. ‘These have all very: much the same facies, and require careful examination to distinguish them from each other. For our purpose it will be sufficient to notice the commonest and the most remarkable. | The commonest is perhaps :— DIPLOSTASPIS VESPERTILIONIS (Acarus vespertilionis, Herm. Apter. p. 84, pl. 1, fig. 14, 1804; Pteroptus vespertilionis, Duwf Ann. Sc. Nat. 1832; Sarcoptes vespertilionis, Koch. in Herrich-Scaff. Ins. Deutsch. Heft 167, tab. 23 ; Dermanyssus albatus, Koch. Deutsch. Crust. Myr. and Arach. h. 24, 168, 5 (young state) ; Dermanyssus arcuatus, Koch. id, op. h. 24, 168, 2; Diplostaspis arcuata, Kolenatz, Sitz. Akad. Wiss. Wien. 1858, 166).—25. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 26. Specimens of ditto (r slide). a, Gi d we 6 AN) BP ANONG ZS ip \ Diplostaspis vesp2rtilionis. Ditto (D, arcuata Kol.) Copied from Hermann’s early figure, Copied from Kolenati’s better and later figure, Half a line in length.» o’oor5 of a Parisian metre in length. Yellowish cream coloured, with dark or purplish markings ; very frequent on Panugo noctula throughout Europe. We have noted what appear to be synonymes given to it by various authors. M 2 180 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE LEIOSTASPIS ZELEBORII (Kolenati in Sitz Akad. Wiss. Wien. 1860, = Ancystropus zeleborii, Ao/enazi in Parasiten der Chiroptern, p. 25). Dull yellow, with brown legs, and blackish markings. Found on the eyelids and eye corners of Xantharpia egyptiaca (seed eating bats) in Egypt ; not rare. Sub-family ARGASIDAE. Genus Arcas (Laér.). : The skin in this genus is leathery and Copiesisstanpis zeleborti. flexible, but not smooth, being coarse and oroo09 of a Maren metren covered with granulations or depressions. The anterior part of the body projects over the mouth, so that none of its parts are visible at least in the perfect insect. The first joint of the palpi is larger than the rest. In some species the joints of the legs e Sy, 4 are more or less nodose, and in the perfect insect there are no caruncles en ee oe to the claws of the tarsi, although in the young there would appear to be so, at least they are so figured in Audouin’s drawing of the young of Argas pipistrellze. No. a7 ARGAS PIPISTRELLA (Audouin, Ann. Sc. Nat. 1832).—2%. Enlarged sketch of young of ditto from Audouin’s figure. Argas pipistrellae (young, under side). Claw of ditto. Copied from Audouin's figure. ~ Copied from Audouin. Found on the body of the little pipistrel bat, with its snout 3 No 29. GAMASIDS. 181 deeply buried in the skin. The woodcut shows the young, which was the stage on which Latreille’s genus Caris was founded. ARGAS REFLEXUS (/aé.), (Rhynchoprion columbe, Herm.).—28 Enlarged figure of ditto. The present species occurs on A y pigeons (whence it was named Rhyn- WEN choprion columbe by Hermann). wtooeoiA It is chiefly met with in the south ke \\ of Europe. In the north it does je \ not appear to be very frequent ; Gee although, no doubt, if search were properly made for it, it would be found much too common. Some years ago it was found swarming in a house in Frankfort, and latterly siegn ges rene. (1872) has been detected by Mr. Gulliver on pigeons near Maidstone, in Kent (Quarterly Journ. Microsc. Scc. and Ann. Nat. Hist. 1872). ARGAS PERSICUS (Fisch.).—29. Enlarged figure of under side. In Persia the present species has long been known and dreaded as an annoyance. It is there called Malleh de Mianeh, and has been noticed by travellers under the name of Teigne de Miana, or venomous bug of Miana. It lives in houses, and it is reported that its puncture occasions disagreeable or even serious conse- quences to man—producing convulsions, delirium, sometimes followed by gangrene of the part, and, as is asserted, even death —a statement which it is now said is very much exaggerated, if not wholly incorrect. The body is flat and thin, of a clear blood- red, spotted on the back, with a great many white spots or granu- lations. The feet are pale yellow. 182 ARACHNOIDE A. CASE ARGAS AMERICANUS (Riley). —80, Enlarged figure of ditto. Ne. ° Found in Texas along with the common cattle tick (Ixodes bovis), but has not yet been recorded as troublesome to man. Argas Miniatus. Copied from Koch. Its form is similar to that of the Persian species, but the granulations are smaller, and on the back radiate from a central point outwards, av cially behind. | ARGAS MINIATUS (Koch). Said by Koch to be from “ Dama- rara” (whether intended for Demerara or Damara Land not known). No. 31. ARGAS MOUBATA (JZurr, n. s.).—81. Enlarged figure of ditto. This insect is a native of Angola. Specimens were brought home by the late lamented Dr. Welwitsch, and it is figured from those in his collection. Argas moubata (magnified and natural It is called by the natives Moubata, and we have preserved the name. It attacks both man and beast, and, according to Dr. Welwitsch, gets at man in bed like a bug. The pain of its bite is not felt until two hours after it has been inflicted, but it makes up for the respite by continuing painful and inflamed for from twelve to twenty-four hours thereafter. It is oblong, coriaceous, coloured something like a shark’s skin, or slate-colour, speckled with white spots or granulations all over it, which are larger and more dispersed than in the other species. It is obviously akin to the Argas Savignii of Egypt, which, how- ever, does not, from the figure in the “ Description de l’Egypte,” GAMASIDS. yes 183 appear to have the paler spots or granulations of this species. Tie colour of A. Savignii is not mentioned in the description. No. 3 ARGAS (ORNITHODOROS CORIACEUS) (Aoch).. 82 Enlarged sketch of ditto, ‘a copied from Koch’s figure. . ‘ Koch, in his “ Ubersicht,” pro- ‘ poses a genus under the name of | Ornithodoros for those species of Argas that have eyes. We have already pointed out the insuff- cient nature of this character, and therefore hesitate to adopt it. The present is the species on Ree which he founds it. The front ieee fouesiiedsros) corageds: is a little projecting ; the colour ar Aca aadent| is pale yellowish brown, with vermilion spots speckled over it. It is from Mexico. No. 33. ARGAS (ORNITHODOROS) TALAJE (Guer.).—83. Enlarged figure of ditto. A very irritating substitute for, or rather addition to the flea, in Guatemala. M. Sallé, the well-known French entomologist, who collected largely in Central America, thus describes the annoyance caused by this insect :-— “Being at Casa Vieja de Gastoya, on Argas (Omithodoros)talage. the road from Guatemala to Zacapa (Cen- : tral America), about fifteen leagues from Guatemala, the 6th of May, 1847, I was awakened several times out of a profound sleep by atrocious itching on the hands and face, and my companion, M. Jules, suffered still more than I did. At three o’clock, irritated by these painful bites, I lighted a candle, and found that I had CASE XI. 184 ARACHNOIDEA. my hands covered with blood and blotches like large bites of bugs, which I supposed must belong to some particular species of monstrozis size. My companion told me that we had been stung by wasps lodged in the walls of the house. On arousing the muleteer who conducted us, he told us that we were the victims of an animal called Talaje, which they considered a large flea. On seeking for the insect, I found this Argas, which appeared to me very disgusting. Some were distended with blood, others had the skin rugose and wrinkled. I then remembered having taken some of them on my face during the night, and having rolled them between my fingers, taking them for some of the ticks with which my mule was covered to such a degree that some people told me it would be killed by them. “ These Talajes keep themselves in the crevices of the walls of old houses. These walls are made of bamboos, roughed with mortar. They bite like fleas, and return to their holes before morning, for they are nocturnal. My hands and ears were much swollen, and I suffered horribly. On piercing some of the pustules full of blood occasioned by these, a drop of blood issued. I washed myself, and put in the water some drops of volatile alkali, but in place of allaying the pain, that only added to the swelling and inflammation. “‘M. Jules did nothing, and suffered as much as I did, only the swelling was less, and did not last so long.” M. Sallé passed two bad feverish nights after this. On the third he began to get better, but it was not until a fortnight afterwards that he was entirely cured.— ev. ALag. Zool., 1849, 342. é The figure is copied from Guerin, and from its appearance it seems not unlikely that it may belong to the same section as the preceding. An insect belonging to this group has been described under the name of Eschatocephalus gracilipes. It is said to be only an aberrant form of Argas. TICKS. 188 Family IXODID (Ticks). in, which, in the female, is capable of much extension. The strum and mandibles are adapted for sucking. They have | ~_valvate palpi sheathing the rostrum, which is composed of two BY lateral parts, and a middle part covered with recurved barbs, “s which prevent its retracting when once driven into the flesh ; but Professor Busk ascertained by his researches on the living young of the Catapato (Amblyomma rotundatum) that the sucking Claw of ditto. Copied from figure by Megnin, apparatus (in it at least) lies not in the middle part or rostrum, but in the mandibles on each side of it, up each of these run two tubes designed for this office. The feet terminate in two claws, and a caruncle or vesicle which acts as a sucker. An important CASE XII 186 ARACHNOIDEA. character is their having a small carapace or shield on the back behind the head. Some have eyes, and some none. ‘The habits of the species must at first be herbivorous, for it is from the herbage that they find their way to the creatures on which they fix; but when mature, they greedily avail themselves of every opportunity of settling on vertebrate animals, whose blood they suck instead of sap. It is a remarkable feature in the economy of these minute animals, that the same species at different stages of its life should thus be at one time phytophagous, and at another carnivorous. The usual special adaptation of structure to kind of food would seem to be absent, but the anomaly is only apparent. Carnivorous mammals are provided with a different apparatus for obtaining their food from that of vegetable feeders ; not no account of the difference in the chemical constituents of their food, but on account of the different form in which it is presented to them for consumption and assimilation. If, for example, the food of both was presented to them in a liquid state, in the one case blood, and in the other juice of plants, we may be sure that the carni- vorous Canines in the one case, and the vegetarian molars in the other, would be alike dispensed with, and both would be furnished with a sucking-up or pumping apparatus, which might be identical, if no speciality in the mode in which the liquid presented itself called for a difference. There might be a difference in the structure of their viscera, adapted to the chemical character of the liquid food, but there is no teleological reason why the external and oral structure should not be the same in both. ‘This is what ~ we find in all suctorial insects—bugs, gnats, acari, &c. All are provided with a sucking apparatus, constructed on a similar plan, which some use upon animals, and others upon plants. It has been even said that some, as the bed-bug, feed upon the juice of plants and blood of animals indifferently, and the impossibility of immense swarms of mosquitoes ever tasting foocat-all in the perfect state, if they are restricted to the blood of mammals, has been adduced as an argument in support of their doing so too. It is to TICKS. 187 : = be remembered, too, that in some of these blood-suckers, as the mosquito, it is only the female that attacks us, or indeed that is provided with the sucking apparatus, and there is a very good reason for this. The mission of the male is done as soon as he has impregnated the female, and he may get about his busi- ness, and_die as soon as he pleases. Nature has no further use for him ; but the female has still to lay her eggs, therefore she must be fed. In, like manner so is only the female tick that we find with its large abdomen distended with blood. The abdomen of the male is not capable of distension like that of the female. Eyes are absent in many species of this genus (for example, in our own ticks), but present in others. The group is very homogeneous, and although there are various types that may serve for subsections, it does not appear thai as yet any very good sectional characters have been found to enable us to break it up, and distribute its numerous species into genera. Koch has tried to do so by the eyes ; thus he reserves the name Ixodes for those without eyes; then he makes a genus Hyalomma for those with clear distinct cone-shaped eyes, and palpi as long or longer than the head ; one named Dermacentor, with small flat moderately clear pale eyes, and very short broad palpi ; one named Amblyomma, with flat muddy dull pale eyes. Starting from these, he uses other characters to differentiate the species still farther ; Hzemalastor has the eyes of Hyalomma, but the body straight in front, without any emargination for the recep- tion of the head, and very long hind legs, and the whole upper surface covered by the shield; Rhipicephalus has the eyes of Amblyomma, but with the palpi as broad as long, and with an external angle, and so on. But we have already seen the little value of the eyes as a character in some of the other groups, and the whole family is so homogeneous, especially the females, that although some of Koch’s sections may be of use as artificial aids to the recognition of species, we cannot regard them as of much 188 ARACHNOIDEA. oe use in arriving at a correct view of their natural relations to each other. Notwithstanding this. we shall for the sake«of facilitating the task of any one who may be disposed to make a study of the family, give, in their natural places, a figure of each of Koch’s genera above mentioned... There stems to be at least three pretty well defined types of form. The oblong oval one that we have in this country, and which extends over the whole of the northern temperate regions, which may be regarded as the true Ixodes, the more erbicular species like a coin, generally with eyes, almost exclusively tropical, and principally composed of Koch’s genus Amblyomma, and the small, very flat variegated species, which as yet have only been found on snakes. The Ixodidz that we have in this country live in woods and herbage, and attach themselves to different animals as they pass ; from sucking the blood, the body of the female swells in the form of a pea or bean. It has indeed often been supposed that they are actually parasitic-on the animals on which they are found, and that a separate kind is appropriated to each animal, and that they breed either upon them or about them. Thus, one is called the dog-tick, another the cattle-tick. One of the American represen- tatives is called the ox-tick (Ixodes bovis), and Leach described six British species, one as being appropriate to the swallow, another to the hedgehog, two to dogs, another to dogs and hedge- hogs, and a sixth (Nycteribia), which turns out to belong to another order (the flies), to the bats. It is an undoubted fact also, that vast numbers of the present species have been found in dog-kennels, swarming so in the chinks of the wood, as to render it necessary to pull them down and burn them. Nothing, however, in this is inconsistent with the natural habitat of the ticks being in herbage and foliage, or with their being carried by dogs or cattle from their proper habitat to the places where they live, and there propagating themselves. There is no getting over the fact, which every one accustomed ‘to a country life knows, that dogs will go out in the morning TICKS. 189 perfectly free from ticks, and after a few hours’ hunting or rambling come home with a quantity upon them; that cattle and horses combed and curried and sent out to grass clean are soon loaded with them ; and that man himself, especially in haytime, is often seriously annoyed by them. So far then as regards our British species, it is impossible to suppose that they are bred on the creature on which they are found. It is to be noted, however, that a good many exotic species show indications of being limited to one animal, and even of passing their lives upon them: some of these have been taken no where else but from between the scales of various serpents from warm climates, such as the python, the boa constrictor, etc., living (or dying) in captivity in menageries, etc. These of course have come with them from their native countries; but none of them have as yet been found on any other animal from these countries— an exception which loses some of its force when we remember that no.animal is so helpless and powerless to get rid of ticks as a serpent, especially when they once get between its scales. It may be that, nevertheless, this section has some special habit adapting them for attachment to scaley reptiles. They are all of a flat circular type, admirably adapted for getting between the scales, and in their very colour they imitate the colours of the serpents on which they live. To be sure that colour is usually that of tangled herbage, but other species of Ixodes have not this combination of colouring. On these accounts we propose to make a separate section for them under the name of Ophiodes ; although, so far as we yet know, there are no other characters by which to separate them. Another case in which it seems probable that ticks are truly assigned to one class of animals, is where they are found on bats. Kolenati has described some half dozen species as peculiar to them, and it is very probable that they are so, for not only have they been found nowhere else, but the most of them are distinguished by a special character, namely, the possession of long and slender 190 ARACHNOIDEA. a legs. Itis to be noticed. too, fhat two specimens of a species of Ixodes (named Ixodes longipes by M. Lucas—Bull. Soc. Ent. Fr. » 1872); were lately taken in one of the subterranean caverns of the Pyrenees, viz.,‘the upper cavern of Mas-d’azil in the Ariege and it, too, was distinguislied by the length and slenderness of its legs. There can be little doubt, we imagine, that they were individuals that had dropped from some kat that had made the cavern its place of retreat ; and it is, perhaps, not wholly irrele- vant to remark that disproportionate length and slenderness of the legs is a very common modification of the parts in blind insects inhabiting such caverns: for example, Anopthalmus, Aphzenops, Leptoderus, etc. Genus IxopEs—without eyes. Nos. IXODES ERINACEUS (Amd., Ann. Sc. Nat. 1532).—l. Enlarged figure of 4 ey g male; 2, Specimen of ditto (5); 3. Enlarged figure of female, half fed ; 4, Specimen of ditto in phial, ditto (11); 5. Enlarged figure of female, full fed ; 6. Specimen of ditto in phial (4). Ixodes erinaceus (raale). Ditto omnia 3 lines in length. Magnified and natural size. This is a common species in Britain, and is found in rough herbage, woods, and on dogs, cattle, foxes, hedgehogs, &c. It is, we believe, the species that is commonly, although erroneously, taken for Ixodes ricinus, at any rate generally known as the dog tick: TICKS, IQI IXODES FODIENS (JZeniiz, Insect. Agric. 1867, p. 107). (IL. pustularum, Luc., Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1866, Bull. lvii.) ixedes fodiens (female), under side. Magnified and natural size. Reduced from figure by M. Megnin. This species appears to be nearly allied to the preceding. But in addition to its colour, which M. Megnin says is black, the legs seem to be placed at greater distances from each other. The difference in the form does not go for so much, because that depends in the female a good deal on the degree of distension of the body. Its habits, or we should rather say, the results which M. Megnin relates as following upon its attack, are moreover quite different from anything that is recorded of any other species of Ixodes, and we cannot help thinking that they must have proceeded from some abnormal state of the health of the animal attacked, or from some special circumstances which do not appear in his narra- tion. His account is as follows :— “Towards the 15th of last June (1866) a mare, fifteen years old, belonging to Captain Pinard, of the 1st regiment of dragoons in garrison at Versailles, presented all at once a disease of the skin of a very unusual form, which affected the legs exclusively. This disease was characterised by a pustular eruption, which occupied the lower part of the limbs, without ascending above the knees or houghs, and was accompanied by much itching. Each pustule rested on a hard inflamed base, and was covered by a crust of dried purulent matter, which was easily detached, taking 192 ARACHNOIDEA. along with it a bundle of hairs, and then disclosed a small ulcer. At the bottom of.that ulcer, and completely concealed by the crust, the parasite was found, and it was clearly the determining cause of the pustule, because it healed up spontaneously as soon as the insect was removed ; but as it would have taken too long to destroy all the individuals one by one in this manner, they were disposed of e masse, by lotions of an infusion of tobacco. Eight days after its appearance, the malady, thanks to this treatment, completely disappeared, leaving in the place of each pustule a small smooth white scar.” Previous to M. Megnin’s publication, M. Lucas had given a preliminary notice of the matter to the Entomological Society of France, from M. Megnin’s information, and stated that M. Megnin proposed for the insect the name I. pustularum, but he gave no description. M. Megnin would appear to have forgot this, and gave it the above name when he described it. IXODES MARGINATUS (Leach) (testudinarius, JZurr.).—7. Enlarged figure of male; 8. Specimen of ditto (8); 9. Enlarged figure of female; 10, Specimen of ditto. Ixodes marginatus (male). Ditto (female) unfilled. 1} lines in length. We believe that this is the I. marginatus of Leach. The Ixodes marginatus of Fabricius is said to be Argas reflexus. It also is a British species, and sometimes has swarmed in such great numbers on lawns and hay-fields, as to have made the TICKS: 193 mowing and drying of the grass a very troublesome and disagree- able operation to the labourers. We imagine that this is the species spoken of by Mr. Gulliver as troublesome in Kent, and which he supposes to be Ixodes Dugesii. . IXODES RICINUS (Koch, Arachnidz),—-11. Enlarged figure of ditto, copied from Koch’s figure. A great deal of confusion seems to exist as to which species is the true Ixodes ricinus of Linnzeus. We have endeavoured to unravel it without much success. On examining the species in the Linnzan Collection in the possession of the Linnean Society, we find that the specimens stand almost without exception unnamed. Among them, however, there is one (unnamed) that corresponds with Koch’s figure of Ixodes ricinus, and we there- fore fancy that that figure may be taken as representing the true ricinus, . IXODES REDUVIUS (Aud., Ann. Sc. Nat. 1832.),—12. Enlarged sketch of ditto, copied from Audouin’s figure. A French species, which comes near that which we have above- named marginatus. IXODES TRABEATUS (Azd. loc. cit.),—13. Enlarged sketch of ditto, copied from Audouin’s figure. Another French species, distinguished by the anterior half of the body being black, and the posterior red. IxopeEs Bovis (A/ey).—14. Enlarged figure of male; 15. Enlarged figure of female ; 16. Specimen of ditto (1). We have taken our sketch of the male from a figure given by Mr. Riley, in the appendix to Professor Hayden’s Geological | Report on Montana, Utah, &c., for 1872. And that of the female, from a specimen (No. 16) that we took off the neck of a miner in Utah, a portion of whose skin may still be seen adhering N CASE XII. Nos. 17, 18 Nos. 1g, 20. 194 ARACHNOIDEA. to the rostrum. Koch has figured and described (in his Uber- sicht) another American tick, under the name of Ixodes Ameri- cana (Acarus Nigua, Deg.) It is rounder and smaller, and is probably more confined to the southern districts. This latter is spoken of as being known in America by the name of pzques, and as being very distressing, and sometimes dangerous to man and cattle. That it is very annoying is beyond doubt, especially where men habitually sleep and live in the open air. | Mr, Riley says of his species that it occurs in great abundance at times on cattle in the West, and in Texas and Central America, and that it had also been detected on a porcupine and on a hare, which is confirmatory of the view we have above taken regarding their habitat and habits. It is probably this tick to which Captain Campbell Hardy alludes in his “ Forest Life in Acadie” (1869). > tiem (Ixodes) affects the moose, especially in winter and early spring. The animal strives to free itself from their irritation, by striding over bushes and brambles. ‘The ticks may often be seen on the beds in the snow, where moose have lain down, and whence they are quickly picked up by the ever-attendant moose birds or Canada jays (Corvus Canadensis). ‘These vermin will fasten on the hunter when backing his meat out of the wodds. The Indian says, ‘bite all same as a piece of fire’” (p. 80). IXODES BREVIPES (AZwr. n. s.).—1%. Enlarged figure of female of ditto; 18. Specimens (2). A rather broad and comparatively short species from Ceylon distinguished by the legs being more slender and shorter than in the allied species. IXODES DISTIPES (AZurr. n. s.).—19. Enlarged sketch of female of ditto ; 20. Specimen of ditto (1). This is a species we have received from Tunis, and we made sure that we should find it described either in the “ Description ‘ Nos ° Per, 22. LICKS. 195 ¢ CASE de Egypte, or in Lucas’ entomological part of the “ Exploration de lAlgerie.” We cannot, however, identify it with anything there, and therefore have named it as above, provisionally. It is like, but more than twice the size of Ixodes erinaceus, at least the female is (which we have alone seen), and instead of having all the feet, as in it, close to the head, has a greater distance between their origins, a peculiarity from which we have given it its name. IXODES TRANSVERSALIS (Zwc.).—21. Enlarged sketch of ditto; 22. Sketch of head of python, showing groove under eyebrow in which it is found. This is a species which was described by M. Lucas from specimens found in the deep groove under the eyebrow of one of the West African pythons kept in the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes. It will be seen from the figure that it is very Ixodes transversalis. like the female of any common species of Ixodes, with the exception that the abdomen is transverse instead of longitudinal, and it suggests the idea that it possibly may be the same as one of these with the abdomen pressed into a trans- verse position from the confined and constrained situation in which the animal has been living. It would appear that it has been found more than once in the same spot of the python’s head in different individuals, and never anywhere else, and if we imagine an ordinary Ixodes to fix itself in the groove below the eyebrow of the python, and to fill itself in that constrained posi- tion, the abdomen might certainly not have room to distend itself in the usual longitudinal direction, but be forced to spread itself sideways, and if the insect remains fixed for a sufficient time, the set of the abdomen might become permanent. Genus Sarconyssus (Kolen.). Terminal joint of the palpi rounded or oval. 196 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE SARCONYSSUS NODULIPES (Ko/enati, Sitz. Akad. Wiss. Wien, 1860, p. 576). XI. Kolenati describes four species of Ixodes found on bats under the generic name of Sarconyssus, but we can find no difference in his characters from those of the typical Ixodes, except that above noted. X, XA \ \ SS Ss be IW KX 2 YS = GyA,' JU0E 226 ARACHNOIDEA. We have found this species in England about the roots of the vine, along with Phylloxerzee, Hypopi, and Gamasidz. Mr. Riley found this curious species in America associated with a Tyroglyphus which he found in the perfect state feeding on the Phylloxera vastatrix at the roots of the grape-vine, and he sup- posed it possible that it might in some way be related to these Tyroglyphi, because in studying their habits he had frequently filled vessels with vine roots from which all but Tyroglyphi and Phylloxerze had, to all appearance, been carefully excluded, only to find, on subsequent examination, a number of these mussel- like Hoplophoras, and a corresponding decrease in the number of Tyroglyphi. It is not unlikely, however, that he is in error in this. Our woodcut of the larva of Hoplophora shows how similar they are to the larve of the Tyroglyphs, and how easy it would be, in sweeping in a number of Tyroglyphs of all ages, unwit- tingly to include some of the larvze of Hoplophora among them. Mr. Riley, however, remarks that from his results happening in the fall of the year, he could not help suspecting that the former might prove to be a hibernating form of the latter; but with wise discretion he has preferred to explain the facts by supposing that at first the Hoplophora were buried, and consequently invisible within the roots examined, and that the decrease in the number of Tyroglyphs was owing to death and other causes~an explanation which (says he) is all the more plausible from the fact that he sub- sequently found the same narrow-bodied Hoplophora swarming in decaying cotton wood logs—an explanation, however, which does — not meet the circumstance he mentions, that the new Hoplophore corresponded in number to the missing Tyroglyphs, although it © might be sufficient had no such correspondence been observed. The present species differs from the other members of the genus in the form of its chitonous coat, which is so narrow that the animal topples over on its side the moment the limbs are with- drawn. ACARIDS. i Family ACARID. Authors have hitherto been in the habit of including in one division, called Sarcoptidz, the whole of the old genus Acarus, or - soft-bodied semi-transparent fleshy mites. By far the larger portion of these seems to us, however, to be capable of division into two tolerably distinct and easily distinguishable sections: One, the cheese mites and their allies (Tyroglyphide), and the other the Sarcoptide, Itch mites, and their relatives the louse mites. This, however, does not exhaust the list of those usually ranked under the Sarcoptide. There are at least three minor groups, the Hypoderide, the Hypopidz, and the Phytoptidz, which are all so peculiar in their appearance and mode of life, that we propose to rank them as separate secondary sub-divisions. We would suggest as a c@nvenient arrangement that the whole of the old genus Acarus should be divided inte the following sub-families—viz. : ist SECTION.—Surface of skin smooth, shining or velvety ; tarsi usually with claws. 1. Hypoderidz.—Leng bodies and very short legs, with a great distance between the two anterior and twe posterior pairs; parasitic under the skin of birds ; mouth not made eut. 2. Hypopide.—Without any apparent mouth; anterior pair of legs generally much developed ; posterior often almost atrophied. 3. Tyroglyphide.—Cheese mites, with chelate mandibles and stout legs, and the tarsi in some with and others without a sucker. 2nd SEcTION.—Surface ef skin more or less transversely striated; tarsi usually with suckers instead of claws. 4. Sarcoptide.—Itch mites, which are rounded or quadrate, with legs short and feeble; and Dermaleichidz.—Louse mites, usually elon- gate, and often with some of the legs monstrously developed. 5. Phytoptide.—Gall and bud mites. We know that no definition can be given which will absolutely and sharply separate any group of insects, but the above charac- ters will, we think, answer the purpose of a natural arrangement, provided a few transitional exceptions on either side be allowed. The species of the first group, Hypoderide, are internal parasites ; the next group, Hypopidz (as we believe), are Ichneumon para- P 2 CASE XIV. 228 ARACHNOIDEA. sites; the third, Tyroglyphide, not parasitic; the fourth, Sarcop- tidee, are burrowers in or parasitic on the skin of mammals; the Dermaleichide are feeders on fur and feathers of living animals ; and the Phytoptidz browsers on the skin of buds and leaves, pro- ducing excrescences like galls on the latter. With scarcely an exception, all of the first section have a smooth skin not marked by minute stric, lines or wrinkles. Of the second, on the other hand, all have the skin marked by fine strize or lines like wrinkles, the lines being distributed after a definite pattern, differing in each species. In the former the legs are usually terminated by a single claw, more or less distinct, and although in many species this is accompanied by a sucker or vesicle, it is usually small, and generally surrounds the claw, ike a sleeve; while in the latter the suckers, with rare exceptions, are present as a prominent feature, while claws are either absent or only slightly developed. Sub-Family HyPODERID. Parasitic sub-cutaneous mites living between the skin and the muscle of certain birds. They are oblong oval, almost trans- parent bags, with the two anterior and two posterior pairs of legs placed a long way from each other ; the claws of the tarsi seem to be two fine hairs, and we do not think that the parts of the mouth have been deciphered. Montague seems to have been the first to notice these creatures; at least, the species named by him Cellularia bassani, which lives = in the air cells under the skin of the solan goose (Sula bassana), . must have been one of this genus. Nitzsch next observed the same species, which he named Sarcoptes subcutaneus. Then, in 1843, Miescher described two found in the common swift (Cyp- selus apus), one in the bronchial tubes, (which, notwithstanding that Erichson, from the description, thinks must have been a Der- maleichus, from the habitat most probably belongs to this group), and another from the air tubes and lungs of the Butcher-bird {Lanius Excubitor) in immense quantity. HYVPODERIDA. 229 That author had also formerly observed, on the inner surface of the skin taken off a common mouse, small milk-white knots of about the size of a pin’s head, which, under the microscope tummed out to be nests of mites, containing 20 or 30 small mites. He also met.with flat angular mites many times larger, under the ____ skin of a fox. Whether both or either of these belong to this genus there are not sufficient materials to determine—nor, indeed, have we met with any carefully described and figured record of the presence of the genus Hypoderas anywhere but under the skin of , various species of birds. _ There is no doubt, however, as to a species described by Dr. | Gros, in a paper in the “ Bulletin of the Imperial Society of _ Moscow” (1845, s. 397, tab. 11), which he found under the skin and even in the muscles of a heathcock. Thereafter, in 1864, V. Frauenfeld described a species (Hypoderas unicolor) that was found in great numbers massed together in a ball forming a sub- cutaneous tumour under the wings of a grosbeak (Verh. Zool. Bot. Gesell. in Wien, XIV., 385). Since then a considerable number of species have been described and figured by Giebel in the “Zeitschr. Gesamm. Naturw. III.,” from which we have taken the illustrations of this group. Genus HypoDERAS (/rauenfed), Cellularia, Montague. Characters same as those of the sub-family. No. HYypPoDERAS BREVIS (Gicb.).—1. Magnified sketch of ditto from Giebel’s figure. LE, Hypoderas brevis. Copied from Giebel’s figure. 230 CASE Found in XIV. No. 2. Hypoderas lineatus. Copied from Giebel’s figure. ARACHNOIDEA. the cellular tissue of the Night Heron (Ardea nycticorax), a bird very common in many coun- tries of Europe, in Africa, and also in Asia and Japan. HYPODERAS LINEATUS (WVitzsch).—2. Magnified sketch of ditto from Giebel’s figure. Nitzsch found this species in meconceivable numbers in an old night heron (Ardea nycticorax) in various places, but especially in the fatty masses. which lie in the arm-pit on the outer margin of the pectoral muscle. They were in abundance in the cellular tissue, and there was no perceptible opening communicating with the exterior. HYPODERAS COLUMB, Cellularia sp. (Robertson, Journ. Micr. Soc. N. S. vi. 201). Mr. C. Robertson has described and figured a species without name, but to which we have provisionally given the name of Columba, after the animal in which it was found. It. is obviously a species of this genus, and as Mr. Robertson points out it is very near the species above-mentioned, described by Montague under the name of Cellularia bas- sani, from the Solan goose. By the rules. Cellularia columbz (under mide). (Coated trom of priority Cellularia should therefore take Robertson's figure. precedence of Frauenfeld’s modern name Hypoderas; but the former name has for long been appropriated to a genus of Ditto, onvein of pigeon. | Polyps, and the present is a type of too Nearly natural size, abnormal a nature to allow a double em- ployment of the name to be admitted. AAV POPRTDZE: 231 Mr. Robertson reports of his species that it is a small maggc. ' like animal, distinctly visible to the naked eye, and that it was found chiefly amongst the connective tissue of the skin, on the large veins near the heart, and on the surface of the pericardium. When few were observed, these were generally found adhering closely to the large veins near the heart. If the veins have been previously injected with size and vermilion, the white transparent acatl are seen very distinctly on the red delicate walls. All the examples which he examined were very transparent, without any trace of well-defined digestive or generative organs, even when examined with the highest powers. He adds that he had examined a considerable number of both the wood and tame ; pigeon and seldom found them free from these or similar Acari. Sub-family HyPoPID. The characters of the sub-family are the same as those of the genus, for although it contains two or three different forms, which probably may hereafter be resolvable into separate genera, we have not as yet thought it necessary to introduce these. Genus Hypopus (Duges). Until recently the study of this genus was attended with no particular interest beyond that attaching to its fellow mites ; but in 1868, an element of doubt and uncertainty was introduced by M. Claparéde, who announced, as the result of his researches (“Studien an Acariden”), that the genus hitherto known as Hy- popus was only a male form of certain Tyroglyphide evolved out of the larve in the same way that we have seen the perfect Hoplophora appear. To enable the reader to understand the position of this curious question, we must give him a short history of the observations on Hypopus. In August, 1735, De Geer observed great numbers of very little mites on the house-fly. They were in such large numbers, that the neck and back were entirely covered with them. They were CASE XIV. 232 ARACHNOIDEA. perfectly still, but when touched, began to run with much quick. ness. Their colour was reddish ; the body oval, and the head furnished with a little trumpet, in front of which were several rather long hairs. The first two pairs of legs were large, the third much shorter, and the posterior very long and filiform. Linnzeus, after this author, described it in his “Systema Nature,” under the name of Acarus muscarum; Geoffrey, who seems also to have seen it, called it the brown Fly-mite. This was the first notice we have of the Hypopus. Subsequently, in April, 1797, Hermann found in great numbers, on the underside and feet of a larva of a Lamellicorn beetle (Os- moderma eremita), very small, oval, fleshy mites, of a brownish yellow, with short stiff feet, and the tarsus with prickles bent outwards, which he called spinitarsus (Acarus spinitarsus). Dugés, long afterwards (in 1834), found on a Hister an Acarus, which he thought was identical with that of Hermann, and made a genus (Hypopus) for it, to which he transferred the Acarus — muscarum of De Geer, and which he thus characterised in placing it in his family of Acarus. “These Acarids have a narrow sucker, provided with two rigid bristles, directed outwards, and seeming to be composed of a lip soldered to the palpi.” He adds, that the mandibles were not seen by him. By the crushing of the only specimen he had in his hands, he saw that the anterior bristles started from a moveable part, in the form of a parallelo- gram, membranous in the middle, and thick at the edge, like the lip soldered to the palpi in the Acarids, properly so called. He ~ could find no other palpi, nor perceive the mandibles. Leon Dufour, in 1839, discovered two other species of this — genus ; the one (H. feroniarum), lived in crowded groups under the head, corslet, and abdomen of beetles belonging to the genus Feronia ; the other (H. sapromyzarum), lived on diptera of the genus Sapromyza. . Thereafter, Dujardin, in 1843, described an Acarus, which from the mouth and abdominal suckers, cups, or sucking appa- HVPOPIDE. An ratus, he called Ancetus, from the Greek word meaning incom- ' prehensible. He found a number of individuals upon the under- wing of a bee. All that he saw of its organisation, its haunches drawn near each other, and contiguous to the median line, and occupying more than two-thirds of the whole length, the head rudimentary or null, and replaced by a short blade, with two bristles in front, but without any trace of mouth, its feet quite unfit for walking, and the four posterior ones almost rudimentary ; finally, the ten or twelve sucker-cups on the underside of the abdomen, behind the haunches, prevented his suspecting the slightest analogy with that which has been so imperfectly _ described, and figured under the name of Hypopus. M. Gervais, in 1844, in the Apteres (‘Suites 4 Buffon”), looked upon Hypopus as a sub-genus of Tyroglyphus, and characterised it by the ellipsoid, flat, coriaceous body, the absence of palpi, by an oblong lip, short feet, without claws, terminated by vesicular caruncle. But M. Dujardin says, this last character is opposed to what Duges saw of the feet of his Hypopus spinitarsus, neither does the flattened form agree with the former species, as Her- mann had already described. Koch, in his great work on the Arachnidz of Germany (‘ Deutschland’s Crustaceen”), had taken no account of the genus Hypopus; but later, in 1843, in his “ Ubersicht,” he takes up the genus, and places in it two other species, which he had formerly included under Uropoda. That was the state of affairs when M. Dujardin, who had made a profound study of the subject, satisfied himself that his Ancetus was only a Hypopus. He found, like De Geer, the Acarus muscarum on flies, and in such abundance on the abdomen and thorax, that these parts seemed clothed as if with a granular tissue. All these Hypopi hold themselves there immovable, fixed indifferently on different parts of the skin of the animal by the suckers on the after-part of the abdomen, which seem to have no purpose but to fix them solidly, and being placed posteriorly CASE XIV. 234 ARACHNOIDEA. on the underside, make them all take the same position, slightly inclined, with their anterior feet in the air. If they are touched, they set a-running ; but in place of finding these mites on the house-fly, as De Geer had done, it was exclusively on the stable- fly, Musca stabulans, that Dujardin found them in Paris, in 1846 or 1847, in a neighbourhood where there were many stables. That fly appeared infested by the Hypopus in such numbers, that out of three, it was rare that two or more were not found charged with them, while the house-fly, and several other species of flies, and of Anthomyia, which were quite as abundant, never furnished him with a single individual. In the species on that fly the four anterior feet are disproportion- ately robust, and terminated by a single strong claw; the legs of the third pair are couched in a for- ward ___ direction, of the body, which conceals them en- tirely, and those of the last pair termi- instead of a claw; Lip of Hypopus. C Hypopus muscarum. Conied from but in other species Copied from Dujard.n's figure. figure by Dujardin. all eight legs have - aclaw. The haunches are contiguous, and usually form a thick median line, but the most extraordinary part of the whole is the — head, which is produced into a flat and narrow blade, cut square at the extremity, and from the angles of which proceed two diverging bristles or hairs, but without any trace of mouth or even rudimentary oral organs. Still, although no trace of opening can be seen in this blade, it occupies the place and has a good deal of the appearance of a sucking apparatus. Near the posterior margin of the under under the margin ; \ nate in a long hair, . AIVPOPID A, 290 E side of the abdomen are the suckers by which it attaches itself. ' Subsequently, M. Dujardin found other species on other insects, but still without understanding them any better; at last, in the month of September, while searching for Tardigrades on mosses and fern (Ceterach officinarum), he found a Hypopus in sufficient abundance, very similar to the other, but quite distinct, and which lived fastened by its suckers on the shin- ing leaves of that fern, as the other is fixed on the polished coats of insects. But one very remarkable thing came under his notice in studying this mite, namely, that amongst those that he so observed several were narrower, more transparent, and completely empty ; some, much more rare and completely immovable, showed in the interior another form of mite, soft, and curled- Ue up like an embryo, and occupying the whole of the internal cavity of the Hypopus, as if the latter had been the shell of an egg, but of an egg living and provided with feet, as the nymph: of flies is contained in the shell formed of the hardened skin of the larva. The little mite inside had, according to Dujardin, palpi and chelate mandibles like the Gamasi and Dermanyssi, and he thence arrived at the conclu- sion, that these Hypopi, without mouth, without possible means of growth, living fixed by their suckers on. polished surfaces, from which no nutriment could be derived, must be larve, or rather, if the phrase were allowable, eggs furnished with feet, and endowed with motion, in the interior of which, without aliments derived from without, the young Gamasus had to form itself at the expense only of the nourishment contained within. Consistently with this view, Hypopi should be found wherever the Gamasi live, and he maintains that that is just what is the case. On Geotrupes, Necrophorus, and Humble bees, which are CASE XLV. 236 _ ARACHNOIDEA. usually so infested by Gamasi, he found almost always Hypopi on the parts of the body which the attacked insect had most difficulty in reaching. He adds, “but as is always the case, I found more than I sought for, more especially larve of Acari, of which I had no idea, and whose ulterior form is precisely that of the Acarids that live in the perfect state on the same insects. Thus, the Bombus lapidarius furnished Hypopi quite different from those of Bombus terrestris.” By beating the branches or trees, on which certain Gamasi and Dermanyssi live, he found other Hypopi; and lastly, on at least one subterranean rodent, a field-mouse (Arvicola subterranea), which has Gamasi as parasites, he found corresponding Hypopi, but with the remarkable peculi- arity, that, as the abdominal suckers would not answer in their case to fix these mites, they were replaced by two salient striated tubercules, as shown in the woodcut, which can approach each other like two lips, so as to lay hold aS of a hair of the mouse, and so answer ee ; the purpose fulfilled by the suckers er in the others. In conclusion, he thinks, that he has shown that there are Acari with eight feet, which are, nevertheless, only the first age of other well-known Acari, the Gamasi, which differ from them as much, at il i Vv; ae 2) Dai 2) Ie) Hypepueaiedlas, Copied Romulan TDC CHIONS, ONE with the back divided least, as the Hydrachnide differ from their larve. He describes eleven \ species, which he divides into two by a transverse line near the arti- culation of the second pair of legs, in this respect resembling the Tyroglyphi; the other not so divided. His Hypopus arvicola has the transverse line across the back, but not the abdominal suckers of either of the others, having, instead, the two tubercles above described. AVPQORTD A... 237 For nearly twenty years the above conclusion was accepted by " the scientific world as the true account of the development of these Acarids; but in 1868, M. Claparéde published the result of his observations on them, which led him to challenge the sound- ness of Dujardin’s view. Claparéde found his observations correct to a certain extent, but carried them further, and drew different conclusions. To begin with, he objected that the Hypopus form is eight-footed, which is against its being a larval form; for, as the reader knows, the larvz of all known Acari appear at first with six feet. Then he took exception to the idea of its being produced from an egg with feet, remarking, with reason, that the exceptional included form had much more analogy with the nymph or pupa stage of other insects. Passing these, which are only theoretical objections, M. Claparéde next took a stronger objection, founded on actual observation of the development of the Gamasidz from the egg. Dujardin had not traced this, but Claparede had, and found that the Gamasus left the egg as a six- footed larva, which already possesses the main characteristics of the mature animal, and in no respect shows any resemblance to Hypopus. He adds, “ This objection of mine I will later, I hope, confirm in a treatise upon Gamasidz ;” but, unhappily, his la- mented death occurred before he had done so. The observations that he does record are the following. He says that in the neigh- bourhood of Geneva an Acarus is met with in great numbers, which multiplies itself, in vegetable substances, in great quantities, as in hyacinth bulbs, potato and dahlia roots, half-rotten cabbage-stalks, etc. It was new, but he determined it to be closely allied to the species Tyroglyphus siculus of Robin and Fumouse, and the Tyro- glyphus entomophagus of Laboulbene, and described and figured it under the name of Tyroglyphus Dujardin. He set himself to study this species, and presently he was struck by the remark- able fact that he could find nothing but females. He examined hundreds and hundreds of individuals without coming across a single male. He was hence inclined to think that he had to do CASE XIV. 238 ARACHNOIDEA. with a form of Parthenogensis, which we otherwise know does occur among Acarids. In the course of this examination a Hy- popus, which continually appeared with Tyroglyphus, attracted his attention, by means of which he hoped to establish Dujardin’s hypothesis. But he never succeeded in doing so. He founda — Hypopus in the act of metamorphosis, and thereby satisfied him- self that it could have no possible relation with Gamasus ; and he speaks with confidence, because for three years he brought up Tyroglyphi and Hypopi from hyacinth bulbs in his work-room without ever a single Gamasus making its appearance from or in connection with the others. ‘The Hypopi were in thousands, but they were all of the same size; and the young stage, or individuals in the act of transformation, were not to be found. Neither did he observe any difference of sex, as all examples resembled one another throughout. Nor could any imdividuals with eggs be found, ‘The manner of increase of the Hypopus thus appeared in the highest degree enigmatical, the more so that the extreme stiffness of the mail-like skin renders the idea of growth after it has acquired it inadmissible. ‘The conclusion forced itself upon Young larva of Rhiz-glyphus echinatus Young stage of Tyroglyphus develo ++ (Tyroglyphus dujardinii, Clap.), the inside of Tyroglyphus dujardinii. ~ posterior legs not visible from above. Copied from Gleave: wae Copied from Claparéde’s figure. him, that the young stage of the Hypopus must be sought for under quite another form. It next occurred to him that he might succeed better by following the development of the Tyroglyphus from the beginning through its various stages. ‘This he did, and first he found the six-footed larva proceed from the egg, bearing, HIV POPLDZE.. 239 SE as usual, a close resemblance to the mother Tyroglyphus, as well as ’ to the corresponding six-footed stage of other Tyroglyphi, such as the cheese mite; and he observed in them the development of the second larva, which appears with eight feet, and which bears an even greater similarity to the perfect female Tyroglyphus. There- efter he followed the further develop- ment of this second larva, and traced the progtess of its included nymph or quasi nymph, and was witness to the appearance of mature female Tyro- styphi from many of them; but from others, on the contrary, there emerged Hypopi. ‘“ There could no longer be —= ae ea | any doubt,” sl HA | AN thought he, iN i ip ; iy i ~ that the RN Hypopus g belongs to rr ie the cycles Ee 2 ae ae eh tes aR ee na Copied from Ciparede! Copied from Claparéde. of develop- ment of Tyroglyphus,” and seeing no other way of explain- ing or reconciling the facts he had observed, he arrives at the conclusion that Hypopus must be the male form of Tyro- glyphus. That Claparede was wrong in this conjecture was very quickly proved. ‘Two observers of the highest competency, Professor Robin and M. Fumouse, had been studying the same Tyroglyph as Claparéde at the very same time, and in the same year they published the result of their researches, and we believe their paper had the priority by a few months.* * It appeared in the Journal de l’Anat. and Physiol. de C. Robin, in the number for May and June 1868 ; Claparede’s appeared in the Zeitschrift fur Wiss. Zool. Bd. xviii., 1868. We do not know the month, but presumab!y at the end of the year. CASE XIV. 240 : ARACHNOIDEA. They described the species under the name of Tyroglyphus echinopus, and Claparede’s name, dujardinii, must give way to it but, unlike Clapartde, they found both males and females, and figured them in their paper, and both are of the normal form of other Tyroglyphi. It is therefore impossible that the Hypopus can be the male of Tyroglyphus. Up to this point, however, there does not appear to be any- thing in the facts observed by Claparétde that is incapable, or even very difficult of explanation. Hypopus is already known as an external parasite on insects. May it not also be an internal parasite in its earlier stage ; and might not Claparéde’s supposed male, seen first inside the Tyroglyph, and afterwards emerging, be that stage. Such a double phase of parasitism is not without pre- cedent in insects, Rhipiphorus paradoxus passes its earliest stage inside the grub of the wasp, then emerges while still minute, and, fastening on its outside, finishes off its victim. Subsequent dis coveries, however, have introduced new and surprising elements, apparently inconsistent with such an explanation. In 1873, M. Megnin (first in the ““ Comptes Rendus,” and then in M. Robin’s “Journ. Anat. Phys.”), published the results of a long continued and careful observation, undertaken to solve the true relations of the Hypopi and Tyroglyphs, taking for his subject another Tyro- glyph (which he named Tyroglyphus rostroserratus), which was very plentiful in the common mushroom (Agaricus campestris), and very destructive to the mushroom cultivation around Paris ; and in 1874 he published, in the same work, further researches on it and another mushroom-feeding species (which he named T. my- ceticola). The importance attached to his researches may be judged from the fact, that for them he received from the Academie des Sciences the Thoré prize of 1873. He placed his specimens in cages specially provided for them, supplying them with shreds of mushrooms which served both as food and lodging for them. In observing these, one of the first facts that struck M. Megnin was, that so long as the mushrooms were moist and in full decom- IV PARED. . 2ar4 “ASE position, myriads of Tyroglyphi swarmed in his boxes; when, on the contrary, the mushrooms on which they lived began to dry up, his numerous Tyroglyphs disappeared in great part, and were replaced by legions of a particular Hypopus, having all the characters of Hypopus feroniarum of Dufour, or the H. dugesii of Claparéde. On renewing the provision of mushroom, which restored the moisture, it was the Hypopi which disappeared in their turn, replaced by myriads of Tyroglyphi. Twenty times the same phenomenon was reproduced before his eyes. Persuaded that these Hypopi must change their form in moulting, he had isolated them at different times in small cages of glass, but with- out success: they remained inert, sticking to the walls of the cage, and as if deprived of life. ‘The idea then occurred to him to place them in contact with fresh mushrooms, and accordingly he placed in their cages fragments of mushrooms completely freed from eggs and animalcules. ‘“‘In these new conditions,” says M. Megnin, “the Ilypopi moulted and transformed them- selves under our eyes into small octopod Tyroglyphi, not yet adult. This fact shows,” says he, “that the Hypopus is a transi- tion stage of Tyroglyph ; but does the Hypoyus come from the eggs, or is it the result of the transformation of hexapod larve, or of nymphs?” and he gives the figure in the accompanying wood- cut of the act of transformation which he saw. In pushing his researches further, he succeeded in finding an inert octopod nymph, containing in its inside a Hypopus, ready to change, in other words, he re-discovered what Claparéde took for the male. The result of his observations is thus stated: “Here is what has been well shown. There are nymphs of Tyroglyphus which transform themselves into Hypopus; and, reciprocally, Hypopi which re-become nymphs of Tyroglyphi.” And the conclusion deduced from it is that ‘‘ Hypopus is nothing but a cuirassed adventive heteromorph, charged with the con- servation of the dissemination of the species of Acarid which Q 242 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE passes through that form in its evolution.” The rationale suggested Xi » °. e . “for such an unusual phenomenon is, that Hypopus is a stage with Sketch of Tyroglyphus mycophagus emerging from ypopus. Copied from Megnin’s figure. a harder skin in the development of Tyroglyphus, specially provided for it to compensate for its softness and aptness to be dried up on the failure of moisture which, but for this provision, might extinguish the race. 2h The above is, we think, a statement of the facts and inferences relating to this puzzling phenomenon, and the reader must form. his own judgment upon them. We shall only point out how far M. Megnin’s observations really go, where they seem to correspond or differ from those of Claparede and other observers, and what blanks still remain to be filled up before we have a complete knowledge of the life-history of Hypopus and Tyro- glyphus. In the first place we have mature Tyroglyphi, male and female, the latter of which lay eggs. LAV POPPI ZE. 243 CASE Next, these eggs produce young Tyroglyphi, exactly after the type of their parents, but with only six legs. See first figure on p- 238. ‘This is the usual first stage of development in all acarids. It is not until the young animal has passed from the six-legged into the second or eight-legged unsexual stage that either Claparéde or Megnin begin to see any other form inside either Tyroglyph or Hypopus. ‘The figures they give of such incidents all repre- sent both outer and inner animal as eight-legged. It is only when it approaches the nymph stage (towards the end of the first sexual eight-footed stage, which is the third stage of development) that the internal transformation is first seen. At that stage Claparéde saw and gives the figure of a young eight- footed Tyroglyph with another Tyroglyph inside, which we have reproduced (second figure on p. 238) ; and Megnin saw and gives a figure of a Hypopus with a Tyroglyph inside, and another figure of a Tyroglyph bursting its way out from the shell of a Hypopus, both eight-footed, which we have copied, p. 242. Both agree that it isa Tyroglyphus that is within, and that comes out; but Claparéde Says it is inside a Tyroglyphus, and Megnin, inside a Hypopus, and Dujardin that it is aGamasus inside a Hypopus. Have these gentlemen been looking at the same thing, or do their figures represent different events happening at different stages in the life of the same individual? If the former, then it seems clear that it can only be determined by further experiments made by some other equally competent observers. If we take both as happening, but happening at different stages, then it is clear that by doing so we diminish the probability of one of them; for changes by development are only accomplished at the periods of moulting, and as these are limited in number, each additional change intro- duced reduces the opportunities of effecting it. We presume that it will never be possible to ascertain, by actual observation, the exact number of times that these mites change their skin ; but the number of times is said to be four, and at all events there are Q 2 244 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE only four recognised stages of progress, besides the egg, as proved ‘by Robin in his paper on the Dermaleichi (1868); the six-footed stage, the young eight-footed stage without sexual organs, the eight-footed nymph with internal but without external sexual organs, and the perfect mature insect, with both internal and external sexual. organs. If to these we are to add two Hypopus stages, and two shiftings back to Tyroglyph, as required by M. Megnin’s hypothesis, it complicates the matter considerably. The only at all feasible way out of the difficulty is by supposing that M. Dujardin and M. Megnin on the one hand, or Claparéde on the other, had made a mistake in the kind of species that contained the other. That may be possible, and if that is the only alternative offered us, men must judge for themselves whether they think it more likely that M. Claparede or M. Megnin (and we ought to add M. Dujardin) shall have made such an error. Either will remove much of the difficulty. If it be the latter who are in error, all the phenomena seem explicable on the supposition of Hypopus being an internal insect parasite. If it be M. Claparéde, then MM. Dujardin and Megnin have got their way cleared of at least one stumbling block. If neither have been in error, we have the following curious succession of development. 1. Egg of Tyroglyphus. 2. Six-footed young stage. 3. Eight- footed unsexual stage. 4. The eight-footed form seen by Claparéde within the preceding, and which must have been the nymph without external sexual organs. 5. The Hypopus with a totally different system of nutrition. ‘The change from the preceding to this has not been seen, and is yet to be proved, indeed, no connection ~ between the Hypopus at this stage and any precedent form of Tyroglyphus has been shown. ‘This has next to turn into, 6. An eight-footed Tyroglyph, presumably a nymph, and, 7. Back again to a Hypopus, which has been traced no further, but which must, on the hypothesis of its being a phase of development, in turn change into the final change (which would make the eighth), the perfect insect. CASE XIV. FIVPOPIDA:. 245 It humbly appears to us that there must be some error here. We render all justice to the painstaking truthfulness of M. Dujardin and M. Megnin’s observations. ‘They are no doubt two to one, but we must remember who the one is. Clapareéde was one of the most distinguished physiologists, and most careful and accurate microscopic observers of the present generation ; and as Claparede’s observations, now in the balance, lead to no incon- gruous or unprecedented results, we own that we feel a preference forthem. If MM. Dujardin and Megnin are in error, its extent would be the mistaking the containing mite for a Hypopus while it was only a Tyroglyphus ; and the very considerable resemblance that there is on a superficial view between the earlier stages of Hypopus (so far as known) and Tyroglyphus, is the more sug- gestive of the possibility of such a mistake. As regards the observations of Dujardin, he is either in error in supposing that the contained mite was. a Gamasus; in which case his authority as to identity of the containing mite is weakened, or if he is right and M. Megnin right, then Hypopus forms not only a stage in the development of Tyroglyphus, but also of Gamasus. We must always remember that we are investigating the development of an animal so minute, that it passes the portion of its life now in question in the inside of a mite no larger than its relative the cheese mite. As to M. Megnin again, his own account of his observation contains one or two facts which seem to lend support to our suggestion that, in its early stage, Hypopus is an internal insect parasite. In his paper above mentioned he says, ‘On the r4th of April, 1869, while preparing a Trombidium holosericeum for anatomical study, we were much surprised to find, among the red and branched hairs of this large Acarid, three Hypopi, in all respects similar to that found on an ox by M. Deyrolle. In fine, eight days later, having collected in a truss of old decaying hay a great quantity of Gamasi and other Acarids, we found a female Gamasus, to which adhered two Hypopi, in all respects similar to CASE XIV. 246 ARACHNOIDEA. the preceding. One of these Hypopi was fixed on the back, and the other on the abdominal face, in such a manner, that looking at the Gamasus from its upper side, its parasites both appeared as if in the abdomen, and we entertained for a moment the con- viction that we had, under our eyes, the proof of the truth of the _assertion of Dujardin that our Gamasus was about to bring forth a living larva with a Hypopial form. We know, says he, that some Gamasidee, the Pteropti amongst others, bring forth living octopod larvee. - “ Opportunity having permitted us to meet several times Hypopi attached to Gamasi, and to study them in all their phases, after having also encountered the veritable larva of Gamasi, always similar to their parents, whether hexapod or octopod, we have thus acquired the proof that we had been the plaything of an ilusion and that the Hypopi are not the normal larve of Gamasi as Dujardin supposed.” We have quoted this passage entire, and in Megnin’s own words, first to show the wide dispersion of the Hypopi among insects, which, according to our view, is consistent with its being a general parasite seeking whom it may devour, but inconsistent with its being a phase of developement of a particular insect ; and, second, to show, by the words we have printed in italics, that M. Megnin really did see a Hypopus inside of a Gamasus, but disbelieved his eyes, and regarded himself as the plaything of an illusion, not from any correction of his obser- vation, but from abstract reasoning that it could not possibly be correct. He reasoned himself out of his own senses. It looks as if he had made up his mind that anything inside the Gamasus could only be a phase of Gamasus; and as from independent observation he was sure that its larvee was different, he came to the conclusion that what he saw was not there, but somewhere else, and only appeared to be there by an optical illusion. This is not the only insect besides Tyroglyphus, that the Hypopus has been found in. Mr. Tatem described and figured (Monthly Micro. Journ., 1872) a Hypopus under the name of HVPOPIDA. © 247 GSE Acarellus muscz, which he took from “ the abdominal cavity of a dead flea.” Quallait-il faire dans cette galére, if it was a phase of a vegetable-feeding Tyroglyphus ; neither could there be any question of development between a flea and a Hypopus. But it was a very natural place if the creature is an internal parasite. Again, Dr. Maddox (Monthly Micr. Journ., 1871) describes and figures a Hypopus that he obtained from a bat’s ear, that was swarming with the larvee of a parasitic tick that we have already and shall again have occasion to speak of. If a phase of Tyro- glyphus, it could hardly have mistaken a bat’s ear for its natural food, a hyacinth bulb. If a parasite, it might very naturally be found among the ticks on which it preys; and what adds value to these two observations is that they were both made by observers who appear to have made no special study of the Acarids and who were ignorant of Hypopus and its points of interest. Mr. Tatem supposed that his Acarellus might perhaps have something to do with Phytoptus, and Dr. Maddox goes no farther than to call his a single minute insect found free amongst the hairs along with specimens of the other mite he there found and adds “‘(? im- mature male)”:—but the figures given by both Mr. Tatem and Dr. Maddox are unmistakably Hypopi. It is also not irrelevant to remind the reader of Dujardin’s observations regarding a Hypopus found on or in connection with a parasite of the field- mouse, which, from his description, is doubtless Myobia musculi ; and to add that a careful examination of the description of Dr. Maddox’s mite found in the ear of a bat, has satisfied us that its generic place is not with the Pteropti, but with the Sarcoptide, and next to Myobia musculi. Another circumstance observed by M. Megnin in his study of the Tyroglyphi and Hypopi, the successive disappearance of Tyroglyphi, appearance of Hypopi, and re-appearance of Tyroglyphi in his boxes, suggests the remark that, on our hypo- thesis, it presents none of the difficulties of explanation which attend it on his. On the mushrooms becoming dry in his cage CASE XIV. 248 ARACHNOIDEA. (which shews an insufficiency of moisture for the wants of the Tyroglyphi), they disappeared, that is, dried up and died. On the death of an insect containing parasites, these latter usually, if they can, make their way out and anticipate their period of pass- ing into the pupa state; so here on the death of the Tyroglyphi the Hypopi made their way out, but only to die ;—“ they rested inert on the walls and as if deprived of life.” He never says that they revived, but he says they disappeared on (but it does not follow that it was in consequence of) fresh mushrooms being introduced into the cages. Our understanding of this would be that they had really died when they seemed deprived of life. But fresh swarms of Tyroglyphi now succeed them. Why not? ‘There might still be plenty of Tyroglyphi living to replenish the stock now that fresh food was introduced; for in speaking of their first disappearance, he does not say that they wholly disappeared, but ‘‘disappeared in great part.” But besides this, in introducing | fresh mushroom-food, even with every care to exclude eggs or Acari, there is always a great chance of their getting admission in spite of every precaution. Further, if our hypothesis be right, it helps to explain how Claparéde and others have failed to find any six-footed larve of Hypopi going about free. At that stage we assume them to be in the inside of other insects. Other puzzling points in the economy and life-history of these creatures still remain awaiting elucidation. As yet no sexual organs have been found in them,— - which, so far as it goes, is a point in favour of M. Megnin as indicating immaturity and progress of development. Again, what are the great clusters of them that are seen ad- hering to other insects, doing there? They are not on the insect for purposes of feeding, for they have no mouth, or if they had, they could extract nothing out of the polished armour of such insects as the Histeridz, to which they cling. They cannot be there for the purpose of laying eggs in the insect’s body, even supposing that mature males and females are there, although no HVPOPID. 249 ‘ice from a crowd of arash insects selecting the same insect as the ¥ host in which to deposit their eggs, they carefully avoid placing | them in any insect that has already had eggs placed in it by another ; their instinct in this matter teaching them contrary to the axiom acted on by many human couples, that what is enough for one is not enough for twa They must, moreover, leave their host at some time or other, and when they do so, they may, of course, be found elsewhere than on insects. Can they be indi- viduals that have passed their parasitic life inside the insects, and are now enjoying their oftwm cum dignitate idly on its outside? But how did they get out, having no mandibles? They could not eat their way out. It is not like the thin shell of a Tyroglyphus, which may be cracked by muscular action. And whence come so many? It is true that although a Tyroglyphus may only hold one, a fly might hold many. Yet again, how come one or more species of Hypopus to be found habitually, not on insects, but on ferns? In speculating on this we must remember that we have plenty of instances, among insects, of species of the same genus having different habits. In this very group we have one section of Tyroglyphi living on vegetable and another on animal matters—we have inost of the species of Glyciphagus feeding on sugared fruits, but other species parasitic ; and it adds to the probability of its being so here that there have been two species of Hypopus found on ferns, and that they both, although distinct, have the same ~ cachet or type of make. ‘They belong to a separate sub-genus of Hypopus. The same remark applies to the specially endowed species found on the field-mouse. It may have special habits as well as special structure. Passing from the consideration of this very curious and puzzling animal, let us now glance at some of the different species of the genus. 250 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE HyYPpoPpus MUSCARUM (Zizz.). See figure on page 224. XIV. ‘ On flies. HYPoPusS ALICOLA (Dzw/.), On the wing of a bee. No. 3. Hyporpus musc4 (Acarellus musc, TZarem., Monthly Micr. Journ. 1872, pl. xl. 263.).—38. Yy \ Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Mr, | Tatem’s figure. Dujardin obtained his specimen from the humble-bee; Mr. Tatem his from a small [eee dipterous fly. U 3 An elongate form, like H. alicola Duj. a7 oa a VLAN ALY rT 1 wy Withee Wty IN No. 4. a al, Hypopus PULICIS (Acarellus pulicis, Zatez, loc. \ i, cit.).—4. Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from S, Mr. Tatem’s figure. Found by Mr. Tatem in “the abdominal Cond ee ein. cavity of a dead flea.” It comes very close to Hypopus levis of Dujardin, the chief difference seeming to be that its posterior pairs of legs are scarcely quite so robust; but as Mr. Tatem mentions that these legs were only visible through the skin, and not yet free, it may be that his specimen, not being yet closed, was not perfectly developed, and that the legs might afterwards have become somewhat stronger. We have already alluded to the significance of the locality in which it was found by Mr. Tatem. Hyporus FILIcuM (Duj.), See figure on page 235. On the fronds of Celerach officinalis. HYPOPUS ARVICOLA (Duj.). See figure on page 236. On the field-mouse. HV RORID AY 251 There have been about twenty species of Hypopus described, Dujardin having subsequently added a few more to those pre- viously mentioned. Here, perhaps, should follow one of Hering’s species found by him on dried figs, and which he named Acarus passularum (Nov. Act. Cur. 1838). It has been supposed to be a Hypopus, but the uncertainty in which many points have been left by him, which have since been found to be of importance, prevents more than probable conjecture as to the genus to which the species he has figured belongs. The figure he gives certainly does not look like one. Genus TRIcHopactyLus (Dufour, Ann. Sc. Nat., 2nd Ser. XI. 1830). This genus was proposed in 1839 by M. Léon Dufour for one or two species of parasitic mites found on bees. The name is derived from the last pair of feet terminating in one or more long hairs, instead of in a tarsus or claw. They have obviously much affinity with Hypopus, both in habit and structure, the posterior legs of which terminate in something the same manner ; so much Leg of Trichodactylus Osmize. Copied from Donnadieu’s figure. so that Dujardin regards them as belonging to the same genus. But we think that the more powerful make and claws of the first three pairs of legs in Trichodactylus, combined with the rudi- CASE XIV. No. 5. 252 ARACHNOIDEA. mentary character being confined to the last pair of legs, is suffi- cient to make a sub-genus for their reception necessary. We give figures of the two that have been described: nothing is known of their development as yet. TRICHODACTYLUS OSMIA (Luif-). t Kf 1 Up = it VN in Ca Ly NS FU 2 —~ 4 Trichodactylus osmize. Copied from Trichodactylus osmiz. Copied from figure by Donnadieu, original figure by Dufour. Found on a species of Osmia. It will be seen that it has the mouth-piece of Hypopus with its two projecting bristles. TRICHODACTYLUS XYLOCOP#.—5. Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from figure. Found on Xylocopa violacea. There is some appearance of transverse lines on the surface of this and the preceding species, but we have had no means of ascertaining how far they are of the same character as those on the Sarcoptidz. The hair ter- mination of the last pair of legs undoubtedly has some affinity to that group, and it is obvious that we are approaching its terri- HVPOPIDE. 253 SE tories; but in several true Hypopi the last legs likewise terminate ' in a long hair, and the other more important characters indicate that its YK? ____ nearest relations are with them. a " Another species was described in 3 1845 by Dr. Gros in the Bull. Soc. d Imp. Mosc. S. 397, under the name of Scutacarus femoris. He found it, he says, in the nests of Hornets, and % _ beside the mites of Hister unicolor. q The description shows that it belongs i to this genus. Another form which may perhaps also be connected with Hy- popus is the N-\* \ ty VY Wy my ill! Vayly rl Ui hs V4 \ NY Trichodactylus xylocopz. Genus Homopus (/urst.). No. 6. HomMopus ELEPHANTIS (/wrst. Kratz-milben, 222), (Symbiotes elephantis, Gerl.).—6. Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Furstenberg’s figure. The only claim that this has to be called “elephantis,” consists in its having been found on the hide of a stuffed elephant; but we do not even know how long the skin had been stuffed. Gerlach thought _ Homopus elephantis. Copied from Furstenberg’s figure. it an itch mite, and named it Symbiotes elephantis; but it wants the suckers to the tarsi and the transversely striated skin ; and in Furstenberg’s figure it is provided with chelate mandibles CASE XIV. 254. ARACHNOIDEA. and palpi, and with the characteristic chitonous bands which support the legs in the sarcoptide, although in a less degree. Claparéde, although he does not say that he has seen the insect itself, boldly says (loc. cit.) that Furstenberg is wrong, both in his figure and his description, and disputes the existence of these mandibles, and declares it to be a Hypopus. ‘There is certainly much in it that is characteristic of Hypopus, but unless Furstenberg has been incredibly careless and inaccurate, and we are at liberty to. re-draw it in accordance with our own notions of what is most probable, it seems impossible to bring it in the same line with that genus. We quite agree with Claparéde, however, that it must be near it, and have dealt with it accordingly. Furstenberg mentions that he found a similar mite under a number of Horse Mites (Dermatokoptes), which he got from a horse suffering from the itch. The same species turned up again in Paris in 1867. In the Universal Exposition of that year a — magnificent ox, splendidly stuffed, was a conspicuous object in the glass-case of M. Deyrolle, the naturalist. Regarding this ox, M. Megnin learned from M. Deyrolle that when he was occupied in mounting the skin, which had been left for eight days ina bath of alum, he was witness of a singular phenomenon. The skin became covered with myriads of very small white Acarids scarcely visible, and which gave the effect on the skin of a dusty matter. He collected numerous specimens which he gave M. Megnin, who on seeing them immediately recognised a Hypopus which resembled line for line the Homopus of Furstenberg, only its carapace was finely granulated, a detail which he sug- gests the German author had perhaps neglected, and moreover he found it impossible to make out the jaws and palpi which he de- scribes. The mouth was simply a ‘‘rounded opening, closed as by a ‘clapet’ by a movable lip furnished with two hairs.” * * Probably here should follow the genus Heteropus, which we have placed at the end of the Tyroglyphidz as of uncertain position, not being able tomake up our mind as to its most suitable place. aa P CHEESE. MILES, ETC. 25.5 Sub-family TyRoGLYPHIDA (Cheese Mites and their allies). The general characters of this section are a soft, smooth, fleshy, whitish body, without any system of striz, or lines, disposed around the body, but with a slight furrow, depression, or line of separation, on the back between the second and third pair of legs marking off the thorax from the abdomen—Mandibles chelate. The tarsi in most species, although not in all, have only a single claw, which is surrounded by a vesicle, or fine sucker, like a sleeve. In a few species there is only a claw and no sucker. The group consists of the following genera—Rhizoglyphus, Tyroglyphus, Glyciphagus, and Cheyletus, which may be distin- guished by the following characters :— Rhizoglyphus, Tyroglyphus, and Glyciphagus have the typical characters above mentioned, but are distinguished from each other by the two former having the hairs on the back smooth, while in Glyciphagus they are hairy, plumose, or feathered, and in it there is also a posterior appendage in the females, like a knob at the tail, or an os coccygis. Rhizoglyphus again is distinguished from Tyroglyphus by having tarsi with claws, and without suckers, while Tyroglyphus has both a claw and sucker. Cheyletus is distinguished by its enormous mandibles, by a _ peculiar tracheal system, and by having two claws, and other appendages to the tarsi. Genus TyRoGLypHus (Zaz). Sub-genus RHIZOGLYPHUs. Tarsi with claws and without suckers. Feeds on vegetable substances. Claparéde (loc. cit.) proposed in 1868 a genus under this mame for a species of Tyroglyphus, which we shall presently 256 ARACHNOIDEA. notice ; but although we adopt his section and his name, we do | not adopt his character, nor confine it to his species, and, there- fore, cannot quote it as his genus. The chief characters, as defined by Claparede, were that the two right and left abdominal suckers are present both in the male and female, instead of being so only in the male, as in the normal Tyroglyphi, and that the third pair of legs are dis- proportionately large. Both of these characters seem to us merely specific. We have seen, when speaking of Hypopus, that the number and distribution of abdominal suckers vary in every species, and an abnormal thickening of legs in one sex is a not uncommon variation in species of many genera of insects. But Messrs. Fumouse and Robin, in describing this Tyroglyphus (T. echinopus), pointed out that it had no sucker annexed to the tarsi. They did not propose to make a new genus for the species on that account, but proposed to alter the character of the genus Tyroglyphus to admit their species. Hitherto the character ascribed to the tarsi had been a claw with a sucker. Now the T. echinopus of Fumouse and Robin has no sucker, Tarsus of Rhizoglyphus. Tyarsus of Tyroglyphus neither has Clapartde’s Rhizoglyphus robini (his Hypopus dujardimi is the same as T. echinopus) ; both with similar habits, viz., feeding on hyacinths, and, what is more, having the com- mon character of living on vegetable substances; whilst the others (the Tyroglyphi) affect animal remains, cheese, dead insects, &c. For the former we suggest that Claparéde’s name CHEESE. MITES, ETC. 27 and Fumouse and Robin’s character should be taken. Claparéde’s characters will not apply to ¢4er species, but ther character will apply to both, and distinguish the little group composed of them sharply from Tyroglyphus. RHIZOGLYPHUS ECHINOPUS (Hypopus dujardinil, C/ap.), —7. Magnified sketch of larva and pupa ; 8. Magnified sketch of supposed male (Hy- popus) ; 9. Magnified sketch of female. All copied from Claparede’s figures. (Tyroglyphus echinopus, /um. & ob., Journ. Anat. and Phys. de M. Robin, 1868) ; 10. Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Robin’s figure. (? Acarus hyacinthi, Boisd. Ent. Hort., p. 86.) Besides the generic character above noticed, the most notable points in this species are more numerous bristles about its feet than in other species, and a more globose body, there being no drawing in of the flanks, as is often, more or less, seen in other species. As we have already said, under Hypopus, Claparéde’s and Robin’s species are the - same. There can be little doubt that — Larva of Rhizoglyphus echinopus Copied from Fumouse’s figure. the species noticed (in the same year) by Boisduval in his ‘‘ Entomologie horticole,’ under the name of Acarus hyacinthi, also belongs to this, although the absence of any description prevents our saying so with certainty. The habits of their species, as observed by all three authors, were identical. They live between the scales of some species of Liliaceze, principally hyacinths. M. Boisduval adds, that in some years they are very abundant in autumn, and occasionally cause itching and irritation to those persons who handle a great number of the bulbs. It is not improbable, however, that it is only because the hyacinth bulbs are more exposed to view than the roots of other R 25§ ARACHNOIDEA. oer plants that the mite has been observed chiefly on these bulbs. ’ We have observed in numbers, on the roots of vines attacked by Phylloxera, a species which we cannot distinguish from T. echinopus ; and it seems not unlikely that it may hereafter be found on roots generally. We found Hypopi in its company on vine roots. ; RHIZOGLYPHUS PHYLLOXER& (Tyroglyphus phylloxerze, Planchon and Kiley, 6th Report, 1874, p. 52). Mr. Planchon in his work on the Ametri- can vine, and Mr. Riley (loc. cit.), records the presence of this allied species in North America. They found it in association with the Phylloxera of the vine, feeding in its young state on the juices of the roots injured by Phylloxera ; and, when older, preying extensively on the root-inhabiting type of that insect. Mr. Riley mentions Copied from Riley's figure, that when this fact was published, it was hoped that the introduction of the Rhi- zoglyphus into Europe might be of service in reducing the numbers of Phylloxera, and he received orders from vine growers in France for a supply of the cannibal. Mr. Riley, however, although he endeavoured to comply with the request, did not anticipate that it would do much good ;—in which we agree with him, chiefly because they have already in France commonly asso-. ciated with the Phylloxera a Rhizoglyphus, which we believe to be the preceeding species; and the one should certainly be as good as the other as an exterminator, if that class of mites really did feed upon other insects ; but the statement of Messrs. Planchon and Riley to that effect has been received with doubt by some French entomologists. We have not seen M. Planchon’s statement, and we observe that Mr. Riley does not say how he ascertained the fact ; but he makes the assertion broadly, and as he is well- . CHEESE MITES, ETC 259 known to be a careful and accurate observer, any statement of his is entitled to great weight ; but, like all of us, he is liable to error, and may have been deceived (as sometimes happens), by abnormal conduct under abnormal circumstances. There are many instances of insects that are vegetable feeders having eaten their neighbours when shipwrecked into an entomologist’s box or breeding cage. Dr. Fumouse, who has studied the habits of the Tyroglyphi more closely than perhaps any other living naturalist, objects to the idea as being opposed to the habits of all other Tyroglyphi, which never attack living animals ; and, further, because although not rare in France on vine roots attacked by Phylloxera, there never has been any appearance of their number being diminished by them (see Ann. S. Ent. Fr. 1874, Bull. 98). It is, moreover, op- posed to the habits, so far as hitherto known, of the section of Tyroglyphi to which it belongs ; for that section feeds exclusively on vegetable food. Both M. Planchon and Mr. Riley have found Hypopi in this species. 2 q ®-11. RHIZOGLYPHUS ROBINII (C/af. loc. cit.).—11. Magnified sketch of female, copied from Claparede’s figure. Found by M. Claparéde in company with his H. dujardinii upon hyacinths, and also on potato and dahlia roots, and, as he himself says, capable of being easily confounded with dujardinii in its course of development; but when mature, the female is readily recogniseble by her very thick and clumsy third pair of legs, which occupy so much space that they throw the fourth pair further back than usual. RHIZCGLYPHUS (?) FECUL (Tyroglyphus fecule, Guer., Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1867). It is probably to this genus that the species named Tyro- glyphus feculz belongs. M. Guerin-Méneville records its sudden appearance in very great numbers in some heaps of Australian R2 260 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE potatoes shut up in a barn of the annex to the imperial farm at’ “IV. Vincennes. What was most remarkable was the immense quantity of them that were developed in less than eight days. The soil of the ground floor, where the potatoes had been placed, was covered with a bed of this little Tyroglyphus, which looked | like an animated dust of a grey colour. A sample of this living dust, which M. Guerin-Meneville had collected, was composed of myriads of millions of these little animals, and was swept to- gether in some minutes and simply by the help of the feather of apen. ‘This mass of beings was composed of a reunion of indi- viduals of all different ages and degrees of development. This innumerable assembly had attracted, as is always the case, many other little hunting insects, who had found there an abundant and easy prey. There were larve and perfect insects belonging to several genera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera Diptera, etc., on which these mites had attached themselves in commensurable quantities, literally covering them and giving them a most singular appearance. The potatoes, which looked quite sound and healthy, were all covered with these Acarids. As these latter could no longer all hold on to the surface, they accumulated between the paving- stones, thence even on to the pavement, where they formed a bed of several millimétres in thickness on a surface of about four square métres. RHIZOGLYPHUS ROSTRO-SERRATUS (Tyroglyphus rostro-serratus, J/eguin, Tourn. Anat. Phys. 1873 ; Acarus fungorum (?) Borsd. Ent. Hort. 1867, Pp. 90}. his is the species on which M. Megnin made the observations bn the development of Hypopus, which we have above recorded. We have already mentioned that around Paris the cultivated mushrooms, more especially the common Agaricus campestris, are often attacked by a moist black rot, which, until lately, had been regarded as spontaneous. M. Megnin has shown that it is caused, CHEESE .MITES, ETC. 261 ‘CASE or at all events actively aided by, two parasites, an Anguillula and a ‘a Tyroglyphus, which are remarkable for their prodigious fecundity Tyroglyphus rostro-serratus, under-side. Copied Ditto, side view. Copied from Megnin’s figure. from Megnin’s figure. About size of cheese-mite. ; when they find themselves in conditions favourable for their . development. ‘The proof that these creatures are the very active although indirect agents of this putrid decomposition, is that mushrooms on which they have been placed are, in less than forty-eight hours, reduced to a state of black and deliquescent putrescence, on which myriads of these animalcules swarm ; while other mushrooms in the identically same condition, which have not been subjected to that inoculation, and which have been iso- lated from the spoiled mushrooms, dry up or become mouldy, and take from eight days to a fortnight to decompose spontaneously. The Tyroglyphus rostro-serratus is a sociable Acarid. It is always, in great troops, in which all the ages are represented, that it lives on the mushrooms in course of decomposition. It has a life in some sort amphibian; for from the moment when the mush- room begins to decay, to take a brown colour and become humid, it is in the stratum of liquid half a millimétre in depth which | covers the surface of the fungus that the Tyroglyphi in question ‘move about completely bathed in this liquid, and in the midst of 262 ARACHNOIDEA, myriads of anguillule which often swarm there. It looks some- times as if they darted their sharp mandibles into these creatures ; but this is an illusion, and it is truly the vegetable cells that they shear asunder with their scissors-like mandibles. These are shown in the woodcut. The species is at once distinguishable by its rather rectangular form and by the back being raised‘ in humps as shown in the figures. It seems very probable that this species, described in 1873 by M. Megnin, is the same as that noticed by Boisduval in 1867 ; but, as the notice by the latter contains no description, it is impossible to give the preference to his name even although it should turn out that he meant the same species as M. Megnin. All that Boisduval says of it is, that he had observed, when he had descended into certain parts of the catacombs or in the quarries occupied by mushroom growers, that the common mushroom Agaricus edulis, was often invaded by an Acarus visible to the naked eye, which covered the pedicule and spread itself even between the folds of the pileus. It is, he adds, along with a small brachelytrous beetle, which the mushroom growers call capuchin, a scourge for this kind of culture. All the description he gives of it is that it is roundish and of a feeble rusty grey colour. RHIZOGLYPHUS MYCOPHAGUS (Tyroglyphus mycophagus, J/ggnin, Journ. Anat. Phys. 1874). This is another mushroom- feeding Acarid from which M. Megnin obtained some of his more important facts regarding the CHEESE MITES, ETC. 263 | ose transformations, or supposed transformations, of Hypopus. It is Nos. 12, 13. a long smooth species with a projecting sow-like snout. In accordance with his opinion that Hypopus is only a stage of Tyroglyphus, he gives as a synonym of it the Acarus spinitarsus of Hermann, which is undoubtedly a Hypopus. Figure of Tyroglyphus mycophagus. Copied from Megnin's figure. Sub-Genus TyroctypHus (Lafr.) Feeds on animal products. ‘Tarsi, with suckers and claw. TYROGLYPHUS ENTOMOPHAGUS (Ladould., Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1862.)—12. Sketch of a particle of dust from an insect drawer much magnified, showing the mite in various stages, eggs, broken fragments, &c. ; 18. Magnified sketch of insect. The Tyroglyphus entomophagus is the smallest of all the known species of this genus. It is remarkable for the parallelism of the sides, and cylindrical appearance of the body, and for its narrowness, especially in the female. Its legs are shorter than in the other species. It is a species only too well known to Entomologists. It takes up its abode in entomological collections, in the interior of the body or on the surface of the insects, and in the dust which gathers at the bottom of the drawers or boxes. Large insects, with the body full of fatty particles, those which have not lived long or which have been brought up in captivity, and which have not paired, and those which have become greasy, (to use the tech- nical expression), are the most liable to attack. Certain families of Coleoptera, the large Scarabzeide, like Oryctes and Geotrupes, the Lucanide, the Carabide, the Dytiscide, and the Hydro- philidz, the Cerambycide, the large or badly dried Blaptidze, may often be seen covered on the surface with excrement and eggs, 254 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE under the form of white dots, and sometimes contain a consider- ‘ able number of these Tyrogiyphi in the interior of the body. The body of the large, especially the nocturnal Lepidoptera, the Cicade amongst the Hemiptera, the Earwigs, etc., etc., have them likewise, and the quantity sometimes furnished by such insects, where the mites have once obtained a footing, is truly enormous. The Tyroglyphus entomophagus may be found running upon the back of dead insects, and may be seen without the aid of the microscope. According to M. Perris it gnaws the down and the hairs of the insects attacked. It is, however, chiefly in the inside of their bedy that it lives: it gnaws and dilacerates all substances that are soft or deprived of chitine; hence they are specially destructive to Lepidopterous insects. In handling in- sects that have been attacked by these Tyroglyphi, we are apt to cause the articulated pieces of which the ligaments have been destroyed to fall asunder, and then there issues from the body a friable matter in which the living Acari swarm. The friable matter which falls out, when the body of insects gnawed by the Tyroglyphus entomophagus is shaken, is composed (as shewn in the sketch in this case): 1st, of the excrement of these animals in the form of little rounded greyish masses; 2ndly, of the eggs in course of development, and of empty shells of hatched eggs, of open and bent shells, cracked often longitudinally ;.3rdly, of young larve and of nymphs always more numerous than the adult animals ; 4thly, of tegumentary envelopes proceeding from — the moulting of a great number of larve and nymphs; 5thly, of visceral or muscu.ar remains of the body, of pieces of trachez, of striated muscular fascie, of dried fragments, sometimes of eggs which have not been laid, and which have become loose in the body of the females of the attacked insects. _e In the dust at the bottom of the boxes, amongst the remains of all kinds, antennee, feet, palpi, broken or fallen, one sometimes finds the envelopes of Gamasus, of Glyciphagus and of Cheyletus, CHEESE MITES, ETC. 265 E Acarids which live also in collections. Upon the insects them- ’ selves, and devouring the excrements and the remains of the Tyroglyphus, M. Perris has found, at Mont-de-Marsan, the larvee of the Cecidomyia entomophila. The walk of the Tyroglyphus entomophagus is slow. It walks with the head bent down, in such a way as to allow the ridge of contact of the two mandibles which go beyond the hairs of the nape of the neck to be seen in front. The males are as numerous as the females and a little 4 more agile. It remains to say a few words as to the best means of keeping these mites out of collections, and of getting rid of them when they have once effected an entrance. The insects which are most liable to be attacked by the Tyroglyphus entomophagus are, as i already said, those which have not been well dried, or which have ____ been placed in ill-fitting boxes in a damp room. e' When the Tyroglyphus has attacked an insect, one perceives outside little whitish points on the bodies of those with smooth teguments, or on another kind a sort of greyish white powder mingled in the hairs of cottony or downy kinds. Soon under the insect invaded, or on the corresponding sides of the box, one notices a matter of a greyish pulverulent aspect, recalling the efflorescence of saline matters not deliquescent. This dust is said to be quite different from the organic pulverulent débris which results from the ravages of the Anthrenus or Dermestes; these latter produce a fine sawdust, blackish: or brownish, but dry and non-adherent. Collections in the south of France, exposed to damp, are very rapidly attacked by Tyroglyphus entomophagus. The mouldiness which shows itself in a coilection makes one suspicious of mites, for mould and mites almost always go together. When an insect is known to be attacked by Tyroglyphus it is best to isolate it in a very dry box. If the insect is glossy the ‘mites which have got into it should be removed with a fine camel hair brush. If the insect is scarcely attacked, it can be replaced on CASE XIV. 266 ARACHNOIDEA. condition of being watched. But very often one sees reappearing on the body of an insect which has been simply cleaned or brushed, new Tyroglyphi which come from within or from the cavities of the joints where they are apt to gather in large numbers. This shews that the cleansing has been insufficient. One can then have recourse to the heat of the stove or oven. This proceeding is inconvenient when the insect turns out to be what is technically called ‘‘ greasy.” Besides, although the Tyroglyphi may not resist the effect of a high temperature, the eggs often do, especially when they are situated in the interior of the body, and the mites swarm again soon after. We can scarcely recommend pure water, for if the utils of the dirty insects is washed, it penetrates into the inside, leaving a humidity unfavourable to the object in view. Alcohol is good for all the insects which can stand its action without being hurt, in their colours, hairs or scales. It will not do for Lepidoptera, but we have often placed beetles that are hard and polished in a flask with a large mouth without taking the trouble of cleaning them. ‘The pin holding the insect is stuck into the under-side of the cork, and the body soaks in alcohol without going to the bottom of the vessel. An immersion of several hours or a day is sufficient. Either simple alcohol, or alcohol containing a small solution of corrosive sublimate, will answer. After a bath of an hour in the latter, the insect should be washed in pure alcohol to carry off the sublimate, which, with- out this precaution, forms a whitish crust and corrodes the pins. We prefer to use alcohol with arsenic or saturated with strychnine, which, in ridding the insects from the Tyroglyphi, has the ad- vantage of preserving them also against the Anthreni. Besides alcohol, there are liquids which scour the insects per- fectly, killing the Acarids and carrying off their favourite aliment. These very useful liquids are ether, benzine, essence of naphtha. Dr. Leconte has utilized the “atomiser” for thoroughly and imperceptibly besprinkling the insects with such liquids. : No. 14 CHEESE MITES, ETC. 267 MM. Grenier and Aubé devised an apparatus for exposing the insects without removal to the vapours of such chemicals. It is a large necrentome of tin, with fastenings, made with a trench to be filled with water, so as to submerge the edge of the cover, and is well adapted for museums and large collections, where the labour of individual cleaning would be too great. But so far as regards mites this is not necessary if the drawers or boxes only fit moderately closely. Then it will be found sufficient to expose a few chrystals of pure naphthaline for an hour or two in the drawers. This is the simplest, easiest, and most effectual of all contrivances to destroy mites. Where it is necessary to treat the insects in detail, another effec- tive but more troublesome plan is to expose the infected insect to the vapour of liquid ammonia—by placing a morsel of sponge in a paint saucer and moistening it with a few drops of powerful liquid ammonia. The insect is placed on a bit of cork alongside the sponge, and the whole covered by a tumbler or small bell-glass, so as to keep in the vapour; and in ten minutes or a quarter of an hour the cure is generally complete. Sometimes it must be repeated ; but this is rarely necessary. Insects should never be put away until they have been well dried, and, if necessary, freed from fatty visceral matters. This is particularly necessary for kinds brought up in captivity or full of juice at the moment of their capture. TYROGLYPHUS SIRO (Lizz., Latr.), (Acarus farinze, Z2.; A. lactis, Lizn.; A. favorum, Herm. ; T. domesticus, Gerv., haud De G.).—14. Mag- nified figure of ditto. It is usual to hear the flour and the cheese mite spoken of by naturalists, described in books, and mounted by microscopists as two different and distinct species—but they are not so. It was Linnzus who commenced the blunder by judging from the two different kinds of food, instead of from the mites themselves, and describing those which he found on cheese as the Cheese Mite (Acarus siro), those on flour as the flour mite (Acarus farinz), and 268 ARACHNOIDEA. case those in milk as the milk mite (Acarus lactis). It has also received - IV. other names. It is the Acarus domesticus of Gervais, but not of De Geer, his domesticus being a Glyciphagus, as is the Acarus destructor of Schrank. The reader will not suppose that we mean that every species found on cheese, or every species found on flour, is this species. ‘There is more than one that feeds on cheese, and doubtless also on flour. All that we mean is that the common cheese mite is found upon flour as well as on cheese, and that the authors above mentioned had made two out of the same species. Tryoglyphus siro, slightly magnified. Ditto, more igh magia. Cupied It is unnecessary to give any description of the mite. The small figure will give a fair idea of its general aspect, and the larger one will supply the place of a description. As to its habits and mode of life, there is little to add to what every one knows. It lives in almost every kind of cheese when a little decayed, and especially the harder parts. The individuals gather together in winter in groups or heaps in the hollows and chinks of the cheese and there remain motionless. As soon as the temperature rises a little, they gnaw away at the cheese, and reduce it to powder. The powder is composed of similar debris to that mentioned as composing the dust made by the T. entomophagus—excrement having the appearance of little greyish microscopic balls; eges, ~~ ae ae a leah ath dh 7 - Pe rrr nee re ie ee ee Sere ee pe ye eo Neen ie at ’ wast es ae : CHEESE MITES, ETC. 269 oA E old and new, cracked and empty; larve, nymphs and perfect ~ mites, cast skins and fragment of cheese, to which must be added _ numerous spores of microscopic fungi. M. Laboulbene mentions _ having met with these mites in considerable quantity in some very old linseed meal, that gave forth a very strong ammoniacal odour mixed with that of rotten cheese. . . On different occasions two medical men had sent him and M. Robin for determination specimens of this mite that had been found on wounds that had been dressed with poultices made of linseed meal. On one occa- sion a specimen had been found in urine. Human nature is apt to prefer the most marvellous way of accounting for such things, but it is the part of science to point out how easily the mites might have found their way to the wound or urine in a perfectly simple and natural way. Professor Robin proved by experiment that it was easy to transfer a colony of this species from a cheese to flour where it throve and flourished. The same means answers to inoculate an uninfected cheese—a few mites transferred from a mitey cheese to an old one not mitey will soon make it as good (or as bad) as the other—only in respect of mites of course. It is to this species that the following case of dysentery caused by raites has been referred. Rolander, a student of Entomology, while he resided in the house of Linnzus, was attacked by that complaint, which quickly gave way to the usual remedies. Eight days after it returned again, and was as before soon removed. A third time, at the end of the same period, he was seized with it. All the while he had been living like the rest of the family, who had nevertheless escaped. ‘This, of course, occasioned enquiry into the cause of what had happened. Lin- nzus, aware that Bartholemy had attributed the dysentery to insects which he professed to have seen, recommended it to his pupil to examine his feces. Rolander, following this advice, discovered in them innumerable animalcules, which upon close examination proved to be mites. It was next a question how he alone came to be singled out by them; and thus he accounted for CASE XIV. No. 15. 270 ARACHNOIDEA. it. It was his habit not to drink at his meals ; but in the night, growing thirsty, he often sipped some liquid out of a vessel made of juniper wood. Inspecting this very narrowly, he observed in the chinks between the ribs a white line, which, when viewed under a lens, he found to consist of innumerable mites, precisely the same with those that he had voided. Various experiments were tried with them, and a preparation of rhubarb was found to destroy them most effectually. He afterwards discovered them in vessels containing acids, and often under the bung of casks. In the instance here recorded, the dysentery or diarrhoea was thus apparently produced by a species of mite, which Linnzeus thence called Acarus dysenteriz. Latreille thought it might be the cheese mite, or one of its allies. It is against the probability of its being so that no re- corded instance of this or any other mischief from cheese mites has ever been recorded, although they are daily eaten in quan- tities too great and too carelessly to leave a doubt that hundreds of living individuals must be swallowed which escape the grinding of our molars. If they did any harm there should be thousands of cases of suffering from them in our medical works, but there is none. TYROGLYPHUS LONGIOR ( Gervais, in Walckenaer’s Apter. ili, 1844), (Acarus dimidiatus, Herm. ; Acarus horridus, Zzrpin ; Acarus Crossi, of English writers).—15. Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Robin’s figures. , Very easily distinguished from T. siro (with which it associates), by its more rapid movements, larger size, longer and more cyiind- ric body, and longer and more shining hairs sticking out on every side. Its habits, however, are very much the same, al- though T. longior does not quite adopt all the partialities of T. siro. It lives upon old and decaying cheese along with it, but not equally on all; for instance, MM. Fumouse and Robin mention that only one per cent. was found by them to belong to Tyrogiyphus longior. Copied from Fumouse and Robin's figure. and Robin tried the experiment of placing some of this species along with T. siro, taken from Roquefort cheese, on flour in a state of putrefaction, but the T. longior did not take to it or multiply as T. siro did, but all died in the course of a day or two; a circumstance the more to be noted that they can fast with ease. M. Fumouse kept them for more than a month without food, and they were as lively at the end as at the beginning of their fast. This is the species that is most commonly met with in stores of Cantharides, which are very subject to the attacks of mites (T. siro among others). M. Fumouse has followed the development of this species. In order to observe them, he placed a certain number of individuals with small portions of Cantharides between two plates of glass, separated the one from the other by a circular band of cardboard. He had thus a small glass cage, whose trans- CASE XIV. 272° ARACHNOIDEA. parency permitted him to study the life of his little captives under the microscope. ‘The females laid eggs (regularly oval) from the very commencement. The eggs hatched in ten or fifteen days, splitting longitudinally. When the young mite came out, it was hexapod. They cast their skin several times, and it is after the first or second change that they get their additional pair of legs. The skin splits behind, and they come out of the old skin creeping backwards. It is usually considered that they are mature and full-grown when they have got eight legs; but in speaking of other mites we have already explained that this is only partially true. They cannot be called adult until they are provided with complete sexual organs, and this does not take place until later. At first no sexual distinction is visible. This is the species that gave rise to a good deal of talk among scientific people some forty years ago, as having been supposed to be produced by electricity. It may be remembered that in the ~ beginning of the present century, there was a sort of vague idea in the scientific or semi-scientific world in favour of electricity being the source of many of the phenomena of life. The limits and extent of its power were of course even less known than at present, and all sorts of wild experiments were tricd in the search after truth. One gentleman set up lines of electrical wires over portions of his estate, with the view of ascertaining whether the plants would not thrive better under what he supposed would be an increased flow of electricity. Others tried similar experiments in different directions, and among them two gentlemen, Messrs. Cross — and Weckes, set themselves to ascertain whether by the contitiuous use of electrical apparatus they could not produce organic beings, either plants or animals. Mr. Cross’s process was to operate on volcanic stone kept moist by a weak solution of silicate of potash, super-saturated with muriatic acid, constantly subjected to elec- tricity. After carrying on this for a time, he at last found some mites wandering about his apparatus or chemical solutions, and ar- rived at the conclusion that they had been produced by his electrical eo CHEESE MITES, ETC. 273 ; es. The present was one of the species so dignified, and r some time enjoyed an ephemeral fame as a human creation. was sent to M. Turpin in Paris (then one of the experts in lowledge of Acari), and, notwithstanding that he had only a single dead specimen in spirits to work from, he (erroneously as it after- _ wards turned out) determined it to be new, and described and ; figured it under the name of Acarus horridus (Comptes Rendus, 1837). But although he considered it to be new, he by no means endorsed the idea that it was created by Mr. Cross, or his elec- trical apparatus. It was not only a highly organised animal, and nearly allied to well-known species, but it proved to be a female containing eggs, which, as he dryly remarked, seemed an unneces- Sary complication in a new creation. Turpin’s figure was not a very good one, as the reader will see from the copy of it that we give. It bore to be a fac-simile, and the specimen having been Copy of Turpin’s figure of Acarus horridus, Acarus, found by Mr. Weekes. Copied from: se found by Mr. Cross. figure in Smee’s work on Instinct. ‘put out of shape by immersion in spirits, it appeared distorted and uncharacteristic. Gervais afterwards, misled by the length and strength of the hairs figured on its body, did not discern that it was actually a species described by himself (the present), but took it to be a Glyciphagus, although there was no trace of the S CASE XIV, 274 ARACHNOIDEA. feathered hairs or the other essential and very distinctive characters of that genus. Gervais no doubt supposed that these must merely have escaped Turpin’s notice ; but Professor Robin has authori- tatively settled all dispute about it. He says, “The Acarus horridus of Turpin is only a female of Tyroglyphus longior, Gerv., badly described, and imperfectly figured from want of sufficiently precise taxinomic notions upon these articulates. The tarsus, for instance, is represented and described as composed of two articles, because on account of its length, the little support that is pro- vided for one of the hairs starting about its middle has been divided in two by the draughtsman.” Mr. Weekes believed that. he had made a similar discovery, and his mite has been figured too, but still more unsatisfactorily. We give a copy of it also. TYROGLYPHUS SICULUS (fam. & Rob., Journ. Anat. Phys., 1867). Tyroglyphus siculus. Copied from Fumouze and Robin’s figure. The only remaining European species of Tyroglyphus as yet described is this one named T. siculus, by MM. Fumouze and Robin, which was found in great abundance in Cantharides in Sicily, and is distinguished from the preceding by, inter alia, the shortness of its legs, the greater comparative breadth of its body, and its squat form. 275, Tyroglyphus malus, side view. Copied from Riley’s figure. Ditto, under side. Copied from ditto. A North American species, said to have been useful in some places (Georgia) in clearing away the mussel-shell Bark louse (Mytilaspis pomicorticis of American authors) from the bark of apple trees. From the figure it appears to be narrower and more elongate than any of our species. There is no doubt, however, as to the genus to which it belongs; the smooth body, trans- verse line dividing it, the tarsal claw, &c., all sufficiently indicate it to be either a Tyroglyphus, or a Rhizoglyphus. Mr. Riley’s beautiful figure is not on a sufficiently large scale to allow us to make out which. TYROGLYPHUS TRANSLUCENS (Acarus translucens, Vietner ; Enemies of the coffee tree, 1861). It appears that other mites with similar beneficial tendencies are found in other parts of the world. M. Nietner mentions one under the name Acarus translucens, as preying on the cocci that infest the coffee plants in Ceylon, and his notice would seem to indicate that this is most probably its proper place. He says it is. a very minute whitish translucent mite, that is mixed up with the scale insects, and no doubt injures them. On examining old full- grown scale insects, the shells were often found to be filled, not with eggs, but with a white flakey substance, among which the above mentioned mite moved about. S 2 276 . ARACHNOIDEA. ae Genus GLycipHacus, Hering, Kratz-Milben in Noy. Act. Cuv. ee: (1838); XVIII. a. 575. A genus, established by Hering, for a mite allied to Tyroglyphus which he found feeding on the sugar of dried fruits, such as figs, prunes, cherries, &c. It derives its name from yAveos, sweet, and gayw, I eat. Without going into minute details, its chief characters are a pointed snout (chelate mandibles), a dorsal depres- Mouth of Glyciphagus spinipes, Hair of Glyciphagus. Claw of Clyciphagus spinipes. sion instead of a distinct transverse line, dividing the body between thorax and abdomen, a number, not all, of the hairs on the back long and feathered, particularly behind, and the body terminated by a short button or anal projection at least in the female, a character which occurs in no other type of mites. The legs are five-jointed, and the tarsi terminate in a sucker and very fine almost undecipherable claw, so that they generally look as if provided with simple suckers like the Sarcoptidee. The skin is neither striate, as in the Sarcoptide, nor-smooth and shining as inthe Tyroglyphi, but has a sort of granular texture that makes it look velvety. ‘The males are greatly rarer than the females, This is a. very easy genus to diagnose. It may scem a very trifling matter whether the hairs of an almost invisible ttheless a most reliable character, as is the little terminal ojection at the tail and the velvety skin. Sometimes the one the other may be in a position where they cannot be seen, but _two out of the three present and the third doubtful is generally sufficient warrant to say that the bearer isa Glyciphagus. If seen _ in life they are at once known by the rapidity of their movements, if they run; the Tyroglyphi walk or creep. The hairs are a most ia ee cordinary part of their structure, for it is not only in downy hairs that the deviation from normal hairs shows itself, but in the most wonderful feathered and flat pennate transparent spatula- like plumes with a transparent membrane uniting the side and midribs. These different types of hair structure enable the genus to be separated into two sufficiently marked sections, the one having long-downy hairs and very swift in their motion, the other short feathered or membranous pennate plates, and comparatively slow in their motions. At least two of each are well described; but there are also a number more of the first section which have been less satisfactorily described although they may be good species. SECTION I. Body somewhat elongate, and with long downy hairs. 2. 3 . GLYCIPHAGUS PRUNORUM (Hering, Nov. Act. xviii.).—17. Enlarged sketch of ditto, copied from Hering’s figure. Hering’s description and figure is not sufficiently minute in its details to allow us to be sure of his species, but as it was the first described, and if we were sure about it, ought to be its type, we have placed a copy of it in the case. Found by Hering in dried plums preserved in sugar. The sugar merchants and grocers in this country are sometimes 278 * ARACHNOIDEA, oe troubled with swarms of either this or some other species of Glyciphagus in their stores of sugar. ‘These mites wander to the hands of shopmen and those that handle the sugar, who suffer considerable annoyance from their presence, which causes a tem- porary inflammation or irritation known as the grocer’s itch. No. 13. GLYCIPHAGUS CURSOR (Gerv., Ann. Sc. Nat. ; Acarus domesticus, De Geer). 18, Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Gervais’ figure. This species has been found by M. Fumouze, in numbers, in a parcel of Cantharides in company with species of Tyroglyphi (entomophagus and longior) ; Gervais found it among the feathers of dead birds and in the bodies of insects in collections. It is also found on the earth and dust of cellars, and especially “Gn ihe moulds which grow there. We have said above that the Acarus il | domesticus of De Geer was different Glyciphagus cursor. from the Acarus domesticus of Ger- vais, the latter being the same as Tyroglyphus Siro. The former is considered_by M. Fumouze and Robin to belong either to this species or to Tyroglyphus longior, but they give the preference to this or to some allied form of Glyciphagus. Signor Moriggia (Atti. Acad. Sci. Torino I. p. 449, 1867) mentions a case which would seem to support their view, for none of the Tyroglyphi have been found parasitic, although some of the Glyciphagi have. He figures a singular horny excrescence of great length growing from the hand of a lady, and containing in its cavities great quantities of what he calls “‘Acarus domesticus.” ‘The excrescence was nearly eight inches in length, tapering upwards from a wide base and curved towards the wrist. although young and in other respects sound, it SUGAR MITES. | 279 CIPHAGUS HIPPOPODOS (Hering, Nov. Act. 1$38).—19. Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Hering’s figure. ¥ Hering, who described this species, and who, so far as we know, =. is the only author who has met with it, placed it among the a Sarcoptidz, but although the habitat where it was found makes ‘it not unnatural that he should have done so, there can be no _ doubt that its characters are all those of a Glyciphagus. It was ~ obtained by Hering from a horse, whose hind feet had for several months had itch mites to such a degree, that was so useless that it had to be killed. Both the hind hoofs were quite disorganised, the frog and the sole consisting of a soft fibrous mass, in the wrinkles of which a stinking liquid was secreted. The cracks in the hoof arose from the destruction of the edges of the hoof which became separated and soft, and the animal became unable to go on hard ground. In the end the sore spread at the back from the ball to the flexors and muscle of the fetlock. In the lifetime of the animal very few mites were perceived, but when it was dead, the hoof, in order that its abnormal form might be modelled, was covered . with plaster both outside and inside to the frog, and then they were found to be in numbers. ‘They had, as is usual after the death of the harbouring animal, left their retreats and congregated to the edge of the sore and the hardened hide. Although at this time the temperature was several times below the freezing point (in the night it fell to 10 R.); still after several weeks living mites were found. It appears that the cold hindered a further decomposition in the soft parts, and therefore the mites continued to live on in their wonted element. Glyciphagus hippopodos. GLYCIPHAGUS BUSKI (see Cooper and Busk’s Microscopic Journal, 1842). It is probably here that an unnamed species made known by 280 ARACHNOIDEA. Prof. Busk ought to come in, which we have taken the hberty to nominate after that eminent naturalist. It was found beneath the cuticle of the sole of the foot of a negro, who had been admitted into the Seaman’s Hospital Ship on the Thames, in 1841, with large sores of a very peculiar character, and confined to the soles of the feet. On examining the secretion of these sores the insect in question was found, but dead, and partially crushed or Lie EK QiSSSS- 3° www w “AY | Pa broken, as represented in the cual a a woodcut. It appeared that the un | : : at ' disease was caused by its burrow- ing immediately beneath the thick cuticle, which thus became irregu- Glyciphagus Buski ; ie Gopicditon Pict Busk’s hours larly detached, being, as it were, undermined by galleries branch- ing in all directions. ‘The disease was attributed to the wearing of a pair of shoes which had been lent to another negro, whose feet had been similarly affected for nearly a year, and who wore the shoes thus lent for a day or two. The negro under Mr. Busk’s care was a native of, and came from the West Indies, and was not aware that a disease like his was ever known to occur there, but the negro to whom he had lent the shoes came from Sierra Leone; and Mr. Busk stated in conjunction with this, the remarkable fact that in some water brought by Dr. Stanger from the river Sinoe on the coast of Africa, one nearly perfect specimen, and fragments of others very similar, if not of | this identical Acarus were found, rendering it, as he thought, probable that the first man contracted the disease under which he had laboured so long from some external source. Mr. Busk thought it not a very unlikely explanation that the insect might eventually prove to be the parasite of some aquatic bird, or other animal frequenting watery places; and he adds as pertinent to the subject, that he had been informed by Staff Assistant Surgeon, [| much doubt that this is a Glyciphagus. It undoubtedly 8s either =a = Eiyseeyphide or the Sune us Gene 1S cannot Bice it among the Sarcoptidee, the striated skin ee absent, and the legs made on the principle of the Tyroglyphide. But the presence of the posterior button, so characteristic of the _ Glyciphidee, seems to us conclusive. So far too as one can judge from Mr. Busk’s lithographic drawing, which seems uncommonly good, its skin has a velvety structure. In a dead, crushed “specimen we should not expect to see the suckers of the tarsi. There remains only the hair on the body to complete the evidence: if they were feathered, there could not be a doubt remaining ; but they are not so figured. We do not, however, regard this as conclusive against the other probabilities. It was only in 1838 that Hering drew attention to this character, and it would not be very surprising if in 1841 and 1842, when there were, no doubt, very few students of Acarids in Eng- land, its value or existence should not be generally known _ there—and if not known it would be very apt to be overlooked _ by observers and draftsmen who had paid no special attention _ to the subject. 20, GLYCIPHAGUS SPINIPES (Fun. G Rob., Journ. Anat. & Phys. 1867).—20. g Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Fum. & Robin’s figure. Easily distinguished from G. cursor by its smaller size, more conoid form when in life, and by the comparative shortness of its anal appendage ; males and females are nearly equal in size. Its ‘ legs are longer, owing to the length of the tarsi, and its hairs _ are considerably larger and more feathery. It moves with extreme _ velocity, carrying one or two of its posterior hairs on each side 282 ARACHNOIDEA. 2B crosswise, and drawing the rest after its body. In the length of its hairs and the similarity in size of males and females, it repre- sents in this the Tyroglyphus longior in its genus, Found among Cantharides from Tri- este, in company with Tyro- glyph. There only remains one other Glyciphagus of this sec- tion still to notice, which is remarkable for the peculiarity of its habitat. GILYCIPHAGUS BALAZNARUM, Aca- ridina balzenarum, (Vaz Bened., Bull. Acad. Brux. 1870). Glyciphagus spinipes. M. Van Beneden, in a paper Copied from Fumouze and Robin's figure. on the cetacea and their para- | sites, (loc. cit.) mentions that several individuals of this species were found on a Southern Right whale (Balena Australis),among | the cirripeds that incrusted it. He describes it as having the head, thorax, and abdomen, separated from each other, and the body with numerous and long silky hairs, that are plumose. He could not have said in more ex- plicit terms that it was a Glyciphagus ; for these, as the reader knows, are its special characters. No anal appen-— dage is represented in his figure, but Glyciphagus balenarum. Copied fom we know that this only oscars qamamme females, and the specimen figured by him might be a male, or the posterior termination might not be in a position where it could be seen in the drawing. SUGAR MITES. — 283 SECTION II. dy short and more granular, with short hairs, either very se, or converted into flat pinnz, with transparent membrane. IPHAGUS PLUMIGER (Fum. & Ro3.), (Acarus plumiger, Koch).—21, ES Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from M. Fumouze & Robin’s figure. Body pale reddish-white, and flat. The larve hexapod. Nymphs octopod, but not sexed; in other respects as in the larve. For the special details, we must refer the reader to Messrs. -Fumouze and Robin’s beautiful memoir on this and the next “species in “Robin’s Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, 1868.” “ « a 8 Glyciphagus plumiger. Smalier than the cheese mite. Reduced from Fumouze and Robin’s figure. Found in the soil and moist dust of the walls of cellars, especially in the mouldy parts, also in stables, granaries, and the chaff and dust of fodder. They are easily distinguished from the other Acarids with which they live, by their slower motion, more circular form, _ by the transparent aureole surrounding their body, caused by their projecting lateral hairs, and by their smaller size. The _ young Tyroglyphi, Glyciphagus cursor, the Sciri, the Cheyletes, the © _ Gamasi and Uropodes, which are of the same size as them, may __ be recognised by their more rapid movements, their narrower and 4 more oval body, and by the absence of the aureole just spoken of. 284 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE GLYCIPHAGUS PALMIFER (fum. & Rob., loc. cit.),—22. Magnified sketch XIV. ditto, copied from MM. Fumouze and Robin’s figure. No. 22. : Glyciphagus palmifer (male). Smaller than the cheese-mite. Reduced from Fumouze and Robin's figure. one another by their enormous maxillary palpi. These soli- habits are only what one would expect from the possession of such powerful offensive weapons. Whenever an animal has powerful offensive weapons, it lives by rapine, and whoever li yes by rapine must be solitary. Any effort at making them gre- garious would meet the fate of M. Le Bon’s spiders. They were oregarious only until they had all eaten up one another, when ‘the last survivor resumed the solitary life for which he had been intended by nature. Cheyletus forms no exception to the rule. _ Koch, when he left these animals together between two glasses, ob- "served them seize the cheese mites between their palpi, and plunge their rostrum into their body and suck the soft parts, and Mr. Beck, who has kept them in confinement, and studied their _ habits, speaks positively to their carnivorous habits, and it would almost appear that they must have something similar to the q poisonous powers of the spiders, and that if so a part of the palpi, probably the outer and more formidable of the projecting _ jaws, in which may be a poison gland, must be equivalent to the falces of the spider. Mr. Beck says that when this Acarus 7 seizes another one of a different kind, which it does by its falces laying hold of a leg or any other part indiscriminately, the prey, after a lapse of about fifteen or twenty seconds, be- comes poisoned or paralyzed, the legs bend up under the thorax, and no part of its body makes any resistance to the pulling of the : devourer, who, when it finds this passive condition of the prey, _ deliberately sucks out the fluids with an apparatus at the mouth, and does not leave it until it is entirely empty and shrunken. The poison does not operate, however, when tried on its own species. _ It frequently feeds upon them, and in that case the prey continues _ to move and show signs of life so long as any fluids appear to be CASE XIV. 288 ARACHNOIDEA. left in the body. They seem pretty generally distributed. They are found in the dust of hay, fodder, and straw, in old chaff, old crain, old meal, old flour and old linseed meal. M. Fumouze met — them occasionally in different parcels of Cantharides collected in France. They were very rare in foreign parcels. Prof. Robin mentions that several times specimens have been sent to him, which had been found on the surface of the human body, or in stools, &c., without their having caused anyaccident. He suggests that they doubtless came from some of the preceding objects, or from the linseed flour used in cataplasms. They are also met with in the feathers and hair of animals preserved in collections, and in insects that have been attacked by Glyciphagi or Tyroglyphi. Mr. Brady also figures a specimen of this species, which he found in his dredgings, and described as C. robertsoni, which had no doubt been blown into them or otherwise introduced from with- out. We thus see that although in itself solitary, it is met with in all sorts of places, more especially in those where other gre- garious Acari most do congregate. But we should no more think that it was there for the purpose of feeding on these vegetable stuffs in which it is found, than we should admit that a cat eats hay, because it was found in the midst of a rat infested-haystack. Mr. Beck, by keeping this species in confinement, was enabled to ascertain the remarkable fact that the phenomena of Partheno- genesis occur among Acarids as well as in other orders of insects. He began by finding that some broods of other Acarids which he kept in confinement were mysteriously disappearing, and at last traced the mischief to one individual of this species. It proved to be a female, which laid eggs, and from them he reared numerous individuals, which, however, all proved females. Find- ing that they laid eggs he suspected Parthenogenesis, and tested the fact by isolating a single individual in a glass cage immediately after it had been hatched. It laid eggs, and it ended by his rearing three successive generations from it without any interven- tion of the male. The female of this species is very careful of her ’ CHEVLETUS. _ 289 Cur YLETUS MERICOURTI (Laboulbine, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1851. Acaropsis Mericourti. Moq. Tand.). Cheyletus Mericourti, probably female. Copied from Laboulbéne’s figure. M. Laboulbéne (loc. cit.) has described this species as very closely | allied to the preceding ; but the woodcut shows that in the armature _ of the palpi it differs considerably from it. Three specimens of it _ were found in the pus which flowed from an abscess in the ear of _ a naval officer, consequent on an inflammation of the auditory passage. It was near the Bank of Newfoundland that the incident _ happened, but where the Cheyleti may originally have come from _ does not appear, nor how they reached their singular destination. Koch, in his Deutschlands Crustaceen, has described four other . species of Cheyletus. Ch. casalis, which he regards as being _ probably a variety of eruditus, Ch. venustissimus, Ch. hirundinis, and Ch. marginatus. f T CASE XIV. Nos. 24, 25- 290 ARACHNOIDEA. We should now pass to the Sarcoptidze, but before doing so, we have a form to dispose of, that we have not known very well where to place. Probably it should come in beside Hypopus, but it would have disturbed the sequence we were following, and we bring it in here as an insect zcert@ sedis. HETEROPUS VENTRICOSUS (Newport, Linn. Soc. Trans. 1850).—24, Magnified sketch of perfect insect newly developed ; 25. Not so much magnified sketch of impregnated female, copied from Newport’s figure. This anomalouslooking insect was found by Mr. Newport, parasitic in the nests of the bee Anthophora retusa, in England. Heteropus ventricosus mature (either Heteropus ventricosus, im- Leg of ditto. male or unimpregnated female). pregnated female. Copied from Copied from Newport’s figure. Copied from Newport's figure. Newport. The leg, which we also figure, is also puzzling in its affinities. The female with eggs, attains a size four times that of the male, or unimpregnated female. For a full account of its anatomy, we refer the reader to Mr. Newport’s paper. It is no doubt the same species, or a similar one, to that alluded to by M. Lichtenstein in Bull. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1868, under the name of Physogaster larvarum, described as having a vesicular abdomen, and living on larvee of Hymenoptera. ITCH MITES. 291 _ Family SARCOPTIDA. (Itch and Louse Mites.) a Skin striated ; tarsi generally provided with suckers; no eyes, Section L—Itcu Mires INFESTING THE LARGER MAMMALS. A Genus Sarcopres (Latreille). Body flat ; shape rounded or quadrate ; legs short, not reaching far from the body, supported by chitonous appendages like the gar- _ ters of an Italian bandit ; tarsi provided with suckers ; mouth with chelate nippers; but whether four or only two is still sub judice, _ The accompanying woodcuts show the striated surface of the skin, the bandaged legs, and the suckers on the feet and chelate nippers, described under the generic characters, and admirably adapted for nipping and mining away the skin, through which they make their galleries. It is a similar adaptation of structure to purpose that they are eyeless; their life being, as it were, sub- terranean, they need no eyesight, and therefore are provided with none. Anterior leg and sucker of Sarcoptes scabiei. Mouth of Sarcoptes scabici. Reduced from Furstenberg’s figure. Ditto. The above figures are taken from F urstenberg’s admirable draw- ings. There is only one point on which some doubt as to their accuracy may be said to rest, viz., the four nippers. Claparéde _ assumes that these must be all mandibles, which is double the number of mandibles found in any other known articulate, and is ; q surprised that Furstenberg should not have been startled by this i anomaly ; and he casts about to find some explanation by which eZ CASE XV. Nos. I, 2,3, 4- 292 ARACHNOIDEA. to reconcile it with the general accuracy of Furstenberg’s repre- sentations. He thinks he may have been misled by having made his observation by crushing some individual that was about to cast its skin, so that he saw both the mandibles in the old skin and in the new ; and, having once determined the fact, of course it would not be necessary that he should trace it in every indi- vidual or species that he figured of the genus. In all, young and old, and of every species, he certainly represents the four nippers as present. ‘The light in which we felt disposed to regard them was, that although all four are alike, one pair represents the mandibles and the other the maxille, of which there is no other trace. On the other hand, in both the genera, Symbiotes and Psoroptes, Furstenberg figures only one pair of mandibles as present (chelate in the one and divided in the other), and no trace of maxillz ; consequently we think it best to reserve our judgment, merely noting the point as one deserving the examina-_ tion of some of our good microscopists. SARCOPTES SCABIEI (Laér.).—l. Two eggs of ditto, one closed and one opened, to show the embryo within, ready to be hatched ; 2. Magnified diagram of the burrow in the human skin, with the insect at the further end, and the gallery encumbered with eggs and broken egg shells, debris, &c. ; 8. Magnified sketch of male—upper side ; 4. Magnified sketch of female—under side. Copied from figures by Furstenberg. Sarcoptes scabiei, male. The itch mite. Ditto female. Reduced from Furstenberg ITCH MITES. 293 aT he specific characters are chiefly drawn from the bristles and hooks on the tarsi, the number of short stumpy thorns or spines on the back, and the proportions of the different chitonous bands and other parts. This species, for example, has six thorns on the back of the thorax, and fourteen on the back of the abdomen. These have some resemblance to a short Roman sword. There are also a great number of smaller papillz or raised projections, the form and disposition of which are used as subsidiary characters. When examined with the naked eye, the mite looks white and shining, and was aptly described by Bonomo, one of its first observers, as like a little bladder of water; when. seen running, __ however, upon the surface of a plate of glass, it may be perceived that its anterior margin presents a dusky tint of colour, and the examination of this part of the creature with the microscope brings into view a head not unlike that of a tortoise, and a pair of large and strong legs on each side of the head. ‘These organs are more or less encased in a moderately thick layer of chytine, and have consequently the reddish-brown tint of the cases of certain insects, or of the bright part of a thin layer of tortoise -shell. ! i ior legs of the female of Two of the posterior legs of the male of Sarcoptes Two of the posterior legs h patie. Copied from Furstenberg. Sarcoptes scabiei, Ditto. CASE XV, Poy ae | ARACHNOIDEA. The most apparent difference between the male and the female is, the smaller size of the former, and the different forma- tion of the two posterior pairs of legs. In the male, the third. pair are terminated by a long bristle, and the fourth by a pedi- culated sucker, whereas, in the female, both third and fourth pairs are terminated by a long bristle. On the under side of the male, moreover, there is a complicated series of chitonous bands, which are not present in the female. When newly hatched, the young Sarcoptes has only three pairs of feet, and the hind pair terminates in a long bristle; the complicated chitonous bands have not yet appeared. Burrow of itch mite in human skin with mite at further end. Copied trom Furstenberg. The insect lives in the human skin in little tunnels eaten away by itself. ‘The female, as she works her way, lays her eggs behind her, as may be seen in the accompanying illustration, copied from Furstenberg’s work on Itch Mites. We do not know how many she can lay, nor do we well see how that could be ascertained ; but it is said that she lays some every day, and that - she may lay as many as fifty. Neither do we see how it can be found out how long they take to hatch, but again it is said, from seventy hours to six days. If Furstenberg’s illustration may be depended on, which shows a considerable number of empty egg- shells dropped irregularly all along the burrow, and only one unhatched close to the mite, we should imagine that the shorter period was the most probable. The mite changes its skin four times Pee it attains “LTCH MITES, 295 rity, and it is a few days after one of these changes that it — ains its additional posterior pair of legs. This pest was nerly much commoner than it is ‘now. Soap and water, or their synonym cleanlier habits, have rendered it comparatively 7 ‘scarce, but whenever numerous bodies of men are crowded _ together without time and opportunity to attend to their personal 4 _ cleanliness, then it reappears and spreads like wild-fire. All armies are great sufferers from this and louse vermin. The _ Americans found it so prevalent during their wars, that the common people supposed it was something special and peculiar. _ “The army itch,” “the seven years’ itch,” “the Jackson itch,” are all only the common itch developed by the special circum stances of the case into a peculiarly flourishing condition. Our great English authority on skin diseases, Dr. Erasmus Wilson, gives the following as the indications of an attack by this insect, viz., firstly, a peculiar scaliness and undermined state of the epidermis, which is not met with in other cutaneous affections; secondly, the presence of conical vesicles, with acuminated and transparent points; and thirdly, and principally, _ the presence of the mite itself, which may be extracted from its retreat beneath the loosened epidermis with the point of any sharp instrument. The diseases which he mentions as apt to be _ confounded with it, are eczema, prurigo, lichen, meee and ~ ecthyma. When one of the early vesicles of the itch is examined with attention, a minute spot or streak may be observed upon some one point of its surface. This is the aperture originally made by the insect on its first entrance within the epidermis, and from this spot or streak a whitish fluted line may be traced, either in a straight or a curved direction into the neighbouring epidermis. The whitish line is the cuniculus, or burrow of the acarus; and _ the fluted or dotted appearance is due to the eggs, the white dots _ indicating the points where the eggs lie. The burrow necessarily CASE XIV 296 | ARACHNOIDEA. varies in length, being sometimes as much as five of six lines in extent, and at its termination, under a slight elevation of the skin, the little inhabitant lies concealed. The mite may be easily dis- tinguished by the experienced eye, as a small dark point at the end of the burrow, and if a thin capsule of skin be raised in this situation with the point of a needle, the little creature is brought into view. The spot or streak, which is here described, is not met with on all the vesicles, for the same animal may excite a series of these in its course; and a number may be developed in the vicinity of its habitation, while it is in the primitive vesicle alone—that formed by the entrance of the mite—that the trace of its entrance can be expected. The aperture again, does not communicate with the interior of the vesicle; it is the too close neighbourhood of the little grubber that acts as the cause of the formation of the vesicle ; the vesicle is consequently a provision of nature to protect the inner skin from the nearer approach of the cause of | Irritation. The itch mite, therefore, is never situated within the vesicle, or within the pustules, and there is no communication between the vesicle and the burrow. There is no difficulty in extracting the mite from the skin; the | burrow is seen without difficulty ; the end of the burrow is per- ceived to be a little raised, while a greyish speck is seen beneath it. As soon as this little eminence of skin is lifted, if the end of the needle or pin with which the operation is performed be examined, the minute, white and shining globe will probably be observed attached to the instrument. If there be no such object, the point of the needle placed again beneath the raised capsule of epidermis will pretty certainly draw it forth. This facility of extracting the little creature is due to its great power of clinging by its suckers to any object with which it comes in contact. The proximate cause of the appearance of itch is of course the presence of this mite, which is transferred by the infected to those ITCH MITES. 297 who are sound by actual contact. In some instances, it may be conveyed to the person in its adult state; while in others, ova, or embryos suspended in the fluid ‘of the vesicles, may be the _ mode of transmission. Certain it is, that the application of one _ of the mites to the skin of a sound person will give rise to the disease. ‘The precise mode of its transmission, however, was for . atime a puzzle. Its contagious nature could not be disputed, but it was remarked with surprise that infection among doctors and hospital attendants was comparatively rare. Dr. Aubé set himself to find out the cause of this, and he learned from a great number of inquiries at patients as to the manner in which they had contracted the disease, that it was almost always by having slept in the same bed with an infected person. He found that the number of those who had so contracted it was to those who had acquired it by manual contact as 100 to 5. Dr. Aubé inferred from this, that the mite was a nocturnal animal, and his other observations and an experiment made upon himself con- ___ firmed this view. The animal hides under the skin during the day, _____ but walks about at night, perhaps excited by the greater warmth | of the body in bed, and pricks the skin in various places. This explains the rarity of contagion during the day and the small number of burrows that may be remarked on the skin even where there are a great number of pustules, and also why the violent itching only occurs during the night. In confirmation of what we have said, we may quote the statement (Amer. Ent. ii. 118) that in the great hospital at Vienna, 1500 cases are treated yearly, and } no attempt at disinfecting the clothing is found necessary. The under clothing should be washed thoroughly, but outside garments, contrary to the general opinion, do not need anything to be done to them. The best mode of treatment for getting rid of the parasite is very simple. So long as it was supposed to be some mysterious © disease whose cause was unknown, it was not.to be expected that it could be successfully treated, but now that we know all the CAS XV. E 298 ARACHNOIDEA. particulars above related, its treatment is as clear as day. It is produced by an insect, and all that we have to do is to kill it. But what will kill it without hurting the patient or rather the impatient, especially when the skin is almost scratched through to the raw flesh beneath? Fortunately we know one substance that seems to be almost invariably poison to insects in whatever — shape it be given—sulphur. You can get rid of the green fly ; you can banish the scale; you can free your kitchen from cock- roaches ; you can extirpate almost every insect pest by the use of sulphur. The form in which it is administered does not seem to matter much. It may be powdered dry over the leaves as when we attack the red spider or green fly. It may be administered in smoke, it may be given in solution, it may be mixed up into a soap like Gishurst Compound and various other similar prepara- tions, or it may be administered in an ointment as in the case of the itch, and in all it is alike effectual. It is only necessary to get at the insect so as to expose it to its influence and the insect dies ; and surely if there ever was a case in which it was easy to put salt on a bird’s tail, it must be where the creature is in a tunnel that you can trace, and where there is neither opportunity nor temptation for it to come out and move off. There is no doubt a little difficulty in getting at it, for the tunnel in which it is lodged is sinuous and too small for injection or infiltration and up which the sulphur, in whatever form administered, must have difficulty in penetrating; but if we cannot reach it through the tunnel, we can, by removing the surface of the skin so that nothing but a thin permeable roof lies between our application and the mite. By bathing and steeping the parts affected in hot water or vapour, and then rubbing off the skin as much as possible, the Sarcoptes is laid sufficiently bare to allow the sulphur to act through the skin upon it. But although it may be killed, the eggs may not, and that explains how one application is rarely sufficient; but never mind, after a day or two’s pause, during which any surviving eggs may be hatched, let the process be repeated. The newly-hatched ‘insects will thus be ITCH MITES. 299 | before they have had time to begin to lay eggs, and as soon e old crop of eggs is exhausted the cure is complete. -is not alone on man that this species establishes itself. It g been found on the lion, on the dog, the lama, the sheep, the ox, the horse, and the sow, and although it is very possible that some of the observations on which this statement is made are _ erroneous, and that some allied species peculiar to the animals in | _ question may have been mistaken for the S. scabiei, still there is _ ho reason to doubt that it is the species which is most universally _ distributed, and which is found on the greatest number of mam- _ mals. We hear of old mangey lions in a wild state, but it is most probable that it is only in captivity that they are really attacked py the itch, which no doubt they owe to the dirty attendants that wait upon them. ‘They succumb rapidly to its attacks, dying in a few months, and become miserable objects before they die. The head is the part chiefly attacked. It becomes covered with a thick crust, the nostrils closed, the skin of the head and neck _ swollen into hard folds, and the whole animal in the last stage of _ debility. ___ There remains one point for consideration regarding these mites, not less curious than any of the preceding, viz. :—How they produce the physiological effects that characterize the malady. It is a problem that will often recur to us as we go along through the other classes of insects. We shall find the larva of one kind _ of insect feeding in some part of a plant without giving rise to any i. symptoms that can be called inflammatory or envenomed, while others of the same size, of a different kind, feeding alongside of them produce immense growths or galls. In speculating upon the cause of the itching sensation and inflammatory symptoms : 4 _ of the skin in attacks of the Sarcoptidz, the first and most natural supposition is that they are caused by the incessant minute nib- bling going on just at the termination of the smallest ramifications of the sentient nerves terminating in the skin. Undoubtedly a constant gnawing of this kind must not only produce irritation, CASE XV. 300 ARACHNOIDEA. but irritation of a kind quite different from any less continuous and minute shaving. But then we have different symptoms pro- duced by different species ; the scurfy inflamed surface of the S. scabiei; the coarse leprous crust of the S. scabiei-crustosze ; the deep ulcers of Glyciphagus hippodos ; and so on. It is possible that there may be some difference in the kind and degree of me- chanical irritation to produce such different results ; but it is also possible that there be some special poisonous or irritant virus in the bite of the different species, to account for the variation in the phenomena observed in each. There are several other species of itch mite. One of the most formidable (producing a much worse complaint than the common itch) is the following :— SARCOPTES SCABIEI-CRUSTOS (furstenberg Kratzmilben).—The Norwegian . itch mite. This is very like the common species, but smaller and some- what darker. It likewise is attached to man, but fortunately is much more rare. It was first described from Christiana in Norway, and seems to be more particularly special to that country, although examples of the disease have occurred in other — countries. It was first noticed by MM. Boeck and Danielssen in Chris- tiana, in their Treatise on the ‘‘Spedalskhed,” Elephantiasis, &c., published in 1848. Among the diseases of the outer skin they found a kind of tubercles covered with thick brownish crusts, in which they discovered an Acarus, which presented itself in millions, not only on the surface of the tubercles, but even in the softened tubercular mass. When the mass was examined with a lens, it appeared to consist of nothing but small white round points, which, placed under the microscope, proved to be Acari in every stage of development. The tubercular mass consisted of softened tissue, and on the inner surface of the crust an innumerable crowd of the little animalcules appeared. The ITCH MITES. 301 | y seem to be composed in some sort only of the skeleton skins of dead mites, superposed and bound together by a viscous matter; in truth, it is a little world of animalcules, one generation “upon another, and their skeletons compose this most remarkable a form of ‘‘Spedalskhed.” This description does not accord with __ the usual work of a Sarcoptes ; but Messrs. Boeck and Danielssen seem to have had no doubt on the subject, and only to have had a difficulty in making up their minds whether it was the common S. scabiei or a different species. They inclined to the latter, in which view they were confirmed by the opinion of Norwegian naturalists, to whom they showed specimens and a figure. That figure has been published in their work, but we have not seen it, and only obtained the above knowledge of its contents from M. Furstenberg’s account of the literary history of the itch mites given in his valuable work, Die Kratzmilben. 7 The description, however, quite agrees with that of subsequent observers who have met with the disease. Fuchs describes two cases, and M. Second-Fereol one that he observed in Paris, which place the symptoms in even a worse light than those recorded by M. Boeck. The complaint, as described by him, was chiefly seated in the hands and fore-arms, and was characterised by crusts of a dirty yellow colour of considerable thickness, especially on the hands, where they formed a stratum that reached, and even exceeded half an inch in thickness. They were traversed by broad and deep cracks, which corresponded more or less with the articular folds. The bottom of these cracks was moist but whitish, and by no means bloody; the fingers and back of the hand covered by . this sort of cuirass, looked like the bark of a rugged rifted tree, | but of a yellow colour. On the rest of the body it lost, or perhaps it would be more correct to say, had not yet attained, its character of continuous envelope, but it was dispersed over CASE XV. 302 ARACHNOIDEA. almost the entire body in patches or spots. The smell was re- q pellant, and the patient suffered from an incessant and extreme itching. Itch mites were found in the crust, but never in the substance of the skin. ‘Two attendants who applied dressings to the patient were attacked, and their symptoms were at first those of the common itch. One was speedily cured by sulphur baths. The other was still under treatment, six weeks after the entrance of the original patient, and symptoms of lichen and prurigo were showing themselves in addition to the regular furrows of the itch, SARCOPTES VULPIS (Fvjst.). Obtained from an infected fox in the island of Rugen ; has slight differences of the same nature as in the preceding species. SARCOPTES CAPR (furst.). Differs slightly from S. scabiei in the same way as the preceding. SARCOPTES SQUAMIFERUS (fzrst.), (S. suis, Gerl., and S. canis, Ger7.). Found on the sow and the dog, still very like the S. scabiei, and with the same number and disposition of hairs and spines, &c. SARCOPTES CATI (Hering and Gerlach), (S. cuniculi, Ger/., and S. minor, furst.).—5. Magnified sketch of male. On the cat and the rabbit. The species is a good deal smaller than the Sarcoptes scabiei. The thorns or spines on the back begin to alter; on the, thorax they are absent, or turned into hairs, and there are now only twelve thorns on the back of the abdomen. Both in the cat and the rabbit this parasite takes the head as its point of attack, and more particularly the base of the nose, the lips, the ears, and the eyes. Even when the animal is inoculated elsewhere by putting the mites upon other parts of the body, and after they have actually taken possession and begun to — ITCH MITES. 303 W, they soon leave these parts and, making for the head, lish themselves about the nose and ears. In its early stage © burrows, when sought for, can be easily seen, but the obstruc- tion, caused by the more numerous hairs, makes them more ot tortuous and often interrupted. As the mites increase, so do the ~ burrows and the itching, and the cat scratches itself, and tears the skin: then the hairs fall off, and the parts around the eyes, nose, and ears, become covered with hard crusts spread over and adhering to the suffering parts.. The time that the mischief takes to reach this stage varies according to the age, strength, and condition of the cat; as a rule, the young and strong resist longer than the old and feeble. In them, by the twentieth or thirtieth day, it may have spread over the head, ears, nose, shoulders, and even the back and the loins. The crust becomes harder and grey and agglutinated to the hairs; and under the crusts specimens of the Sarcoptes may be found. By degrees, as the malady progresses and the animal becomes weaker, the skin increases in thickness, becomes hard, stiff, and forms volu- minous folds round the neck. The swelling of the tissues and their inflammation extend to the nostrils, obstruct the respiration, and give the head of the cat that elephantiasian appearance that occurs also in the lion, and is indeed a constant character in cases of itch among feline animals. When it has completely covered the head, it extends by degrees over the whole body ; it is then impossible to describe the miserable condition of the poor animal, which the parasites are devouring as if it were a dead carcass—the feebleness is so great that it totters on its limbs, and can scarcely drag itself along. All its skin is a focus of infection, where crusts and entangled hairs form pieces like hideous shells, and which pieces tear off in plates. It is true that they rarely reach this extreme stage, being usually destroyed before the disease passes through all the stages of complication. Still plenty of dead cats that have had the disease bad enough may be seen in the dust carts and on the CASE XV. 304 ARACHNOIDEA. manure heaps of all great towns. The most of them are either killed or die in the cellars of houses where they have taken refuge. In the country the complaint is much rarer, the opportunity of contagion being so much less ; but when it appears there it runs © its course as rapidly as in towns. M. Delwart, of Brussels, said, in 1830, that he had seen in large farms, where a great many cats were kept, the malady spread itself with such rapidity that in four or five weeks all the cats had been carried off by the affection ; and in 1827 M. Sajous, a veterinary surgeon residing at Tarbes, related that a very intense epizootic itch had raged in that district among the cats for several years, and it proved so murderous that entire villages remained wholly deprived of cats. The malady seems to vary in virulence at different times, and when very bad it is called epizootic, when milder, sporadic: differences which may be due to the character of the season or general robustness of the animals’ health at different times. The symptoms are the same in the rabbit when it is infected. The same remedies that are used for the itch in man should be used for this variety, and of course modified in their administra- tion to suit the different characters of the patient. In the country the cats may occasionally in autumn be seen suffering from great iritation, and people are apt to jump to the conclusion that they have got the itch. But it is always easy to tell whether it is so or not, for if the itch it shows itself about the head, nose, and ears, and if instead of that the irritation is about the feet, ten to one it is caused by the harvest mite, Leptus autumnalis, which the cat has caught in wandering about the garden, and usually on examination the matter can be put beyond doubt by finding the little red mite in the fur, or between the claws of the cat. If kept from getting a fresh supply it will soon get better, for the mites will by and bye leave it of their own accord: but if it is allowed to get a fresh supply every day, it will of course get worse and worse as long as the supply is renewed. 305 5 RUPICAPRAE (Hering). he chamois. ? if 1841). - Procured by M. Gervais in the mangey ists of a dromedary which had newly ved at the Jardin des Plantes from frica. As soon as it was found that it _ was suffering from the itch it was killed : an extreme measure which would not be thought of now. From the figure given _by Gervais, it appears to have been a seecoe Genel Gans _ very well marked species, but belonging pene ees ‘ F to the same genus as S. scabiei. ; SARCOPTES MUTANS (Robin and Lang., Comptes-Rendus, xlix. 1859; and 8. Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Mosc. xxxiii. 1860).—6. Magnified sketch of male, upper side ; 7. Ditto of male, side view 3 8. Ditto of female, under side. All taken from M. Robin’s figures, Sarcoptes mutans (male), under side. Reduced Sarcoptes mutans, female. Reduced e . from Robin’s figure. trom Robin's figure, The joints of the palpi are omitted, " _ This species is a parasite on the domestic fowl. We Owe our knowledge of it to MM. Lanquetin Reynal, and Professor Robin. U CAS XV, E 306 ARACHNOIDEA. A full description, with careful figures, will be found in the Bulletin of the Society of Moscow, 1860. It is a very flat, broad species; and the absence of spines on the back at once distinguishes it ~ Sarcoptes mutans, side view. Copied from Robin. from all the preceding. The ailment produced by it, is observed most frequently on the hen and the cock, appearing first on the feet, on the comb, and about the beak. No premonitory symptoms indicate its approach. The fowls preserve their appetite and live- liness ; although sometimes a careful observer may see that the sick animals shake their heads, raise and stretch their legs in a convulsive manner. If the examination is followed up, some white points and lines traced in zigzag, covered by very small scales, which the least rubbing knocks off, may be seen on the comb. The skin, covered by them, is lightly chagrined and of a brown colour, which contrasts with the red colour of the rest of the comb. At that period no lesion of the tissues is observable. The malady remains stationary for fifteen days or even a month, at the end of which time the base of the comb thickens and becomes darker, and the linear tracings assume the appearance of true burrows of the itch insect, and at the bottom of them the Sarcoptes mutans is to be found. At a later period the feathers of the head and about the beak undergo a remarkable change: they turn back, stand on end, ITCH MITES. 207 ‘lose their briliancy: they become white and atrophied as if there were some perversion of the secretion of the skin : of the bulb. At the point where the feather detaches itself r from the skin, there is found a mass of epidermic matter in a bed _ of the thickness of some millimetres, and all around are lines or Woirrows formed by the raising of the skin. As the malady proceeds, the feathers of the head and upper part of the body become atrophied ; their free extremity bends, twists, and rolls upon itself, and ends by disappearing in the midst of the epidermal products accumulated at the base of the quill. The head and neck of the fowl have at that period a very peculiar aspect ; they are despoiled of all the feathers that decorate them in their normal state. The comb is brown with a tugged surface, drawn back upon itself, broad at its base and spotted with whitish mealy patches. On various parts crusts, of some lines in thickness, appear, which, when detached, leave a slightly scaly surface, which recalls to mind the disease named phthiriasis. The complaint does not always begin on the head. Tt sometimes makes its first approaches on the feet. Similar symptoms occur there, but they proceed more slowly, but by-and- by the scales on the feet and legs begin to come off, and a crust forms upon them, more especially between the toes. Sometimes it envelops the whole of the foot and tibia, forming a crust a third of an inch in thickness. Bits as large as a hazel nut, or a walnut, may be broken off. This faffection has much analogy with the Norwegian itch above described. It can be communicated both to man and to the horse. Genus PsoropTes (Gerv.). (Dermatodectes, Gerlach; Dermatokoptes, First.) Palpi soldered to the mandibles, of which there is only one pair, which is adapted for piercing and not chelate ; stem of the suckers or ambulacra three jointed. 308 ARACHNOIDEA. — * . CASE PSOROPTES EQUI (Gerv., Ann. Soc. Nat. 1841), the horse and sheep cae sale insect (Dermatodectes equi, Gerl. ; Dermatodectes bovis, Ger?. ; Der-. matodectes ovis, Gev/. ; emnatokontce communis, /rst.).—9, Mag- nified sketch of male, upper side. No. 9. Mandibles of Psoroptes equ Ditto anterior leg and suckers. Copied from Furstenberg’s figure. Copied from Furstenberg. Furstenberg shoves aside the old names with rather too much nonchalance. If every one were entitled to change a name merely because he thought he could give it a better or more appropriate one, there would be no end to new names. Or if every time that a specific name was — picked off, the generic name — that accompanied it must go Psoroptes equi. Copied from Furstenberg’s figure. too, matters would be still (Striation on body not sufficiently fine.) = worse. It seems a very ques- tionable step to change the specific name equi into communis, merely because the insect has been found on other animals besides the horse ; and the substitution of his new generic name (Dermato- | ICH MITES, 309 a The eens is ee foe It is not a burrowing mite ; and, ‘in. accordance with its habits, it has lance-like mandibles Psoroptes equi. Two posterior Psoroptes equi. Two of the posterio legs of male. legs of mature female. instead of dentate nippers, and the palpi are soldered on each side of them, so as to make them form a sort of tube. The jointed or telescopic suckers or ambulacra, as they are called, as shown above, also easily distinguish it. The difference in the sexes is of a similar nature to that in Sarcoptes. The above cuts show the difference between the two posterior pairs of legs in the mature male and female. ‘There are other differences in the immature stages. CASE XV. 3I0 ARACHNOIDEA. This species occurs most frequently on the horse and sheep ; but it is also found on the ox. It is also said sometimes to stray to man; but this is an error. We read, indeed, in Hering, of two cases where the itch was transferred from diseased horses to men, and others are cited elsewhere; but as the insect was not identified, and the symptoms do not correspond with those produced by the Psoroptes equi, it is most probable that the horse was only suffering from an attack of Sarcoptes scabiel, and communicated it back again to the class from which it received it. Still the cases are instructive, therefore we quote them. The first case is taken from the Italian journals :— “In January, 1820, a farmer, Magni, bought a mangy horse at the market in Bergamo (in the province of Mailand), on which he rode home. The morning after his arrivai he felt a strong itch _ over almost the whole body, as also his son and a friend, who had accompanied him from the market. The stable-boy, who had to attend to the horse, scratched himself very much the following day, as well as another who had worked some hours in the field with him. At last more than thirty persons on the farm had the itch, as well as some horses, all directly or indirectly from this horse. Magni sold the animal to a joiner, who was soon attacked; not less so his boy, who ‘had laid his hand on the horse’s back, and a cow that had rubbed against the collar and crib of the horse. It is noticeable that all the individuals who were attacked felt the itch in twenty-four or thirty-six hours after coming in contact with it; this is the more remarkable as it was in January. ‘The itch character of the sores is confirmed by credible physicians and surgeons.” The second instance is related by Sydow, and is to the following effect :— “In the summer of 1808 we had a horse in our Animal Hospital suffering from the so-called Grecian Mange, which is a very obstinate disease, and defies the best medical treatment. ITCH MITES. 311 TI is horse, with the view of seeing the so-called scab mite (Acarus ex ulcerans), was exposed to the sun. The scab on the hide was : loosened with our hands, and we took a magnifying glass to exa- 7 ‘mine the scab with, but saw no scab mites. Then we took some of the scab and laid it on white paper, and searched amongst it again with the magnifying glass without seeing what we wished, put instead, five days after the examination, we had scab pustules on both hands. That we could not have got them in any other way was certain, and a proof was, that five veterinary surgeons besides ourselves were attacked from the same horse.” - In both of these cases (the latter more especially, for the itch ‘pustules are mentioned) the mites burrowed in the skin of the horse. The way in which the Psoroptes equi proceeds is quite different. As already said, the mandibles are not adapted for burrowing, but for lancing—and accordingly it makes no burrow. It lays its eggs on the skin to which they adhere by a gluey matter. The mites themselves move about among the hairs, often crowded in great numbers, and they feed by plunging their sharp mandibles _deep into the skin, and sucking out its juice, although they do not and cannot penetrate so deep as to pass through the skin or reach the blood. It is thus easy to say whether an itch infection is that of the man or the horse mite. Indeed, from experiments made, the horse mite does not seem capable of establishing itself on man. Specimens have been transplanted on to him, and all that he has felt has been a slight uneasiness from the mites plunging their mandibles into the skin; but that soon passed: the mites went their way and disappeared, and no itch complaint followed. On the sheep it is said by M. Delafond to give rise to the disease called “black muzzle.” ‘The sheep attacked has the skin of the face, lips, around the eyes, and the external surface of the ears covered with a great quantity of furrows and mangy papille forming thick hard adherent greyish crusts under which the mites live and breed, and the fleece falls off in great flakes. 312 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE Genus Symprores (Gerlach), (Chorioptes, Gervais ; Sarco-derma- todectes, Delafond and Lourg. ; Dermatophagus, Furst.). The ground for Furstenberg’s cancelling Gerlach’s generic name here (Symbiotes) is that there is a genus of beetles previously so — named by Redtenbacher. Purists do not allow such duplication of names. ‘The same generic name, they say, should never be twice used in the animal kingdom ; but the general world rolls on its way, making language as it goes, introducing this new word, rendering obsolete that old one, corrupting this and modifying that, without regard to critics and grammarians, and they have to accept the language, and words thus altered whether they are vulgar or genteel, grammatical or ungrammatical. So the scien- tific critics and grammarians may rest assured that they must do the same thing. Names will acquire currency whether they like it or not, and whether they are in accordance with their rules or not, and so long as no confusion is produced, it is right that it should be so. Names are a mere means to an end, and not the end itself. Therefore we say that while we think every author should be careful not to introduce a generic name that has previously been used in some other branch of zoology, yet when by chance a double employment has crept in, it should be allowed to stand, unless it is one that may reasonably be thought likely to produce confusion. A double employment of the same name> for a genus of beetles, and for a genus of mites can hardly be expected to do so, and therefore we retain the name Symbiotes, inadvertently used by Gerlach, in preference to the new Der- matophagus proposed to be substituted for it by Furstenberg. The mandibles are made on the same principle as those of the itch mite of man (Sarcoptes scabiei), being chelate nippers, with which it snips its way through the skin, and, having made a raw, lives under the scabs or crusts that the serosity oozing from it forms. ITCH MITES. 313 OTES zovys (Gerlach), (Sarcoptes bovis, Hering ; Chorioptes caprze, Gervais ; Symbiotes equi, Gerl. ; Sarcodermatodectes caprez, Dela/. and Sour. ; Dermatophagus bovis, Fzzs¢.).—10. Magnified sketch of male, under side. | | __ The characters of this genus do not differ greatly from those of _ Sarcoptes. It has only one pair of chelate mandibles, and other i differences will be seen in the accompanying woodcuts, which a _ show the figure of the mite and of its suckers or ambulacra, which also furnish a good generic character ; in the female the Ri MM Eee ZN LG Sa Z, \D Symbiotes bovis. Copied from Furstenberg’s Symbiotes bovis, anterior leg and figure. sucker. Copied from Furstenberg. two posterior pairs of legs terminate each in two long bristles. | The suckers are remarkable for their great development in this species. In many other species of mite (as in the Hydrachnidz and Hypopi, for example) they are more numerous, but here they are larger. There is a large pair at the posterior part of the male, and like those of the feet they are bowl- and cup-shaped. It really seems as if Nature in making these creatures, had her head so full of sucking apparatus that she scattered them about in various places out of pure prodigality, and for all sorts of uses | —for walking, for sitting still, for holding on, and for adhering to one another. 314 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE Delafond and Bourguignon figure this species as the itch mite | of the goat, but there is no doubt that it is the same as that of the goat and ox, and that it is found on all three is due, as in the species that infests the tame rabbit, to the frequent and close communication between domestic animals. It generally attacks the goat about the sides of the neck, behind the ears, on the back and loins, the base of the tail, &c.; but also wherever the mite happens to have effected a lodgment. It is found also on the horse, attacking it at first about the pasterns. It sometimes makes great havoc among goats. Delafond and Bourguignon found that in the valley of Prattigau, in the Grisons, Switzerland, in the years 1851, 1852, and 1853, out of upwards of 2500 goats the half was attacked, and 500 died. Genus SARCOPTERUS (WVifzsch). Confined to birds. In the two anterior pairs of legs the suckers are replaced by claws, and in the posterior pairs by hairs. No, 1x. SARCOPTERUS NIDULANS (WVi¢zsch), (Giebel, Zeitsch. Ges. Naturw. iv. 29).— 11, Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Giebel’s figure. This species, which is closely allied to the genus : sa se 4. Sarcoptes, was first asec Ligh and figured by Nitzsch in Ersch and Graben’s Ency- clop. 1818, I. 249 ==alter: wards by Giebel in his paper above quoted.—It was found on the lark (Alauda arvensis) 7 NI L Ie and green linnet (Fringilla chloris). It lives in the skin alone, and makes regular and irregular thick yellow knots, eight lines long by six lines broad. These yellow knots Sarcopterus nidulans. Copied from Giebel’s figure. ITCH MITES. | 315 single skin cover, and their contents consist partly of : débris made by the mites, and partly of a dry white ly mass, composed of eggs and shreds of stripped-off skin. - body is striated as in the other Sarcoptide. The embryo young are orange yellow. Section I].—Lousr MITES INFESTING THE SMALLER MAMMALS. Genus Myopia (C7a.). _ The next sections of the Sarcoptide consist of two tribes, neither of which burrow under the skin, but merely live on it. One of the sections is found on the smaller mammals, and the other confined to birds, both of which again may be further subdivided into genera. Both sections have been by some referred to the genus Dermaleichus, but it will be seen that there are very material differences between them. Of those that live on small mammals (on which we now enter), some have a styliform suck- ing rostrum, and these, no doubt, live by sucking the juices of the skin, while others are provided with minute mandibles, and these must therefore feed by browsing either upon the fur or the skin of | their hosts. To the former sort belongs the genus Myobia; to the latter, Listrophorus and Myocoptes. Both sections exhibit remarkable modifications of various parts to suit their special con- ditions of life. “Myopia Muscutt (Pediculus muris musculi) Schrank, (Myobia coarctata, Heyden).—12. Magnified sketch of male ; 18. Ditto of female. Both taken from figures in Claparede’s Studien an Acariden. The woodcuts show the form of this species, both young and full grown, and of its mouth and anterior legs. The latter are con- verted into thick stumps, so near the mouth that they may be mistaken for palpi, with a curious flexible twisted clasping appa- ratus at their termination, by which the mite holds on to the hairs of its host. Consequently the species is so transmogrified that it appears only to have six legs; but the figure of the 316 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE young shows as if z# had only four legs, and the position of the | claspers sufficiently proves that these in reality are the anterior | Myobia musculi (young). Myobia musculi (female} Copied from Claparéde’s figure, Copied from Claparéde. uN Ditto, mouth and anterior legs more highly magnified. I f Ditto, tarsus and claw, Copied from Claparéde, posterior leg. Copied from Claparéde. legs. The tarsi of the other legs have no suckers, but a long thin feeble claw. LOUSE MITES. 317 “species, according to Claparéde, is almost entirely con- to” the house mouse. He on one occasion, but only once, with two examples on the field mouse. He notices a uri ‘ous fact regarding the distribution of it, and Myocoptes musculinus on mice, which cannot fail to remind the reader of e assignment of two different species of lice respectively to the sad and body of man. He says that this distribution in mice is regular to a degree. The Myobia musculi lives only upon the snout, the head, round about the ears, and, in an exceptional way, down towards the throat, but scarcely ever further down. The N yocoptes, on the contrary, confine themselves almost entirely to the abdominal region, although sometimes they wander to the back and sides. Usually there exists a somewhat broad neutral -tegion or zone which separates them from one another ; where no parasites are to be found. This species is more easily found _than the other, because of its greater size; in this respect reversing the rule with the Pediculi on man, when the smallest _ species is found on the head, and the largest lives on the body. Genus OTonyssus (Ko/enati, Kentniss der Arach. in Sitz. Zool. Bot. Akad. Wiss. Wien, 1858, p. 69). _ This genus was founded by Kolenati for a type of acarids that - seem specially told off for living on the ears of bats. While _ placing it among the Pteroptidee he seems to have regarded it as : a link between the Dermanyssi and them, and it certainly has some of the characters of each. It has the saclike body of the Dermanyssi, and at least one character of the Pteroptide, _ the possession of bristles formed after the fashion of those of _ that genus, that is, jointed like the hairs of the bats themselves ; and if we had nothing to go by but the details given by Kolenati, _ we should have been greatly puzzled where to place them if not _ where he has. But we have the advantage of an exhaustive _ account, and very careful facsimile sketches in all its parts of a _ species which we cannot doubt to belong to this genus, published 318 ARACHNOIDEA. . a 7 ean by DE Maddox in the Monthly Micro. vote 1871, obtained from the ears of a pipistrel from Scotland, and from these we _ see that Kolenati has fallen into error on some important points. He was one of the curators of the museum at Vienna, and it is Magnified hair of English bat. Magnified hair from the body of Otenyssus Copied from Queckett. ticholasius. Copie from Kolenati. not unreasonable to conjecture that he got most of his species of bat-mites from the dead or dried specimens of bats in the museum, which, of course, are less favourable for accurate observation than fresher specimens. Whatever be the cause, however, he has fallen into the mistake of saying that the legs of Vy this genus are eight-jointed when they are only five- jointed ; its palpi four-jointed when they are only three- jointed, and figures them as projecting instead of lying close to the mandibles; and the other parts of the mouth, as described by him, are not recognisable when com- q pared with those figured by Dr. Maddox. ‘The reader f, may say ‘‘ They cannot: be the same.” So we thought at first ; but after studying them again and again, and find- : ing that they agreed in every point on which error was BS , difficult, and only differed on those where error was Brite ofpalpi easy, we have come to the conclusion that they are the holasi ° see . Copicdrom Same, and that Kolenati’s description is not so accurate as that of Maddox. The place of their occurrence is Kolenati. LOUSE MITES. 319 same; their form and general appearance the same; they _ are transversely striated like the Sarcoptide ; both bear a number | =r of feathered bristles like those of Glyciphagus; they have a a somewhat similar disposition of claws—no caruncles—but a long _ one with two short ones, while Myobia has a long one with hairs approaching to spines, and the same form of legs, for a Kolenati figures a part of the leg, and that corresponds with Dr. Maddox’s, and both have the mandibles chelate. Kolenati indeed speaks of a ‘‘pelotte,” by which we understand a caruncle, but his enlarged figure shows none. Maddox does not figure, and no doubt did not observe the Pteroptine hairs figured by Kolenati from his species; but they may have been there not- withstanding. With such remarkable coincidences in unusual points of structure it seems more likely that Kolenati has erred in regarding the number of joints in the legs as the same as that of the Pteroptide and _ Dermanyssi with which he placed them, than that there should be two types with the same unusual points of structure on the bat ; the one with eight joints to the legs, and the other with five. It is Tarsus of Otonyssus. Leg of Otonyssus. Copied from Kolenati. Copied from Maddox. not difficult to see how this error may have originated. The last joint in Dr. Maddox’s figure of the leg is very long, and it has more than one projection, which might easily be taken for the margin of a joint, which would make the last joint short like Kolenati’s. As regards the difference in the number of joints of | the palpi, that may be merely a difference in the mode of calcu- lation; Kolenati reckoning the basal elevation, from which they Start, as a joint, which we do not; and their projecting away 320 ARACHNOIDEA. ee from the mandibles may be an error of the draughtsman, produced by attempting to show them more clearly. eh Accepting then Dr. Maddox’s’ species as belonging to the genus -Otonyssus, and taking his charac-’ ters as the true ones where they are positive, and ignoring cha- racters not mentioned on either Palpus of Otonyssus sticholasius. side, we find that the only family Meer es eS which possesses the same charac- ters is the Sarcoptide. The five-jointed legs, the three-jointed: adpressed palpi, the mouth with a camerostome, and the striated surface, all are characters of that family and that family only, and the form of the legs and claws are those of the section of it to which the mouse-parasite Myobia belongs. It holds out — a hand to the Pteroptidz in the form of its hairs, and to Glyci- phagus in that of its bristles, and it may be the connecting link between them and the true Sarcoptidz respectively, although it may be said that there is no more reason why Otonyssus should be allied to Pteroptus because they have got hairs on the same | plan, than that both or either should be allied to the bats them- __ selves, which have them too. We have said that its mouth has the camerostome of the Sar- coptidz ; but this gives rise to a question that has puzzled us a good deal, namely, the true meaning of Dr. Maddox’s figure of, the mouth. We have given an exact copy of it so that the reader can judge for himself whether we interpret it aright. In the first place Dr. Maddox has not said whether the mouth is represented - from above or below ; but the context and a portion of the back figured along with it (which.we have not thought it necessary to reproduce), shew that it is meant to represent it as seen from above. But if so it seems to us physically impossible that it can be correct. It makes the opening of the mouth to lie upwards, although the beast sticks on, and feeds ventre a terre, and it puts Mouth of Otonyssus sticholasius, t Copied from Maddox. I Ditto, more highly magnificd. figure shews the mouth as looked at from beneath, or as if the animal were lying on its back and we were looking down its throat. That Dr. Maddox looked at it from above we do not doubt, but we imagine that in looking through them he has been deceived as to the perspective of the parts. Itis to be remembered that we are looking at the mouth of a creature only a fifty-eighth of an inch in length and whose tissues are trans- parent. Moreover, Dr. Maddox tells us that his specimens were not examined in life, but after being in glycerine and spirits of wine and then treated with liquor of potass, and the laxity of the tissues, after being in it and the great displacement that occurs in neighbouring parts from slight compression, almost prevent the possibility of assigning to each the proper position, while in the natural state being often covered with exudation from the wound that the parasite itself has made and filled with dense grumous matter, exactitude in the description is by no means easy. Dr. Maddox has little reason to complain, for the drawing of the parts generally is admirable ; but in this instance we think he has failed to recognise the relative depth at which the different parts of the mouth stood from his eye. We would correct his reading Xx CAS AV E Bae ARACHNOIDEA. of his figure as follows: He calls the large curved claspers the superior maxillz, (his nomenclature is more anatomical than en- tomological) by which he no doubt means the mandibles (a term he does not use) and the small hooks in the middle front of all the inferior maxille. We regard the latter as the mandibles and the former as metamorphosed maxillz; and it is to be said in support of this view, that in the genus Listrophorus which also has a part of the mouth metamorphosed into a clasper that part is the maxille too. The central shred of membrane in front of these small hooks he calls the lingua (ligula), we should call it part of the camerostome ; as to what we regard as the palpi on each side, he simply styles them two short conical chelicerze supporting a long bifid claw. ‘The species described by Dr. Maddox sticks on to > the ear of the bat so firmly that they had to-be detached by force, and they appear to fix themselves by the mouth or head sticking - to one spot, and by their presence causing a considerable amount of mischief and inducing much congestion and thickening of the tissue beneath. Dr. Maddox figures the swollen spaces around their point of adhesion. All the specimens that he saw were six- footed, and he argued ftom so many as fifty being present that they surely could not all be immature. Kolenati’s specimens were also six-footed, but he nevertheless regards them as mature, and speaks of a blank being left between the second and fourth pair of legs for the appearance of the absent pair which he assumes to be the third. In this he is misled by assuming that they belong to the Dermanyssi; the system observed in all the other known instances of the later appearance of an absent pair of legs, is opposed to their being the third. These are invariably the fourth pair and take their place behind all the rest, and the blank of which he speaks after the second pair is merely a character common to all the Sarcoptide, although not to the Dermanyssi. We do not exactly gather whether Kolenati ever saw any with four pairs of legs. He says something that would seem to infer at least that such have been met with: “hitherto all 1% aa othe CASE XV. i ge III Se PIO ig ORT LOUSH MATES. 323 the species of ear mites have been to me six-footed, very rarely eight-footed have been met with.” If they are the young of any other bat parasite, with eight legs, we are at least not able to indicate its probable parent. OTONYSSUS STICHOLASIUS (olen., Sitz. Akad. Wissench. Wien, 1858, p- 73. Acarussp. Maddox in Monthly Microsc. Jour., 1871, p. 144). This species has been obtained by Kolenati from the pipistrel, and it seems to be the same as the species seen and so well described by Dr. Maddox. One of Kolenati’s specific characters Otonyssus sticholasius. Copied from Kolenat.. : Ditto, copied frou: Maddox. of it is that his species has four transverse rows of four or five bristles each on its back. In this it agrees with the species of Dr. Maddox. ‘They differ however slightly in colour, that of the latter being brown while Kolenati’s is deep cherry red, which may probably be due to the difference in freshness or degree of digestion of the contained food. On the pipistrel—Austria. Scotland. Kolenati describes five other species of Otonyssus from the ears of different bats. Genus Peptonyssus (Xo/en., Sitz. Akad. Wiss. Wien, 1858, p. 74). This is a genus nearly allied to the preceding and which has been styled the top shaped mites by Kolenati. He says that the legs are eight-jointed, which we presume must be an error because of its obvious affinity to the preceding, and from his description of the legs and claws being the same as of its allies, but we have x 2 CASE XV. 324 ARACHNOIDEA. never seen any of the species, and merely hazard its location here as a probable conjecture. He has described six species, and we copy his figures of two of them. The bristles or hairs are — somewhat peculiar, varying in each species, but apparently of the ~ same type in all. From the figures the texture of the skin would appear to be transversely striated as in the preceding genus, although this is not specially mentioned by Kolenati. PEPLONYSSUS SEMINULUM (Kolenati, Sitz. Akad. Wissen. Wien, 1858, p. 75/. Yellowish brown. From the ears and skin of Nycteris thebaica, in Egypt. Peplonyssus seminulum. Copied from Peplonyssus pee Copied from ati ‘ isi i olenati. Kolenati. o'002 Parisian metres in length. o'0088 Parisian HOES Ta oe ten PEPLONYSSUS PAGURUS (‘olen., loc. cit. p. 78). Yellowish brown. On Rhinopoma microphyllum, Geoffr., 1m Egypt. Genus ListRopHoRuS (Lagenstecher). The Listrophori are another type of parasitic mites found upon small mammals. Claparéde speaks as if they were confined to the rodents such as field mice, but it would appear not to be wholly so. We have specimens of Listrophorus gibbus from the ferret, and another species from the polecat ; and seeing that these beasts of prey must often feed on field mice, it is not very difficult to imagine that they may more or less frequently be invaded by their parasites. This genus furnishes a scarcely less remarkable instance of modification of structure to purpose than Myobia. In Listro- phorus the maxillz are transformed into two flexible shovels or LOUSE MITES. 325 ’ cA = claspers, as shown in the woodcut, with which the creature clasps ____ the hair of the mammal on which it lives. Mouth of Listrophorus Leuckarti. Leg of ditto. Copied from Claparéde. Ditto. From the general resemblance of the snout to that of Myo- coptes, which we figure below, it is probably formed on the same plan, although we do not know that it has been actually de- ciphered. Full details of their structure are given by Pagenstecher, (loc. cit.) and especially by Claparéde in his Studien an Acareden, No. 14. LISTROPHORUS GIBBUS (fagenst., Zeitschr. fur Wiss. Zool. XI., 156).—14 Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Pagenstecher’s figure. —— Listrophorus gibbus. Very minute. Copied L1strophorus leuckarti. Very minute, from Pagenstecher’s figure. Copied from Claparede. Found on field-mice and in England on the ferret. Bo.1r5. LisTROPHORUS LEUCKARTI (Pagenst., Zeitschr. f. Wiss. Zool. XI. 109).— 15. Magnified sketch of ditto, copied from Claparede’s figure. Found on mice. Genus Myocortes (C/af., Zeitschr. f. Wiss. Zool. XVIII). This genus supplies the bridge which leads us to the Bird-louse- 326 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE mites, and has much of their appearance, although also much of that of the foregoing mouse-mites. Nos. MYOCOPTES MUSCULINUS (Pediculus muris nusculi, Schrank. ; Dermaleichus Be T- musculinus, Koch).—16. Magnified sketch of male and female insects. 17. Ditto of female. Both copied from Claparede’s figures. . } | | Myocoptes musculinus (male), very minute. Myocoptes li 2 Copied from Claparéde. aa erry emilee Ditto, seen from in front. Copied from Claparéde. Ditto, mouth. Koch, in describing this species, says that it is not abundant. M. Claparéde at Geneva found it very much the reverse. Every mouse without exception swarmed with them in great numbers, and under two forms, for the male differs from the female very much. Koch appears only to have known the female. This mite Claparéde found also here and there upon Hypudaeus arvalis, and still more numerously upon the shrew-mouse. We have already noticed under Myobia the peculiar limitation of this species to the body of the mouse, while Myobia is assigned to the head. BIRD LOUSE MITES. 327 Section III.—Lovuser-MITES INFESTING BIRDS. Genus Derma.eicuus (Koch). (Analges, /Vitzsch). There is no doubt as to the place of this section, although the striation or wrinkling of the skin is so fine that it requires a good microscope to see it. We are, however, somewhat in doubt whether its right name should be Dermaleichus or Analges. General consent has approved the name Dermaleichus, which was proposed for it by Koch, as a genus of Sarcoptide in 1839; but we see from a note by Claparede, in his “ Studien an Acariden,” that while he adopts the name Dermaleichus, he considers that the priority belongs to Analges, a name given to the genus by Nitzsch. We cannot lay our hands on Nitzsch’s notice, but the name is again brought forward by Giebel in 1871, in a paper in the “ Zeitsch. Gesam. Naturw., iv.,” where he describes and notices seventeen species parasitic on various birds. His application of the name Analges is confined to Bird-mites that feed on feathers ; but, as we believe they all do so, it follows that Analges and Dermaleichus, as restricted to birds, are synonymous terms for the same thing. In the previous year (1870), Buckholz had described and figured a still larger number under the name Dermaleichus (“Verh. L. Ges, xxxv., 1870”). The number of species is very great, almost every bird having a distinct species allotted to it, and some two or three ; almost every collection has a number of un- described species; and no general monograph of them has yet been attempted. We were in hopes that this would have been done by Professor Robin, the most competent authority ; for in 1868, he gave an account of his observations on mites infesting Sirds, a preliminary resumé of which appeared in the “ Comptes Rendus,” lxvi., but we have waited with impatience for its further publication, which has not yet taken place. He proposes four new genera — Pterolichus, Pteronyssus (type Dermaleichus CASE AV. Nos. 13; 19. 328 ARACHNOIDEA. picinus), Proctophyllodes (type D. glandarinus), and Pterodectes, but the characters are still to follow. He found that the males pass through four, and the females through five stages—the ‘egg, the hexapod larva, the octopod larva or nymph without sexual organs, sexual males or females without external sexual organs, and sexual and fecundated females. These two last stages explain the meaning of a fact, that had been previously observed, that in Dermaleichus there were two forms of females. ‘There is very considerable difference in form between the sexes, the male being the largest, and often being provided with monstrous and exaggerated limbs, especially the third pair. There is also much difference between some of the species, although others are very close to each other. Some idea of these differences may be gathered from the species that we have represented in the case, and from the accompanying woodcuts. | DERMALEICHUS BIFIDUS (Luckholz, loc. cit.) Dermaleichus bifidus (ale). Di f Copied from Buckholz. A red DERMALEICHUS, Sf. From the rook.—18. Magnified sketch of male ;.19 Ditto of female. No. 22 ' Nos. (23, 24 BIRD LOUSE MITES. 329 20. Magnified sketch of male; 21. Ditto of female. Copied from Buckholz’s figures. DERMALEICHUS CHELOPUS (Herm.; D. passerinus, Kock), From the sparrow.—22, Magnified sketch of male. Dermaleichus chelopus (male). : Ditto (female). This is very like, although in some respects it slightly differs from, the Acarus passerinus of Koch ; but these discrepancies are probably only differences in maturity, or drawing. Genus INCERT# SEDIS. DEMODEX FOLLICULORUM (Simon, Owen, &c.) —23. Magnified sketch of bulb of a human hair, with the sebaceous follicle attached, in the tube of which a minute speck represents the insect ; 24, Magnified sketch of the insect. This minute animal which is from 1-soth to 1-100th of an inch in length, is a parasite that lives in the sebaceous sacs and hair follicles of the human skin. Considerable difference of opinion has existed amongst naturalists as to its proper place in the animal kingdom—pbut there seems little doubt that it is an Acarid, although the mode of articulation of its thorax is anomalous. 330 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE Professor Owen considers that it represents the lowest organised form of the class Arachnide and that it makes a transition from the Anellids to the higher articulates. If an Acarid it comes nearer the Sarcoptidee than any other, and we have thought the present as proper a place as we could find forit. Still we own that it comes in awkwardly, and as Dean Swift once said, if the judicious reader can assign it a fitter place, we do here empower him to remove it into any other corner he pleases. The more important points of'affinity are the struc- ture of the mouth which is suctorial, the transversely stri- ated skin, and its larval de- velopment, “Vhewlattersas hexapod. Its habits are in some re- spects similar to those of some of the Sarcoptidz. It is not Re ao ve Ge eee 2 Bonn ee hair follicles or sebaceous glands, but appears to make its way into them from without. Either the same or an allied species has been found in the | contents of the pustules of a mangy dog, when they occurred in such abundance that thirty or forty were frequently seen in a single drop of pus. It has not been discovered whether the insect had anything to do with originating the mange, or had merely taken advantage of its previous existence to establish itself in the pustules, nor does it appear whether the instance referred to was an isolated case or not (see Owen’s Lectures on Invert. Comp. Anatomy, 2nd ed., p. 444). In 1872 Pennetier described a species which he named D. caninus (Bull. Soc. Rouen), which is probably the same as the above, GALL. MITES: 3 Lop} & Sub-Family PHYTOPTID. (Gall Mites.) This is a most abnormal and exceptional group, which has puzzled and continues to puzzle entomologists more than have any of the other mites, difficult as it is to determine the true affinities and place of some of them. We think that this is its proper place, but we speak with bated breath and becoming diffi- dence. We shall presently explain the different positions that have been or may be assigned to them, with the reasons for or against their adoption. But we must first let the reader know what the Phytopti are, and something about their peculiarities and mode of life. Most of our readers must have noticed curious galls, excres- cences or growths, upon the leaves or other parts of various piants. These are produced by various kinds of insects; and the dis- covery of the species of insect by which they are produced has occupied the attention of entomologists ever since entomology became a science. Many of them are not difficult of determina- tion, in this respect, that, if they are cut open, a single grub is usually found to be inhabiting the gall which could be referred to the particular family with whose larvee the tenant corresponded, these being all pretty well known ; or, to make perfectly sure, the perfect insect could be bred from the gall. The larvze in such galls are usually solitary ; or, when the gall contains more than one individual, each individual occupies a separate cell in the gall. There are some growths, however, which look like galls, and some which look like dust or powder, the origin of which has puzzled naturalists, because, whether shaped like a gall or not, no grub was to be found; and, in its absence, they jumped to the conclusion that they were cryptogamic growths or minute fungi. This idea once received, botanists took them under their charge and described the various kinds under the name of Erineum, etc. Subsequent discoveries, however, have shown CASE XVI 332 ARACHNOIDEA that these species of Erineum, in almost every case, are growths or products caused by some species of the small mite which we have now under consideration; a mite so small and some- times so crystalline and transparent (as in the Phytoptus of the ash for example) that it cannot be seen in the gall at all, and it is only by washing out the galls and searching for them in the water in which they have been washed that it can be known that Leaf of lime-tree bearing nail-galls (work of a mite), Section of nail-gall of lime leaf. there has been a living creature there at all. The first step towards a knowledge of them was made nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, by Reaumur, the celebrated French entomologist. There sometimes occurs on the leaf of the lime-tree a number of upright projecting small growths, varying from green through red to brown in colour, and which look very much as if a 4 \ GALES MITES. 333 o ‘ ASE number of small tacks had been driven through the leaf from the under side, whence it was named either by him or others the lime-leaf nail-gall. Now this nail-gall, when cut open and examined, usually appears empty of any living inhabitants, not empty in itself, but filled with a mass of fine vegetable hairs of the nature of those that cover the under side of the leaf, but longer, and exaggerated in size and number. Reaumur, like many others, for long examined hundreds of these galls without finding any in- .sect in them; but he records that at last he found that his failure was due to his searching for them too late; and that, when he sub- sequently examined them at an earlier stage while they were still green, he found insects in almost every gall examined. He adds, that he never saw more than one in each; although there was an appearance as if they might be in company ; and he describes them as long; under a strong glass not appearing thicker than the stalk of asmall pin. ‘They were yellowish, like the interior of the gall. What makes them more difficult to find, says he, is that they do not like to walk. ‘“‘I often saw one, but was uncertain whether it was a grub or not, until it pleased to put itself in motion. It is. towards the base of the gall that we find them: when the galls get old, some opening or crack takes place, by which mites. and strange insects introduce themselves. I have seen, for example, mites ensconced there.” It is now ascertained that mites are not only ensconced there, but are the makers of the gall; and Reaumur’s observations had been quoted to show that it was them that he discovered. We cannot agree with this: the closing words of his remarks which we have quoted seem to show that he was perfectly alive to the distinction between a mite and a smail grub ; and although Reaumur might be, and probably was correct in assigning the early time of these galls as the date when their makers were to be found inside, yet, we believe the grubs that he saw were not themselves Phytopti, but possibly some carnivorous larve that had come in to feed upon them. We suspect he never saw the Phytopti themselves, for he only found one grub in each 334 ARACHNOIDEA. oI CASE gall ; whereas, wherever Phytopti do occur, it is not in single file, but in battalions. Besides, they are so very small that we doubt very much, if only one were put inside a nail-gall, whether we could find it again in such a comparatively spacious hall. Moreover he speaks of the cottony hairs filling up the interior. It is true that, where he does so, he is speaking of his ineffectual search for them, and its absence may have escaped his notice when he found the grub ; but if phytopti were feeding in the gall, the hairs would have been mowed down. We never saw hairs, or, at all events, long crowded hairs, or indeed anything but their remains, in mite-galls in which Phytopti were present ; and we saw Phytopti in mite galls in which hairs were abundant. We may also in passing correct the misconception which Reaumur has expressed as to a crack taking place in the gall. 3 Strictly speaking, the mite-galls are not galls in the sense of being enclosed portions of vegetable tissue in the midst of which the larva lives. They are merely abnormal thickened growths of a portion of the leaf; and the thickening being unequal, usually greatest on the upper side of the leaf, it there expands like a round gall while the under side is drawn up in the interior like the open mouth of a purse. By this character, mite-galls can always be known: they always have an opening leading into them, and generally from the under side or margin of the leaf. The - importance of this distinction will be more evident when it is remembered that there is nothing to hinder galls made by other insects from assuming a form similar to the growths caused by mite-galls ; and, in point of fact, some of them are remarkably alike: for example, we have above given a figure of the lime-leaf covered by nail-galls made by a mite; and here is that of a North American vine-leaf covered by similar nail-galls (called by American entomologists the trumpet grape gall) made by a Cecidomyia (a small gnat-like fly). They look identical, and aay one would naturally expect that they were both made by a like architect ; but sections of them respectively show that the former has an GALL MITES. 335 = ‘pening to tke interior from the under side of the leaf, while the latter has none, but is a closed sack. o> Leaf of American vine bearing trumpet galls (work ofa Section of ditto, drawn trom Cecidomyia). Copied from Mr. Riley’s figure. description, But to return to the history of the discovery of the makers of these gails: Whether Reaumur saw them or not, at least no one else did for about roo years after. About 1832 and 1834, how- ever, the publication of M. Dugés’ valuable papers on the classifi- cation of the Acaridz to which we have already had so often to refer, gave an impulse to their study, which led to fresh discoveries; and M. Turpin observed in the nail-galls of the lime-leaf, a quan- tity of very minute semi-transparent fleshy mites of a new and hitherto unknown form—a narrow creature with two pairs of small legs at its head, and some kind of: sucker apparatus at its tail, on which it rests and raises itself, swaying about its body. He regarded it as a species of Sarcoptes. The different views enunciate& on each successive discovery by CASE XVI. 436 ARACHNOIDEA. the best authorities are very instructive, and the reader will there- fore excuse our going a little into detail regarding it. ‘M. Dugés, then, the first authority of the time upon mites, remarked in two papers upon M. Turpin’s discovery. In his first observations, he mentions that M. Turpin’s drawings were un- fortunately not published, and he only knew his descriptions from insufficient extracts ; but, from some verbal explanations which he had received from him, he had learned that it was not by a complete analysis of the mouth that this distinguished naturalist had formed his diagnosis, which besides, even although made, must still have been very uncertain. M. Dugés had then himself set to work to find M. Turpin’s mite, but failed, altho’ he met with some Tetranychus teliarius laying their eggs at the very door or entrance of the galls; and he then suggests that it may have been its offspring that M. Turpin had seen, acknowledging at the same time that M. Geoffrey St. Hilaire, who had seen M. Turpin’s drawings, could find no identity between it and the specimens of Tetranychus teliarius shown him by M Dugés. Not long afterwards, however, M. Dugés was more successful in his search. Abundant rains had fallen, and he profited by the first fine days in searching on the black poplar for the galls said to occur on it, and he found some on the white willow, but not on the poplar. These were smaller, rounder than those of the lime; green or reddish, and covered with down outside: they pro- ject on the upper and under side of the leaf, but more on the upper side. Like those of the lime, they open un: erneath by a hole, which is obstructed by the villose filaments which are found inside. In the interior, however, these filaments were !ess abundant; and there he easily found, in great numbers, the mites of M. Turpin. He again searched and found them also in the galls of the lime. As to the more advanced galls, he found the walls often quite covered with these supposed Sarcoptes : they were very small, whitish, vermiform; and, as he supposed, very probably one of those which Reaumur speaks of having noticed, and which GALL MITES. 337 ASE he said, with reason, were scarcely to be distinguished from the vegetable filaments but for their movements. No doubt, says he, £ it was the outer form or habitus of this animalcule that induced Satlow leaves with galls produced by Phytoptus salicis, Section of sallow mite gail. Latreille to refer it to Sarcoptes when M. Turpin furnished him with his drawings ; but a more minute research, although very diffi- cult by reason of the excessive smallness of the animal, showed :— first, that the conical sucker was flanked by two thick short ap- pendiculated palpi, similar to those of Tetranychus ; secondly, from this sucker there sometimes (once) came out by compression a curved plate or blade, narrow and long ; thirdly, the feet were in seven parts, of which the third, or the thigh, was the thickest and longest, and the seventh on the contrary much reduced, very short and probably terminated by two claws, but certainly not by acaruncle. Thus, if the form of the palpi, the mandibles and feet, were considered, he said this mite ought to be classed ¥ 338 ARACHNOIDEA. in the family of the Trombidiide, near Tetranychus ; or again the number of feet would prove that it was only a larva and not a perfect mite, because there were only two pairs, and the other larvae have usually one more. But if that were so whence came the eggs that were also found in the galls? He felt no doubt that they were deposited by adult individuals, who had come there to lay their eggs. The free entrance to these galls — would allow them to come in, just as it would allow insects ; newly arrived at maturity to go out. The latter point he proved , by the following facts :—first, that many of these little beings — were seen to become motionless, changed into elongated pupee, 5 in which the body was already seen to contract, abandoning the : extremities of its cutaneous case ; secondly, two or three times — small mites with eight feet had been seen in the galls, white, short and agile, having all the characteristics (palpi and feet) of Tetranychus, Now and then, these little things resembled per- fectly the larger reddish Tetranychus, which had been found several times in the large galls. These Tetranychus were not at all of the same species as those on the lime, which live on the © back of the same leaves with their eggs and young. ‘They were | of a much smaller shape, and differed in some details of form and — in the greenish colour of the one, and light red of the other. In conclusion he acknowledges that a good deal of doubt rests upon the supposed affinities either with Sarcoptes or Tetranychus; and even upon the share they have in the production of the galls they live in. Along with these remarks M. Dugés gave a figure of the mite he found, which quite corresponds with those of subsequent — authors. : The next step was made by M. Dujardin, in 1851, when he also detected the same mites in the nail-gall of the lime-leaf, and published an account of them with a figure more highly magnified than that of M. Dugés. Under higher power, the body of the mite is seen to be transversely striated ; but it is time that the GALL) \MATES: 339 reader should see a representation of this curious creature. The accompanying woodcuts shew it respectively as it appears under a _ moderately strong lens, and under a higher power, and the smaller figure that looks as if it were casting its skin, is a copy of a figure of an individual supposed to be young, given by Professor Westwood. Up to this time it had always been taken for Ta a that these mites st be the larvee of some other mite. Phytoptus salicis, as it Young of Phytoptus ribis, appears when mode- Phytoptus tiliz, after Dujardin. Copied from Westwood’s | figure ; rately magnified. possibly only the insect in pro- cess of casting its skin. _and consequently it was assumed must be larve. But it was over- ‘looked that no larval form of mite had ever previously been found ‘in which the legs were fewer than six: consequently, if these were larva, they were larvee of some new type, and the difficulty _of placing them was all the greater. M. Dujardin was alive to this ; and, on careful examination, he thought he saw, through the semi-transparent skin, appearances of eggs within the body of some of them. He consequently regarded them as a new type of mite which he called Phytoptus. _ If he is right in thinking the bodies he saw to be eggs, the Mites must either be fourfooted in their mature stage, or the young must have the power of reproduction before attaining it, a power which no doubt does exist in some types of insects. _ The woodcut is a copy of Dujardin’s figure with the supposed eggs ¥ 2 CASE XVI. 340 ARACHNOIDEA. in them. We have never seen them in the mite of the lime-leaf nail-gall, because we have never been lucky enough to detect mites there at all; but, in other Phytopti, they are easily enough | seen, and the impression left on our mind is in favour of their being eggs. It is not so with all observers, however, and notably — it is opposed to the views of the author, M. A. Scheuten, who makes the next important contribution to the history of the Phytopti, and which if correct should settle the question of their true nature and affinity. M. Scheuten’s account of his observations was published in Phytoptus pyri. Gamasus sp. Copied from Schcuten, {Typhlodromus pyri of Scheuten.) who supposed it to be the pertect Copied from his figure. insect of Typhlodsomus pyri. Wiegman’s “Archiv” for 1857, and translated into our own Annals and Magazine of Natural History in the same year. The leaves of the pear trees in his garden were attacked by black pustular inflated spots, under the epidermis of which he found the species of Phytoptus, which he named Typhlodromus pyri. On examining a large number of spotted leaves in his garden, in which all the pear trees were similarly attacked (one tree having a third of its leaves affected), he always found the same four-footed larvze in the interior of the leaves, and, in most cases, on the exterior a species of eight-legged mite, which he took to be the perfect form of the Phytoptus. He gives figures of these, and from them it is plain that the so-called larva is a Phytoptus, GALL MITES. 344 : and the supposed perfect form a Gamasus. These are here shown. - But, beyond the fact that he found these mites at times in the vicinity of each other, one within the gall and the other without it, he gives no explanation how he arrived at his conclusion. To be sure, we cannot expect very close evidence of the progress of development in such minute ani- mals; but something better than mere contiguity or proximity should be given. os There is not even similarity or analogy in any of the parts. He thinks, indeed, that he saw the half-developed larva, tao = and gives a figure of it, which we here ho * epi, but the reader will see that this rigureofa Hypopus, badly drawn: Supposed by Scheuten to be the un- Eyouly 2 badly seen and badly drawn developed larva of T yphlodremus figure of a Hypopus. _ It is to be remarked, however, that in another species, oT by him Flexipalpus tiliz, which he observed on the lime trees, not in the nail-gall, but in a rust, or Erineum, on the under side of the leaves, named Erineum rubigo, there is a certain outward similarity of appearance between the larva and what Scheuten calls the perfect insect, as may be seen in the woodcuts; but here we agree with Claparede in thinking that this is merely a badly figured and badly described Tetranychus of the lime tree. We shall return to the consideration. of, whether these mites are really the perfect form of the Phytopti, presently ; but we must not omit his objection to Dujardin’s notion that the rounded bodies, visible under the skin of the Phytopti, were eggs. He objects that Dujardin’s only evidence that ova were in them was that he saw roundish structures shining through the skin of the animal. “Even with transmitted light,” says he, ‘‘a very indistinct view of the interior can be obtained; and this is shown by his own figure. In this we see what he regards as eggs, but no trace of other viscera, for which, however, there is plenty of space.” In the interior of 72s larvee, on the other hand, various rounded 342 ARACHNOIDEA. oS outlines were seen by M. Scheuten, especially when glycerine " was employed. In the upper part of the body particularly there Phytoptus, from Erineum rubigo Badly drawn. Tetranychus tiliz, erroneous'y sup- | on hme tree leaves (Flexipalpus posed by Scheuten to be the perfect form of ditto tilie of Scheuten). Copied (Flexipalpus tilise of Scheuten). Copied from from his figure. his figure. is constantly a round clear space, which also occurs in the same spot in the mite: then follow irregular roundings which, says he, are certainly nutritive organs. But merely to assert this is no proof, and the objections to Dujardin’s statement are obviously weak. He objects that it could not be transparent, because Dujardin has described it as white and striated ; and yet he him- self immediately, not only confirms the transparency, but describes the very bodies that Dujardin saw. All who have seen these creatures know that they are semi-transparent, and that you may see the interior, as it were, through a milky glass. It is not irrelevant to the question to add that M. Scheuten describes and figures another Gamasus under the name of Sannio rubrioculus, both in what he calls its young and mature stages, and that both the young and the old are furnished with eight legs. From this and some other minor indications, it rather seems to us that M. Scheuten had only taken up the study of the Acaride incidentally, and that his statements can hardly be accepted as right interpretations of what he saw, without con- firmation. Next, in 1864, Von Landois described from a new species q GALL MITES. 343 CASE (Phytoptus vitis), four stumps on the under side of the body, which he supposed were the aborted remains of the two missing feet. ‘The extent and meaning of his statement rather than the accuracy of this observation has been questioned. Since that time the Phytopti have become tolerably well known: that is, many observers have made themselves acquainted with them; and a few have, from time to time, described various species and the galls in which they have been found. The more important contributions of this nature have been furnished by Frauenfeld, who, in the years 1864, 1865, 1869, 1870, and 1872, has published papers on the subject in the “ Verhandlungen Zoologische und Botanische Gesellschaft in Wien;” by Dr. Thomas in the “Zeitschr. Gesam. Naturw. (xxxill),” and on ° Swiss Phytopti in the “Verh. St. Gall. Ges., 1870—1871,” and by Dr. Franz Low in “ Verhand. Zool. and Bot. Ges. Wien” in 1874. In our country they seem to have been very little noticed. Apparently the first original observation was by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, the eminent vegetable physiologist, to whom specimens of currant-buds, injured by a species of Phytoptus, had been sent, in 1869. These he brought before the scientific committee of the Horticultural Society; and, from these and other specimens Professor Westwood shortly afterwards described the species in the “ Gardener’s Chronicle.” His description agrees with that of other authors, and need not detain us, but he has added, appa- rently on the authority of his correspondents, that at a later period of its life it acquires six legs. This is an important point, and deserving of further examination, for it has not been observed by any other author. He says, “ From this statement it is evident that this creature retains its juvenile two-legged form for a con- siderable period, but at a later period (as we learn from T. C. of Glasgow, a good microscopic observer) they acquire six legs, as was seen in specimens from old buds sent to us near the end of October, when some had two well-developed bristles at the tail. These two bristles we believe to be the rudimental fourth pair of CASE SGV: 344 ARACHNOIDEA. legs; whilst another writer (D. B., in the ‘West of Scotland Horticultural Magazine’ for November, 1865) states that on examining some of the dried-up buds of the same season’s growth still remaining on the black currant bushes, he found the insects in a further state of progress. A good many of them had three pairs of legs, some of them with a pair of stout bristles, others with several stout hairs, and some of them with two projecting appendages at the termination of the abdomen. A few were also seen with four pairs of legs, being probably another species. Both of those having the six legs and the eight legs walked very nimbly, and speedily made their way out of the field of the microscope, and being so minute they could not easily be detected by the unassisted eye. The young larvee were already to be found in the buds forming for the next year’s crop.” It does not quite appear from this narrative whether Professor Westwood himself saw the six-footed species spoken of above as observed by his correspondent, T.C. This is an important point, for on it must depend how much weight is to be given to the observations which he reports. In a class of animals so minute and so little studied, and where to an uninstructed eye most different creatures may seem alike, we cannot be expected to ac- cord the same faith to observations by anonymous correspondents that we should give to those of Professor Westwood himself, especially when these conclusions are unsupported by, not to say opposed to, the observations of other eminent naturalists. Professor Westwood, indeed, speaks of them as important, but from some remarks which he goes on to make on the egg question, it is obvious that he did not regard them as in any respect conclusive. The Rev. Mr. Berkeley, whose strict accuracy and highly educated eye gives unusual weight to any statement he makes, was obviously inclined to believe in the round bodies being genuine eggs. He says (“Gardener's Chronicle,” 1869) that, if he mistook not, he saw very frequently, within the body of the GALL MITES. 345 ME mite, an egg - just ready to be protruded accompanied by one ot ; two others in a state of progression, on which Professor Westwood suggests that this may be one of those cases in which the ordinary proceedings of insect life are departed from. ‘‘ Parthenogenesis,” says he, “ or the production of offspring by a virgin or unmatured female, has been already observed among the Acaride, and we now know that the young larve of certain Cecidomyz, or gall midges, are capable of producing fertile eggs, whilst others of the same larve are transformed in the usual manner into midges. Is it possible that this is a similar case of larval pre- cocity? If, on the other hand, the creature produces eggs as a normal condition of its existence, we have here the case of a perfect Acaridan never assuming more than two pairs of legs, and which would require for its reception, not only a distinct generic name, but a distinct family of mites.” The latest contributor to our knowledge of the Phytopti is Dr. Franz Low, who, in 1874, in the “ Verhand. Zool. Bot. Gesells., in Wien,” has published two important papers, giving an account of many mite-galls and their producers. He gives a figure of Phy- toptus (part of which we here reproduce), in which, in place of the four stumps of feet that V. Landois thought he saw, there are seen four bristles springing from four warts, and he argues that it was by some displacement or ocular illusion proceeding from them, that V. Landois was deceived (if he was deceived). For our- selves we rather think that he was not, and that the difference between the observations of Landois and F. Low is one of words rather than reality. V. Landois’s four stumps of legs are doubt- less F. Low’s four warts, which he regards as the homologues of legs. These are the main circumstances connected with the past history of the Phytopti so far as we know them, but it is right ta.say that there may be others which have escaped us. Kaltenbach, in his Pflanzenfeinde, makes frequent reference to Dr. Amerling, of Prague, and Dr. Kirchner, of Taplitz, two Hungarian naturalists, as 346 ARACHNOIDEA. coe authorities for various names of mite-galls, whose papers, however, "we have not succeeded in procuring. Phytoptus. Copied from figure by Liw. Head of Phytoptus. Enlarged from figure by Dr. Low.- The reader may probably now ask what inference he is to draw as to the affinities and nature of Phytopti from the facts above mentioned. We have seen four conclusions drawn from their observation by respective authors. Dugés has suggested that they are the young forms of a species of Tetranychus. Scheuten, that they are the young of species of Gamasi. Latreille thought they belonged to the Sarcoptide ; and Dujardin, that they were a special tribe by themselves. Let us take tach of these alternatives by itself, and see what is to be said for and against it. Dugés sup- ported his notion that they might be the young of Tetranychi, first, on the ground that the conical sucking apparatus is flanked by two large short appendiculated (finger and thumb), palpi = Z GALE MITES: 347 CASE similar to those of the Tetranychi. Now the mandible-like objects may be short, stout palpi, but in no other description or figure of Phytoptus that we have seen, is there any sign ever given of them being appendiculated ; indeed they are not represented at all in any highly magnified figure of the head that we have seen. Nor can we find anyone who has seen this. His next argument, that, by compression, a curved, long, narrow blade was made to project from the mouth, requires more elucidation. His last, that the legs are composed of seven articles, which are proportioned like those of Tetranychus, is erroneous; the legs of the Phytopti being only composed of five articles. But independent of this alto- gether, there is one fact that seems fatal to the idea of these being Tetranychi, or allied tothem. The development of the Tetranychi and Trombidiide, as well as of their allies Hy- drachnidze and Bdellidz, has been thoroughly Leg of Pontus, | wrought out. Many species have been traced through all their stages, and not one has been found whose early stage has not been six-footed, and very like the mature insect. The Tetranychi and their allies may, therefore, we imagine, be eliminated from the number of possible parents of the Phytopti. Next comes M. Scheuten and his Gamaside. The same objec- tion applies to his view as to that of Dugés. The development of most of the types of Gamasidze is perfectly well known, and has been ascertained to be six-footed in the young, and there is no reason to suppose that those types which have not yet been traced differ from the others in this respect. As to the Sarcoptide again, the outward resemblance to them is much greater than to any other family of mites. Like them the Phytopti have short thick palpi flanking the mandibles. The — number of joints in the legs of both is the same. As the structure of the legs is a point of some importance, we may quote Dr. Low’s description of those of the Phytopti. “The legs are distinctly 348 ARACHNOIDEA. (2 five-jointed” (as shown in the above woodcut, copied from Dr. Low’s figure), “which five joints comprehend the coxa, femur, a Tail of Phytoptus. very short tibia, and two-jointed tarsus. The terminal joint of the tarsus, which is longer than its first, and somewhat knobbed at the end, bears a long round claw, which is only a little thickened and obtusely rounded at the tip. Beside this claw, inclined towards .the inner side, is a feathered organ for holding on by, which has on each side five gradually diminishing branches.” Claw of Phytoptus (Typhlodromus) pyri. Claw of Phytoptus (Flexipalpus) tilize. Copied from Sc.euten,. Copied from Scheuten. This “haftorgan,” or boat hook, as it were, differs in different species. The two figures taken from Scheuten, which we here give, show respectively its different forms in the different Phytopti specified under each, viz., with one hook in Typhlodromus pyri, two in Flexipalpus tiliz, and there are five in that of the gall of Bromus mollis. We are strongly inclined to suspect that the right interpretation has not been put upon these organs. What does the animal want with another soft claw alongside the harder boat-hook? As we read it, the boat-hook is the claw, and the longer so-called claw is a sucker, like those of the Sarcoptide. We can point to an exact parallel to this ar- rangement of sucker and claw, and nearly in the same pro- portionate dimensions, in the termination of the leg in Symbiotes bovis, and Psoroptes equi among the Sarcoptide (see the wood- cuts of these species). Again, the reader knows that it is an almost universal peculiarity of the Sarcoptide (so much so, that we have used it as a family character) to have the body finely GALL MITES. 249 ; CASE furrowed and striated, more or less, in a transverse direction. The Phytopti have the same peculiarity too. Notwithstanding all this, the great stumbling-block (four feet instead of eight) which has choked off the preceding alternatives, would extinguish the idea of connection here also, were it not for the light thrown upon the subject by Von Landois and Low, through the bristles and warts or stumps of feet that they have seen on the underside of the Phytopti. To appreciate the full import of these obser- vations, we must remember that in the Sarcoptide, especially in those truly parasitic species that live under the skin of other animals, there is a tendency to abbreviate and do away with the organs of locomotion, which shows itself now by contracting the length of the legs, again by the almost entire absorption or atrophy of one or more of the pairs, or by reducing them to the dimensions and form of a wart with a bristle proceeding from it. In Sarcopterus nidulans, all eight legs are contracted to mere eminences, from which spring a number of bristles. In Sarcoptes: scabiel, the female has each of the four anterior feet terminated by a sucker, but there are none to the four posterior feet, instead of which, each is terminated by a stout bristle. The way in which the legs are in these instances contracted, so as to cease to look like anything more than a wart, while still retaining . all the parts of a leg, may be seen in the hind legs of many species of Sarcoptes, ¢g., in Sarcoptes squamiferus (S. canis of Hering). In Trichodactylus, and in some Hypopi, the pos- terior legs are reduced to a long bristle. Our minds are thus prepared for the substitution ot a wart, with a bristle springing from it for a regular leg; and when we find that there are four warts with bristles on the underside of the Phytopti, just about where the missing legs should be, one is very apt to accept them as their representatives, without caring very much whether they are only in the shape of a wart and bristle, or the actual “fusstummel” that Von Landois thought he saw. Professor Westwood suggested that the two long bristles at the tail of CASE XVI. 350 ARACHNOIDEA. the Phytopti might be the homologues of the missing legs, but their position is not favourable to that view, and now the discovery of the right number of warts and bristles on or near the right place, gives greater probability to the view first taken by Latreille, that the Phytopti form part of the section Sarcoptide. Nor can Dujardin’s discernment be passed over without acknow- ledgment. If his Phytopti belong to the Sarcoptidz, they are not the less a very distinct and special section of that tribe. We must not, however, be too confident in the absolute cer- tainty of the above conclusion. All that we can say is, that it seems the most probable solution of the difficulty ; but we must remember that the premises are but imperfectly established. The warts and bristles have not yet been observed on all species, nor in every individual. - But, on the other hand, we must remember that even although competent observers should fail to find them, they may be sexual, and only present in one sex; or the bristle may be hyaline and not always distinguishable, a thing which, under the most favoured circumstances, must always be of extreme difficulty. Moreover, one positive observation by a reliable witness should carry more weight than a hundred negative ones. And lastly, when the insect is alive it is restless and keeps swaying its head about, so that a confirmed long look at any part of it is impossible. When it is dead the parts become flaccid, and it is still worse, so that while there is plenty of apology for not being able to make out all the parts, that very fact should make us slow to form an opinion, and open to change it should fresh argument or discovery give a new aspect to the case. _ There are other puzzling difficulties connected with these mites and with the production of their galls. One of these is, whether the same mite makes more than one kind of gall, or does more than one kind of mischief. We think not ; but according to more than one author who has searched for Phytopti, the same species is found in different galls on different plants, and indifferently in galls and in ungalled buds. Dujardin states that he found the GALL MITES. 351 CASE same species of Phytoptus that he detected in the lime tree nail-gall also in the malformed and distorted buds of the hazel. Dugés found the same mite (or at least what has been supposed and assumed to be the same mite) in a similar gall, or Salix alba, and Siebold found it among the hairs of some species of Erineum, and named it Eriophyes. Now if these were really the same species there would be here a want of that restricted and definite relation between the gall produced, the plant on which it is pro- duced, and the insect producing it, which we have hitherto found to be constant in the relation of gall and gall-maker. An insect that is found at one time in the distorted buds of the hazel, and at another in the galls of the willow leaf, and at a third in the galls of the lime leaf, cannot, one would think, well be the maker of all three. In all cases that we know of, where galls of a special and distinct form are produced, they are invariably the work of some specific insect, told off, as it were, for that special purpose. In other words, the same insect does not make two different kinds of galls, and the same gall is never made by two different kinds of insects, nor on two different kinds of trees, nor does it at one time make a gall and at another time make none: its habits of life are fixed. It is either always a gall-maker or never. On the other hand, as we have seen, the galls made by Phytopti differ somewhat from other galls, and it may be that the same irritation which produces one form of excrescence on one plant may produce another on a different one, through the differ- ence in their constitution ; or, it may even produce a gall on one and not on another; but the more probable conclusion seems to be that the observers referred to may have confounded different species. Another very difficult point of inquiry, especially with a view to preventing or curing their attacks, is to ascertain their habits. How does such an insect which, apparently, is entirely a vegetarian, and depends for its food on the sap of young leaflets or leaves, pass the winter when the leaves are all gone? This we are able to CASE oey 352 ARACHNOIDEA. answer, at least to a certain extent, viz.,so far as regards those that | live in buds. These have been found already established in No- vember in the young buds of the currant, which are then elabo- rating for development in spring, but whether they are torpid through the winter or not we do not know, most probably they are. But what becomes of those that live in galls on leaves, and not in buds, and what becomes of some of them, at least between spring, when they are in myriads, and autumn? In summer we see none of the bud species; the buds are gone, destroyed by these creatures—but what becomes of them then? Again, how do they spread ? we may assume that they do so very slowly, for although when a tree has once become attacked by these Phytopti it continues to be so year after year, other trees of the same kind standing around it are often perfectly free and untouched. ‘The same circumstance has been observed of other galls; some species of oak-galls having been known for many years to be confined to individual trees, and not to have spread to others at no great distance. ‘This is not without its advantages for observation ; anyone who has a tree that is once infested with mite-galls near his house should be able to watch for their very earliest appear- ance, and study the whole course of their development under the most favourable conditions; and one of the most curious and important of these points must be how these slow-moving, almost stationary animals manage to spread themselves all over the buds of a tree, or over a whole hedge, or to any solitary individual tree. We do not see them moving about during the day, but they may wander at night, the sun’s rays might be too strong for such im- palpable globules, and dry them up. Anyone who has tried to examine them under the microscope knows how likely this would be. But here again there is a difficulty, they seem incapable of continuing to move in any definite direction for any time. They waggle about in an aimless way, turned from their path by any obstacle, such as meeting one of themselves ; and it is difficult to conceive them spreading any distance from the spot where they GALL MITES. 353 CASE were hatched, a fact which there is no denying is in’ favour of the maternal parent being a differently formed animal, with a more active disposition, and better means of indulging it. _ The mischief that these creatures do to plants is very consider able. As already said, they attack them in two different ways; one, through the bud, the other through the leaves ; of the two the former seems the most injurious. In spring the buds attacked are seen to languish and decay, or to assume a rounded swollen form without pushing out; on tearing a bud open hundreds of minute semi-transparent moving things may, by the help of a lens, be seen between the leaflets ; these are the Phytopti, but it takes a good glass to see them at all. The surface of the leaflets on which they are scattered has a moist, raw-like appearance, in fact the Phytopti have browsed on it until they have flayed it to the quick. It is unnecessary to say that these buds produce nothing. When it is the leaves that are attacked, the excrescences or galls of various kinds, of which we have above spoken, are formed upon them. Sometimes the Phytopti are to be found in great numbers inside, and, as already said, in that case the inner surface is free from hairs, unless, perhaps, a few stumps, and looks raw like a galled wound, like the surface of the leaflets in the bud; but more frequently no Phytopti are found in these galls, or, perhaps, it would be more correct to say that in some kinds of plants they are found commonly enough, in others very rarely indeed, and when not present the inside is grown up with hairs. There remains to say a word as to the nomenclature of these creatures. The galls themselves have received the general denomination of Acarocecidium. Then the different kinds have received different generic names, besides the old botanical names of Phyllerium and Erineum, which have been preserved. As, so far as we yet know, no other genus of mite than Phytoptus is en- gaged in the production of these galls, we do not propose to follow this nomenclature, further than to note the names when they occur. For us they are all galls of Phytopti, and nothing more. CASE XVI. Nos. 1, 2, 3; 4- Nos. 5, 6. No 7. St 354 ARACHNOIDEA. Section I.—Sprecies LiviING IN Bubs. PHYTOPTUS TAXI (Tetranychus taxi, J/urr., in Gard. Chron. 1875).—1. Sketch of twig with buds attacked by it; 2. Magnified figure of the insect ; 8. Magnified diagram of section of injured bud; 4, Microscopic slide containing this section. This species was first noticed in the spring of 1875 by Professor Thistleton Dyer, who found it doing considerable damage to the yew hedges in the neighbourhood of London, by destroying the young buds and preventing a fresh growth. The buds looked as if they had been frost-bitten, and on breaking them open they were seen to be swarming with Phytopti—so minute, however, as not to be discernible with the naked eye. The texture of the skin of the leaflets in the bud was seen to be injured, and it made no progress. We described it, with doubt, as a Tetranychus, it being at the time we did so, the general opinion that Phytopti were the larvee of that genus. We are no longer of that opinion. PHYTOPTUS CORYLI (Frauenf., Verh. Zool. & Bot. Gesel. in Wien. xv. 895), (Calycophthora avellanz, Amer/., Lotos, 1863, p. 44).—5. Specimens of twigs with buds attacked by it (2) ; 6. Sketch of ditto. This was first observed by Dujardin (Ann. des Soc. Nat. 1851). It is also not improbable that it is the same as Dr. Amerling’s Calycophthora avellanz, of which Kaltenbach says :—“ This mite, according to the observations of Dr. Amerling, M. Kirchner, and ourselves, deforms the leaf buds into cone-shaped scaly galls, which fade early, and never unfold or produce fruit.” The buds here are swollen and rounded. PHYTOPTUS PERSICZ.—%. Sketch of twig attacked by this species. At Montreuil, near Paris, which is celebrated for its cultivation of peaches, the peach trees are at times attacked by a disease, which is known there by the name of “the miller” (le meunier). The disease consists of a sort of white dust, which covers all the peach trees. In 1851 M. Guerin Meneville pointed out (Ann. GALL MITES. 355 =a Soc. Ent. France) that this° was probably due to imnuimerable Nos. 8—II. quantities of the larvee of a mite, which, from his description, can be no other than a Phytoptus. ‘The dust is probably the exuviz, or cast skins of the vast numbers of this mite. PHYTOPTUS RIBIS (Westw., Gard. Chron. 1869).—8. Specimens of currant buds attacked by ; 9. Sketch of ditto; 10. Magnified sketch of first stage of mite ; 11. Magnified sketch of next stage. For some years past the currant bushes in England and appa- . rently still more in Scotland, have suffered much from the de- Currant buds attacked by Phytoptus ribis. struction of the immature buds by this species. It is found in hundreds in the buds in spring between the young leafiets that overlap each other, feeding on the sap in them, and causing the buds to shrivel up, thus destroying the future flower or branch. One of the few points beyond the above that we know of their economy, viz., that they are already present in the month of November in the buds forming for next year’s crop, suggests close and severe pruning as a likely means of destroying, and, if not extirpating, at least diminishing this pest. Z2 CASE XVI. Nos. r2—16. Nos. ay 23. 356 ARACHNOIDEA. Section II.—SprEcires LIVING IN GALLS. PHYTOPTUS TILI4, which produces the lime-leaf nail-gall (Ceratoneon ex- tensum, Bremi).—12. Specimen of leaf bearing these galls ; 18. Sketch of ditto; 14, Magnified sketch of galls; 15. Magnified section of gall, showing the interior full of hairs; 16. Magnified figure of the mite, copied from Dujardin’s figure. We have already given a figure of this gall and its maker in illustration of our general remarks. ‘The gall is green when young and then becomes yellowish, and passes successively through red, crimson, purple, into brown. This gall also occurs on the Tilia: argentea. There are two or three other mite galls that occur on the leaf of the common lime tree or its allies on the Continent, and may, perhaps, also be found in this country. One is a yellow, red hairy, half-cone-shaped gall, which appears in the angles between the ribs; very rarely elsewhere. On a section being made, it is found to be divided into two, forming a double-roomed house. Another one, very like this, but dark coloured, is also described There is a fourth species named Legnon crispum by Bremi, which: makes a marginal swelling on the leaf; a fifth, which we shall calk Bract of Tilia parvifolia with margin of leaf rolied t in py Ebytopbisit tiliarius Copied froin figure by Phytoptus tiliartus, makes knotty, curled-in margins on the bracts. of the flower of Tilia parvifolia ; and a sixth (Phyllerium tiliaceum, Pers.) which makes little lumps on the under side of the leaf. PHYTOPTUS ACERIS (Volvulifex aceris, Amerling, which produces Ceratoneon: vulgare, Bremz, on the leaf of the sycamore).—17. Sycamore leaf bear- ing galls of ditto ; 18. Sketch of ditto ; 19. Sketch of leaf of variegated’ sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus, var. Leopolan, bearing galls of ditto ;. 20. Specimen of ditto; 21. Leaf of sycamore bearing galls on under side, showing the woolly entrance to the gall; 22. Sketch of ditto ;. 23. Magnified section of gall of ditto. CASE aVI. GALL MITES. 357 The remarks which we have made as to the extreme rarity of the occasions on which the Phytopti have been observed inside the lime nail-gall apply equally to this gall. Very few people have seen them in it; but still they have been observed. The appearance of the gall on the leaf, and a magnified section of the gall (full of hairs) is shown in the woodcuts. ‘The colour of .the gall is bright red carmine or even purple, and when it grows on & ‘ < N \ \ Volvulifex aceris produced by Phytoptus, Section of gall of Volvulifex aceris. the variegated sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus, var. Leopoldi), the contrast of the bright carmine galls with the pale yellow leaf is very beautiful and attractive. The Phytopti that are found in these galls are yellowish-white. PHYTOPTUS MYRIADEUM (Cephaloneon myriadeum, Bremi).—24, Specimen of leaves of common maple covered with these galls; 25. Sketch of ditto. These have usually been considered the same as the preceding gall on the sycamore; but we have little doubt that it is Bremi’s species above named, with which it agrees. 358 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE There is another mite gall which is found on the sycamore "and various maples. It produces cottony clusters of hairs on ip phe T Lilly rae’ Se AS A —S>= ‘4 4 ry Ve SY Ss CUS 2 4- l f~F——E i ESS Cepkaloneon myriadeum on maple leaf. the underside of the leaf, and has been named by the older botanists, Erineum acerinum, Pers. ‘The mite that produces it is whitish. Erineum purpurascens is considered by Herr Low > to be distinct from this; Kaltenbach and others think it the same. Another species, named by Bremi Cephaloneon solitarium, is described as growing on the upper side of the leaf in the angles of the ribs. oat PHYTOPTUS PyRI (Typhlodromus pyri, Scheuten).—1. Sketch of leaf of pear Nos. tree bearing galls of ditto; 2. Specimens of ditto ; 38. Magnified section I—5. of gall of ditto ; 4. Magnified sketch of Phytoptus, the supposed larva of Typhlodromus pyri, copied from Scheuten’s figure; 5. Magnified sketch of a Gamasus, supposed by Scheuten to be the perfect form of Typhlodromus pyri. This is a common affection on the leaves of the pear tree in GALL MITES, 359 PASE this country. It is also common on the Continent. Kaltenbach in his Pflanzenfeinde tells us that, according to Kirchner,: the mite lives on the small yellow shining young leaves, where they cause red swollen places, which later on become dark red and Ge y a (4 y j ty -s Pear leaf with galls produced by Typhlodromus pyri. Section of gall of ditto, black. On the under-side of the leaf a small hole can be seen with a lens in each of the swellings through which the old mites go in and out. When one cuts through one of these swellings horizontally, the cellular tissue seems to be loosened yellowish and blackish, and between and under the loosened part are found the eggs and mites. We have already given a figure of the latter in speaking of M. Scheuten’s observations. PHYTOPTUS ATTENUATUS (Ceratoneon attenuatum, Bye ?).—6. Leaves of sloe tree bearing galls of ditto; 7. Sketch thereof. This is perhaps the same species as the following, which is entitled to precedence as first described. The gall however is 360 ARACHNOIDEA. CASE smaller, appears more confined to the margin of the leaf than in "the plum tree, and is more aggregated and velvety. S . e > = SSA 5 tl SS “Gia, —— = US DESO DS ao Ceratoneon attenuatum on leaves of sloe Section of gall on sloe leaf. Bee PHYTOPTUS PRUNI (Voivulifex pruni, Amerl.; Cephaloneon pruni, Bremz ; ; Bursifex pruni, Amer.).—8. Leaves of plum tree bearing galls of ditto; 9. Sketch thereof ; 10. Magnified section of gall of ditto, showing in- terior filled with hairs and no mites. These are galls like purses, made by Phytopti on the under side of the leaves of the plum tree; there soon appears on the upper side little purses or club-shaped galls of the size of a hemp seed, on the outside of which grow Phyllerium and Erineum-like white hairs. The top of the gall is red in the beginning; later it becomes chestnut brown. This Acarocecidium is usually found on the second or third leaf of the twig. Dr. Amerling (“Ges. Aufsatze,” p. 159) noticed these galls in Bohemia, but took the gall mites found in them for larve of a mite, which he named Bursifex pruni. (See also ‘* Dr. Thomas, l. c. 23, Bd., TOGG) Pp. Goes No. 2.”) GALL MITES. 361 * c BSE Its appearance is shown in the woodcut. It is common in this c x | country on the plum tree. In Bohemia Drs. Amerling and Twig of plum tree with galls of Volvulifex pruni. Leaf of plum tree with galls of Volvulifex pruni. Kirchner thought that it only appeared there on those trees that were growing old; but there is no such restriction in this country. It is already formed in the month of May, and afterwards becomes harder Nos. PHYTOPTUS SALICIS.—11. Leaves of sallow, tree bearing galls of ditto; — 12. Sketch of ditto ; 18. Magnified sketch of leaves with ditto; 14. Magnified section of gall ; 15. Magnified figure of insect. The insect in this case is exactly like those found in other galls of this kind, but is not yellowish-white, but a distinct yellowish orange colour, although still pale. The woodcut on page 337 represents the appearance of the leaves when attacked, and a magnified section of the gall itself, This is one of the galls that we have found swarming with the mites, and then there were no hairs or cottony matter growing inside, although appearances of its having grown. CASE XVII. 362 ARACHNOIDEA. Many other Phytopti, which are as yet desiderata in the collec- tion, have been described as occurring on the Continent, mest of — which are no doubt also found in Britain. We may note one or two of the more important of these. ON THE APPLE TREE. ERINEUM MALI, Azz. This causes hairy spots on apple leaves, described as a crypto- gamic growth by the earlier botanists. In these, where the hairs spring, the larvee of the mites are distinctly to be seen. TYPHLODROMUS MALI, Am. Dr. Amerling found this on the young leaves of the apple tree, in the orchards at Prague. May it not be same as T. pyri? ON THE PEAR TREE. VOLVELLINA MARGINALIS, A772. Of this Amerling says, the larvee move about the edge of pear leaves that are just opening from the buds. PHYTOPTUS SP. A flat pustule, like galls in the parenchyma of the leaf, such as those on the leaves of Sorbus torminalis. PHYTOPTUS Sp. The edges of the leaves rolled up sometimes all round the leaf. This rolling has more than one round, is very thick and firmly rolled ; the inside quite smooth and shining, the outside somewhat lighter coloured than the leaf, and are for the greater part found on the first leaf in the shoot. It harbours the Phytoptus in small numbers ; it is white at first, and then becomes red. ON CYDONIA VULGARIS. ERINEUM AUCUPARIA, Kzzz¢. Flat pustules, like galls in the parenchyma of the leaves, which are often like those on the leaves of Pyrus and Sorbus. The entrance to this gall is, as usual, on the under side of the leaf; GALL MITES. } 363 SE only on leaves such as those of Cydonia and Sorbus, which have a very felt-like underside, have they been found on the upper. The old botanists described these lea. pustules also under the name of Erineum (E. pyrinum, Pers., and E. torminalis, Fée). ON THE THORN. ERINEUM OXYACANTHA, Am. Every here and there the edge of the leaf is turned up; under- neath it is of a greenish yellow colour. These turned up parts are full of Erimeum rust, in which lives a transparent whitish, conical cylindrical mite, 4 of a millimetre in length. The mites appear in May. Besides the thickened edges, they form light- brown egg-shaped bells, and club-like galls. ON THE PLUM. CECYDOPTES PRUNI, 472. This, according to Dr. L. Kirchner, produces galls on the young twigs of the plum tree. Dr. Amerling discovered them at Prague, and although they usually only appear on trees that are growing old, and whose death is approaching, Dr. Kirchner has besides noticed them on young and healthy plants, whose death they cause. ON THE VINE. PHYLLERIUM VITIS, /7. This was well known to the earlier botanists. It consists of warty simple or divided transparent spots, scattered over the under side of the leaves of the vine. It may very possibly have in some instances been confounded with the work of Phylloxera vastatrix. The mites that produce it are so small that they can only be seen by means of a strong magnifying glass. They are fully described by Von Landois, to whose papers we have already referred. A peculiarity in regard to the appearance of this Phyllertum was noticed every year in succession in the botanical garden at CASE XVII. 364 ARACHNOIDEA. Vienna, in which large old plants of Vitis vinifera, L., V. vinifera, var. Vesuviana, from Vesuvius; var. Alexandrina, from North Africa; var. Lacrima Christi, from Naples; var. Carinthiaca, from Armenia and Taurus; and vars. Arizonica, Eng. estivalis, Mich. and cordifolia, Mich., from North America, were trained in espalier on a wall. Of these the Vitis cordifolia, V. vinifera, var. Alexandrina, and var. Lacrima Christi, were not touched by gall mites, whilst the leaves of ali the rest were every year covered with Phyllerium spots. ON THE ASH. The so-called clusters of the ash. They are the monstrous deformed styles of the flower, which gather into a ball, brownish green at the beginning, later on a dark brown, causing rough masses on the upper part, which have on the outside a great similarity to fragments of the upper part of a cauliflower. Its upper side is clothed, as it were, with colourless hair cloth, froin which come stick-like hairs. ‘They are solid, without any hollow space, and, in a drv state so hard, that they can be sawn and cut like wood. It was until now unknown frorn whence these Cecidiums derived their origin. The circumstance that they were always found on the same trees and boughs left very little doubt of the gall mites - being the author of them, but still certainty was wanted. Herr Low’s researches have now shown that gall mites cause these clusters, and live in great numbers in them. ‘They are almost as clear as glass, and the smallest animals of this family, inasmuch they cannot be seen even with a strong glass. But if a gall is washed in water and examined with the microscope the living mites will be found in the sediment in considerable numbers. ON THE MULBERRY. TRICHOXYREUS, SP., Am. Dr. Amerling discovered upon the mulberry.a new kind of mite, re & i § 4 é hb GALL MITES. 365 ASE of which the larve break down the hairy covering of the leaves, and the cells become yellow and scarred through the sucking out ef the leaves. On THE ELM. PHYTOPTUS, Spr. G. V. Frauenfeld (“ Verh. and zool. bot. Ges. Wien., 186s, _ p. 897”) without indicating where it was found, described small green, very solid leaf-galls, which stand out like pegs on the upper and under side of the leaves. Very often they are found singly on the first leaf of the shoot, most numerously on the second and third leaves. PHYTOPTUS, SP. Globular purse-shaped galls, pale green in colour, with rather coarse hairs, and very thin walls from 14 to 2 millimétres in thick- ness. ‘They are scattered often in great numbers over the upper side of the leaf, The walls are so thin, that the slightest touch leaves an impression, and they can best be compared to a bubble that has not been completely blown. ‘The inside is bare and shining. The entrance to the gall on the under side projects scarcely or not at all beyond the surface of the leaf, and is closed by a loose white Erineum, which is also continued in the gall stalks. The small number of gall mites in it are light brown. This Acarocecidium is occasionally found on the first, but, as a rule, principally on the second leaf of the shoot. ON THE ALDER. ERINEUM ALNEUM, /£e75. Most frequent on the under side, very seldom on the upper side of the leaf. The gall mite living in it is transparent white. CEPHALONEON PUSTULATUM, Lremi. Upon the upper side of the leaf. In spring, shortly after the CASE XVII. 366 ARACHNOIDEA. buds of the alder unfold, one can see on the still tender leaves already the beginning of these Cephaloneons. It shows as a small round yellow little spot, which has in the middle a green point. On every such spot a gall developes itself in a short time, so that by the middle of May it is already one millimétre in size in which at that time is to be found two to four brownish white Phytopti, 3 of a millimetre in length. PHYTOPTUS SP. This species produces blisters of the upper side of the leaf, in the angles of the nerves on both sides of the middle nerve, harbouring a pale honey-coloured cylindrical mite, 4 of a milli- metre in length. It frequently happens that the three above-mentioned mite galls are found on one and the same leaf. Besides these there 1S :— PHYLLERIUM ALNIGENUM, Lz. On the under side of the leaf of Alnus incana. ON THE BircH TREE ERINEUM BETULINUM, Schum. Very short, spherical, and thickened at the end, like white trans- parent pegs placed here and there over the surface of the leaves and leaf-stalk, which appears, to the naked eye, to be strewn over with fine white morsels of quartz. The Phytoptus belonging to it is one-sixth of a millimétre long, and transparent white. ON THE HoRNBEAM. PHYTOPTUS SP. This species forms crumpled foldings of the ribs of the under side of the leaf, which, according to Frauenfeld, contain no hairy formation. In May a yellowish Phytoptus is to be found in them scarcely one-eighth of a millimétre in length, with two com: GALLE MITES. 367 SR paratively long bristles at the back. V. Frauenfeld states that he ~ found this Phytoptus at the end of July and August of a reddish- brown colour. ERINEUM PULCHELLUM, Sch/, ? Oblong, bare, stool-like dots, more or less raised, on the upper side of the leaf and up in the angles of the rib, and along the mid rib of the leaves, like those already mentioned on the leaves of the alder. ‘They are occasionally but seldom found by themselves on the side of the leaf near the edge between the leaf nerves. They are to be found on the first leaves of the young shoots, are darker coloured than ‘the leaf, and filled inside with a long brownish Erineum, which consists of worm-shaped short hairs, harbouring brownish mites it no great numbers. PHYTOPTUS CARPINI, Am. This occurs on the side-rib of a leaf, in a fold between which the larvze live, oftenin thousands. ‘This is probably the Phytoptus carpint of Frauenfeld (Kirchner). MALOTRICHUS CARPINI, Ay. This mite is found on the underside of the leaves in the axil of the leaf nerve, and causes there a hairy cushion-like formation. VOLVULIFEX RHODIZANS, Am. Another kind of mite gall appearing on the upper side of the leaves of the Hornbeam, like purses, with carmine-red and rose: red hairs. ON THE WILLOW. PHYTOPTUS SP. Narrow rollings of the edge of the leaf upwards, which resemble those’which occur sometimes on the leaves of the pear tree. They extend always only on a short part of the edge of the leaf, CASE XVII. 368 ARACHNOIDEA. do not change colour, are quite loosely rolled in the spring, later on harden, and become firm and brittle. Inside there is an abnormal hairy lining; the gall mites living there are of a yellow- ish colour. | PHYTOPTUS SP. Pouch-like deformities on a small part of the edge of the leaf of Salix alba, L. The edge of the leaf is for a short extent much drawn out, then much turned up, through which a closed, some- what swollen pouch appears, which almost always stands on the edge of the leaf, often projecting far over it, rather cartilaginously thickened, wrinkled on the upper side, and usually of a light green colour. This pouch, many of which appear on one leaf, have a very scanty lining of hair, and contain reddish gall mites in small numbers. PHYTOPTUS SP. Dr. Thomas described (1. c. 33, Bd. 1869, p. 332, No. 5) similar galls on the leaves of Salix fragilis, L. in the herbarium of Professor A. Braun, which were otherwise furnished inside from those de- scribed above, therefore not entirely agreeing with them ; they had been before met with and were described (1. c. 39 Bd. 1872, 465,) by him in the Swiss Alps on Salix herbacea, L., from # to 14 millimetres in size. On THE POPLAR. HELIACZEUS POPULI, A7zrch. This is one of the mites observed by Dr. Leop. Kirchner: it appears at the petiole, close under the base of the leaf; orange- coloured, of the size of a lentil, with small red wart-shaped galls on Populus tremula. BATONEUS POPULI, A77ch. These mites are said to be gregarious, living in many-chambered GALL MITES. 369 “ greenish-red galls, from the size of a hazel nut to that of a man’s fist, on the ground, on the rootlets, and also under the earth, on Populus tremula. This certainly looks much liker the work of some other insect than a mite; but one can hardly suppose Dr. Kirchner to have made a mistake of that kind. PuytTortus Sp. According to Kaltenbach, this little white mite is invisible to the unaided eye. It lives on the straggling bushes of the aspen. It makes its appearance early; even when the swelling leat buds throw off their scales and the young twigs with the tender little leaves appear, the numerous mites aiready begin their attack. They appear on the young twigs, fear the axil, then suck the un- folding little leaves at the edge, which thereby get a thickened, crinkled, somewhat rolled-up edge. At last, they lay hold of the surface of the leaf and stop the development. The normal young twigs so encumbered form numerous roundish wrinkled balls, until the leaf is deformed past recognition. They are very crowded round the shortened axil part. . Kaltenbach found these striking monstrosities in the beginning of July on a hedge in a meadow, in a light situation, and by sub- sequent research noticed also the small originator of the deforma- tion, besides single immature, wingless plant-lice on the healthy leaves of the twigs and between the head of the leaves crawling about, which, he says, had certainly no share in causing the mal- formation. ERINEUM POPULINUM, £ers. Flat, pale green (4—10 of a millimetre long and 2—4 broad), elevations of the upper surface of the leaf, the underside filled with an extremely short Erineum, yellowish in the beginning, later of a browner colour, harbouring a Phytoptus 4th of a millimetre in length, rather conical, and reddish. Found on the aspen, but not in large numbers. AA CASE XVII. 370 ARACHNOIDEA. PuyTOPTus SP. This causes a deformity of some of the lateral twigs and leaves of the aspen, at the beginning of a reddish colour, later, however, — spotted with black, very striking, even at a distance. Dr. Thomas (I. c. 33, Bd. 1869, p. 341, Anm. 17) calls them remarkable rollings and crinklings of the leaf. Such lateral twigs are shortened, the leaf-stalk extraordinarily drawn near to one another, and the leaves wrinkled beyond recognition, the edges in various ways, either turned up, wrinkled, or rolled back to the middle of the leaf. On many of these deformed lateral twigs, which are often pyramid-shaped, one or more normal leaves may be found at the base ; however, almost all the leaves on such a lateral twig are attacked. This bare Acarocecidium is full of numerous Phytopti. ON THE WALNUT. PHYTOPTUS SP. Numerous brownish-red galls, about one millimetre in diameter, are scattered in the parenchyma of the leaves, and project on both sides ; beneath they are somewhat more wart-shaped, so that their height is about 14 millimetre. The outside is not hairy, rather rough, and uneven, the inside is filled with loose parenchy- matic cellular tissue, in which a gall mite lives in astonishingly — large numbers. ‘The entrance to the gall is on the underside bare and narrow. The Phytoptus which lives in this gall measures about one-sixth of a millimetre, and is either of a brownish or yellowish colour. ERINEUM JUGLANDINUM, fers. (Erineum juglandis Ug. Phyllerium juglandis, Schleich). Oblong, the surface of the leaf strongly raised between the side nerves, underneath a short first white, then brown, Erineum, in which the gall mites live. GALL MITES. a, een On THE Horse CHESTNUT. ERINEUM SCULI, Zuzd/. (Phyllerium axillare, O7zz.) Small, brown, roundish, oblong tufts of hair on the underside of the leaves, in the angles of the nerves. Kirchner described _ these tufts of hair (“ Lotos,” 1863, p. 47), but took the gall mites found in them to be the larvee of a mite which he called Phyllereus hippocastani. ON THE OAK. ERINEUM QUERCINUM, Pers. On the leaves of the Turkey oak. Round or oblong, more or less raised portions of the surface of the leaf, of very various thick- ness, and on different places on the leaf, of the same colour as it, or, when older, somewhat yellow or brownish colour. They are to be found on the first leaf of the twig, and are inside, that is to say underneath, filled with a moderately long but thick growth of hair, white at first, then reddish brown, out of which come five different kinds of hair, long, curled, pointed, awl-shaped, and ‘short thick sausage or club-shaped. In rare cases, little spots of this hairy growth are found on the upper side, without the remarkable raising up underneath on the leaf stalk. On search- ing this deformity, its author was found to be Phytopti, which were here almost of one thickness, cylindrical, and of a pale wine yellow colour. The Erineum quercinum, /ers., therefore, belongs, like all the other Phylleriacia that have been examined, to the gall mites. It is confined to Quercus cerris ; for trees of Quercus cerris, L. pedunculata, Z/7r., and sessiliflora, Sw., were _ growing close to one another, and this Acarocecidium was only to be found on Quercus cerris. ON THE BEECH. PHYTOPTUS SP. Galls resembling little brown tufts of hair in the angles of the ribs, on the underside of the leaf, lke those which have been AA2 CASE XVII, 372 ARACHNOIDEA. described on the maple and horse chestnut. They consist of long pointed hairs, which agree with the normal hairs of the bearded angles of the leaf nerves in appearance and colour. Upon the upper side of the leaf a scarcely perceptible raising of the lamina shows the presence of such hair tufts. Dr. Low found Phytopti in these. LEGNON CIRCUMSCRIPTUM, Sremz. A very narrow rolling of the edge of the leaf on the upper side, almost all the way round. It begins in May, when the leaves of the beech are still tender and long, and deeply notched at the edge. Through the rolling up of the edges, the notches are rolled in with it, and these are the only vegetable contents of the roll, which soon appears thickened and cartilaginous. ON THE Sconce 4m: PHYTOPTUS SP. These are bark galls described by Von Hartig (“Forstl. Conversat.,” Lex. IL, Aufl. 1836, p. 737), which are filled with exceedingly numerous gall mites. They are dirty white, almost equally thick and cylindrical, + millimetre long, having a remark- ably long snout, out of which they can stretch the piercing apparatus far. On CLOVER AND OTHER PAPILIONACEOUS PLANTS: VOLVELLA CORONILLA, Am. The larvee of these mites live between the close clapped pinne, and by these means, the little misformed leaves get a pod-like appearance. Kaltenbach states that he has noticed similar de- formations, in consequence of the sucking mites, in Vicia sepium, and Trifolium repens. _GALL MITES. 373 ON THE COMMON STRAWBERRY. PHYTOPTUS SP. By this species spherical short and thickly-haired purple red galls, at the most 13 millimetre in size, are produced in such numbers on the upper side of the leaf, that the whole surface of the leaf seems to be covered with them. The entrance to the gall on the underside is small and somewhat hairy. Inside are some single scattered short pegs, no doubt remains of hairs, but with no actual hairs. The gall mite living in it is yellowish. On SALVIA PRATENSIS. PHYTOPTUS SP. Kaltenbach mentions that in the middle of July he found galls on the lower leaves of Sylvia pratensis, which appeared sometimes as simple, sometimes as groups of galls. They appeared both on the upper side of the leaf, and on the edge. The gall is puckered, uneven, and very convex, and the under aperture is covered with white felt. Of mites, he says that he only found one small larva between the inner hairy coverings. Frauenfeld, in 1865, in the “ Verhandl. Zoi. Lot. Gesellsth in Wien,” describes the following additional species, viz., Phytoptus granulatus, campestricola, and euonymi. And in the same journal, in 1869, vol. xix., a species found on Bromus erectus. Thomas gives an account of the mischief done by different ' species in Switzerland (1869 and 1871). In America, Dr. Shimer found what was obviously a Phytoptus on the leaves of the white maple, and made a new genus for it, which he called Vasatis. Another aid to the study of these gall-making mites remains to _ ‘be tendered. Many cryptogamic growths on leaves are so like the work of insects, that those who are unacquainted with them are very apt to be deceived by them. We have constantly such CASE XVII. Wo. 16. Nos. 17, 18. Nos. 319, 20. Wos. 21—24. 374 ARACHNOIDEA. specimens sent to us to know what insect has done the mischief We have therefore appended two or three examples of these at the termination of the mite galls, and it may be advisable at some future time to display a larger collection of them. In the mean- time,.the following will serve to put the student on his guard. ERINEUM TILIA‘,—16. Specimen on leaf ofslime tree. A small woolly patch in the corners between the ribs on the underside of the leaf of the lime tree. It is somewhat like the work of Phylloxera vastatrix on the underside of the vine leaf. It does not appear, however, to be the work of an insect ; nor is it a fungus, but is merely an instance of hypertrophy, or overgrowth on the leaf. ZECIDIUM ABIETINUM.—17. Specimen of leaf:of- Abies Cephalonica, bearing open cells of Acidium on its underside ; 18, Magnified sketch of ditto. This is a fungoid growth, which occasionally occurs on the leaves of fir trees. RESTELIA LACERATA.—19. Hawthorn leaf, with cells of Reestelia laceratw upon it ; 20, Magnified sketch of ditto. This is another fungoid growth, and looks like a congregation . of the cells of a Zoophyte. It is confined to the hawthorn, and 1s not uncommon on its leaves. RGSTELIA CANCELLATA.—21. Specimens of pear leaves, showing first stage of growth of this fungus, making the leaves look beautifully mottied with orange, 22. Sketch of ditto ; 28. Leaves of ditto, showing second stage of growth, as seen on the upper side ; 24, Ditto on showing ditto. from the underside. The illustrations in the case show the different appearance of the pear leaves at the different stages of growth of this fungus. It is said to be another form of Podisoma sabinz, which is found in orange-coloured jelly-like masses on Juniperus sabina. DICE 375 ANOPLURA (Lice). The natural transition from the Acari or mites, is to the Anoplura or lice. The step, however, isa wide one. It is from the spiders to the true insects, from the eight-legged to the six_ legged class, and a good deal of the apparent affinity or similarity of habit between the two is not real affinity, but mere coincidence in power and place of annoyance. Entomologists have felt diffi- culty in deciding to what class of insects the lice most nearly belong, and the majority have placed them apart as an indepen- dent order. Theoretically, we prefer the views of those who place them among the Hemiptera or Bugs, although practically it is more convenient to treat them as one of the sections of the Aptera. Like the bugs, they have no true metamorphosis, and the points on which they differ are all capable of reconciliation with affinity with them. They have no wings ; but the females of the scale insects (which are Hemiptera) are also wingless ; one difficulty which has puzzled some is, that those lice that feed on the blood of animals have, as is most fit they should, a sucking apparatus instead of jaws or mandibles, while those that feed on feathers or hair have mandibles, so that systematists, of whom we speak, have been driven to break up the order into two, and carry the sections with different feeding apparatus into different orders standing wide apart. It is well known, however, that all the parts of the mouth of an insect, whether they be adapted for cutting, grinding, biting, or sucking, are all modifications of the same parts. We therefore are not influenced by this adaptation of structure to purpose to separate insects which in all other respects are so obviously closely related to each other. We take | the biting species as exceptional deviations for the sucking ones. These insects are parasitic on vertebrate animals, to which they are confined. As just said they consist of two groups, one of which (Mallophaga), feeds on the hair and feathers of the animals on which they live, for which purpose they are provided with CASE XVII. Nos, I—3, 376 ANOPLURA. mandibles, and are principally, although not entirely, confined to birds. The other (Hematopina) subsists on the blood of the animals they infest, for which purpose they have the usual sucking apparatus of the Hemiptera. These are restricted to mammals. We left off the parasitic mites at the feather-eating species, and we naturally commence the lice with the species having similar habits. For the most part these insects have two simple eyes, but some- times, as in Gyropus, they are without any. The antennz vary even in the same genus, but the tarsi and claws are constant, and furnish the best characters for dividing the family into groups. We have accordingly given figures of the different variations in these. Family MALLOPHAGA (Feather and Hair Eaters). The name of this section was given to it by Nitzsch with. reference to their food, and is derived from the Greek word uadXos, a fleece, and ayo, I eat. It has been subdivided into several genera depending upon the form of the ae, and the number of joints composing them, &c. Sub-family LioTHEIDZ (Buzm), Antenne four-jointed, mouth with strong mandibles. This sub- family is divided into two sections ; the one with one claw to the tarsi (genus Gyropus—the louse of the guinea pig), and the other with two claws, containing among others the following, viz. :— Genus MENnopon (WVitzsch). Head semilunar or trapezoidal. No deep sinuosity on the tateral margin. MENGPON PALLIDUM (Witzesch).—1. Specimen ot ditto; 2. Enlarged figure ot ditto ; 3. Illustrative vignette (cocks and hens). ‘ Ly snelee Domestic poultry seem to have more than their fair share of BIRD LICE. 377 annoyance from parasites. We have seen how they suffer from the _ Dermanyssus avium, the Argas reflexus, the Sarcoptes mutans, __ probably from Dermaleichi also, and now we find that they have Menopon pallidum (from the fowl).* 3 to # ofa line in length, a disproportionate allowance of lice, no less than five species being allotted to them. ‘This is the first and commonest.of the five, and few fowls are to be found free from them. Indeed they often swarm among the feathers to such a degree, that the hands of those that rear them cannot be kept free from them when the fowls are plucked or even lifted up. They cling very tightly, and are not easily brushed away, as their bodies are smoothly polished and offer scarcely any resistance. MENOPON PERDRICIS (Denny).—4 Specimens; 5, Enlarged figure of ditto ; 6. Illustrative vignette (partridge), infests the partride, but specimens are also taken on the pheasant. MENOPON FULVO MACULATUM (Denny).—. Specimens ; 8. Enlarged figure © of ditto; 9. Illustrative vignette (quail). Infests the quail. * Where not otherwise stated the figures of Anopiura are copied or reduced from the magnified figures in Denny’s Anoplura. m 378 ANOPLURA. CASE ee Genus TRINOTON (LVéfzsch). Head triangularly rounded, with a deep sinuosity on lateral margin. Nos. TRINOTON LURIDUM (MVitzsch).—10. Specimens ; 11. Enlarged figure of ditto ; ch a 12. Illustrative vignette (ducks). ‘Trinoton luridum, from the duck. Anterior leg of ditto. 2 lines in length. Infests various wild ducks, besides the domestic species. Sub-family PTILOPTERIDZ (Lurm.). Antennz five-jointed ; mouth with strong mandibles. Genus DocopHorus (iVitzsch). The most notable character by which this genus is distinguished is a small movable projection or tooth called a trabecula in front of the antennz, as shown in the woodcut. The only other genus in which this occurs is Nirmus (which has so many other points of coincidence with Docophorus that we should prefer their being consolidated into Head of D horus isig- ° > natus (from the carrioncrow), One genus); in Nirmus the trabeculz are to show the trabeculz. sometimes, but not always, present ; but when present they are very small and rigid. Nearly all the species of - oe a BIRD LICE. 379 ac E Docophorus are characterised by two dark-coloured lines, which pass diagonally from the trabeculz to the occiput, and by the segments of the abdomen having a dark-coloured triangular or oblong patch on each side, which very rarely meet in the centre. DOCOPHORUS ICTERODES (/Viézsch). Common on ducks, geese, teal, &c. ‘Genus Nirmus (JVitzsch). Distinguished from Docophorus by the ab- sence of trabecule, or, if they are present, by their small size and immobility. Mr. Denny, 7 however, admits that while these are admirable . : - : : Docophorus icterodes 2 diagnostic signs for the extreme species at the (from the duck, goose, : &c.). 4 line in length. opposite ends of the line, still there are some which have minute trabeculze which belong to the debatable ground between the two genera, and that it is extremely difficult to decide to which genus these should be referred. com NIRMUS CAMERATUS (WVifzsch).—18. Specimens; 14. Enlarged figure of ditto ;. 15. Illustrative vignette (black cock and grey hens). Infests the black cock and grouse. ie NIRMUS CLAVIFORMIS.—16. Specimens ; 17. Enlarged ; figure of ditto; 18. Illustrative vignette (carrier pigeon). Infests pigeons. Genus GontocoTes (Burm.). Nirmus claviformis ( rom f hing i X 3 Head large; posterior margin triangular on et ae each side ; abdomen broad, no trabeculz. : 380 ANOPL URA, GONIOCOTES HOLOGASTER (Aitzsch).—19. Speci- mens ; 20. Enlarged figure of ditto; 21. Ilus- trative vignette (fowl dusting itself). Infests the domestic fowl. The subject of the vignette, a fowl dusting itself, is an alleviative of nature against vermin, adopted by the bird to dislodge and shake them Goniocotes hologaster (from the ff domestic fowl). ii]ine inlength. Olt. Genus GonropEs (itzsch). Head large; temporal angles prominent and acute; antennze in males cheliform; no trabeculz ; abdomen very broad and flat. GONIODES FALCICORNIS (Vitzsch).—22. Specimen of the young insect ; 28. Enlarged figure of ditto; 24. Specimens of the mature insect ; 25. Enlarged figure of ditto; 26. Illustrative vignette (peacock). Infests the peacock. The young differs considerably from the full-grown insect. Nos. me GONIODES STYLIFER (WVitzsch).—27. Specimens ; 28. ae Goniodes falcicornis (mature). re 1} to 2 lines in length. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 29. Illustrative vig- nette (turkey). Infests the turkey. Sha GonropEs NUMIDIANUS (Denny).—80. Specimens ; 31. Enlarged figure of ditto ; $2. Illustrative vignette (guinea fowl). Infests the guinea fowl. Nos. GONIODES CoLcHIcI (Denny).—83. Specimens ; 34. Enlarged figure of ditto ; ee: 35. Illustrative vignette (pheasant). Infests the pheasant. IMRD? LICE. 331 ONIODES DISSIMILIS (/Vitzsch).—38. Specimens ; £7. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 38. Illustrative vignette (domestic cock). ) ye Goniodes dissimilis (from the domestic fow!). Anterior leg of ditto, 1% line in length. On the domestic fowl ; not common. GONIODES TELRAONIS (Dezzy).—389. Specimens ; 40. Enlarged figure of ditto; 41. Illustrative vignette (grouse). Common both on the black cock and grouse. ‘This is the insect that sometimes, especially in bad seasons, does so much eeeroetie young grouse when they are Gonicdes tetraonis (from the feeble and unhealthy. Genus Lipeurus (iVitzsch). Body long and slender, and legs usually very long. It has in the antenne of the male a little of the character of Goniodes, the third joint being slightly recurved. The greater breadth a of that genus, however, with its large and - emarginate head and more pronounced Antenne of male Tipenmns, to show antennee, readily distinguish them. LIPEURUS STELLARIS (Denny).—42. Specimens; 48. Enlarged figure of ditto; 44, Illustrative vignette (pigeons). _ Infests pigeons (rock dove, stock dove, and turtle dove). Nos. .48—50. Nos. lmaoo: 382 ? ANOPLURA. LIPEURUS VARIABILIS (Witzsch). —45. Speci- mens; 46. Enlarged figure of ditto; 47. Illus- trative vignette (newly hatched domestic chick- ens), Infests the domestic fowl. LIPEURUS SQUALIDUS (Mitesch). Infests the duck. Lipeurus variabilis (from Lipeurus squalidus (from the the fowl). 2 to z line in length. duck). 3 to 13 line in length. LIPEURUS JEJUNUS (WVitzsch).—48. Specimens ; 49. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 50. Illustrative vignette (geese). Infests the goose. LIPEURUS POLYTRAPEZIUS (Vizzsch).—51. Specimens ; 52. Enlarged figure of ditto; 53. Illustrative vignette (teal). Common on the turkey. ‘Their mode of progression,” says Mr. Denny, “‘is rather singular as well as rapid. They slide, as it were, sideways, extremely quick from one side of the fibre of a feather to the other, and move equally well in a forward or retro- grade direction, which, together with their flat, polished bodies, renders them extremely difficult to catch or hold.” He has observed, he also remarks, “ that when two or more genera infest one *bird, they have each their separate localities, for while the Goniodes stylifer will be found on the breast and neck of the bird, the Lipeurus polytrapezius will be congregated in nunc on the webs and shafts of the primary wing feathers.” Genus ORNITHOBIUS (Denny). Scarcely differing from Nirmus, except in having two horns to the clypeus. =a -TRICHODECTIDE. 383 ORNITHOBIUS CYGNI (Zizz.).—54, Specimens ; 55. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 56. Illustrative vignette (whistling swan). Infests the swan. Sub-family TRICHODECTIDA. This sub-family differs from the other Mallo- phaga or bird-lice, in attacking mammals. Its species are all restricted to them, as all the other genera of the Mallophaga are to birds. It contains only two genera, Trichodectes (the form found in Britain), and Gyropus, which is osnitnobius cyeni (from the found on the sloth and cavies (South American epee tak mammals). Genus TRICHODECTES. Antenne three-jointed, and tarsi with only one claw. . TRICHODECTES SIMILIS (Denzy).—1. Specimens; 2. Enlarged figure of ditto; 8. Illustrative vignette (red deer). Infests the red deer. TRICHODECTES LONGICORNIS (Witzsch).—4. Specimens (4); 5. Enlarged figure of ditto; 6. Illustrative vignette (fallow deer). Not uncommon on the fallow deer, and found in greatest numbers on the inner side of the thigh. TRICHODECTES SPHROCEPHALUS (WVitzsch).—7. Specimens ; 8. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 9. Illustrative vignette (sheep). Trichodectes sphzerocephalus (from the sheep). Posterior leg of ditto. : # of a'line in length. Found on sheep ; not common. 384 ANOPLUKA. CASE TRICHODECTES SCALARIS (iVitzsch).—10. Specimens; 11. Enlarged figure of ee ditto; 12. Illustrative vignette (cow). z10—1I12. E Common upon cattle, and also found on the ass. Trichodectes scalaris (on the ox). Trichodectes equi (on the horse), : 2 line in length. r line in length. ‘| Nos. TRICHODECTES EQUI (‘Zzz7.)—18. Specimens (eggs and insects); 14, Enlarged 13—15. figure of ditto; 10. Illustrative vignette (horse). | Common on the horse and ass, especially when fresh from pasture—in other words, when the parasites have had time to pro- pagate undisturbed by the currying comb. Nos, TRICHODECTES LATUS (/Vitzsch).—16, Specimens (4); i7. Enlarged figure of 16—18 ditto; 18. Illustrative vignette (spaniel). Infests the dog, and is commonest on pup- pies. The male of this species in walking curves back its antennee. TRICHODECTES SUBROSTRATUS (JVitzsch).—19. Speci- mens (4); 20. Enlarged figure of ditto; 21. Illus- trative vignette (cat), Trichodectes latus (onthe Infests the cat on the Continent; not yet cog). 4to ? line in length. recorded in Britain. Family HAEMATOPINA. (Blood-suckers.) Antennz with five joints; mouth with a fleshy sucking appa ratus. LICE. 385 Like the preceding section, this also has derived its name from its food, viz. from Greek word diya, signifying blood. The genera belonging to this section are few, and so far as known have five joints to the antenna, and only one claw to the tarsi. Genus H#matomyzus (fiag.). Head rostrate ; antennz lenticular; legs moderate in thickness. HMATOMYZUS ELEPHANTIS (Piaget, Tijdschr. voor Ent., 2d Ser. iv. 254). —22. Specimens; 28. Enlarged sketch of ditio; 24. Illustrative vignette (elephant). Texture of skin hard and chitonous, antenne lenticular five-jointed, head with a long slender rostrum like that of an Apion but less curved, body ovate and convex on the back, scutellum broad and narrow, tarsi with only one claw. Colour reddish madder brown, smooth and shining, impunctate. Dale Infests the elephant. Genus Hamatopinus (Leach). Head not rostrate ; legs thick. This is the principal genus that is parasitic on mammals. With the exception of the preceding insect taken on the elephant, it includes all the blood-sucking lice that attack mammals other than man. Those that attack man have been separated from the rest, but in truth cannot well be separated, especially when regard is had to the louse of the monkey, which is excessively like that of the human species, and indeed forms a transition between them and the other species of this genus. They leave the body much sooner after death than the mallo- phagous species, which adhere to the feathers or fur for days. BB CASE XIX. Nos. 25—27. Nos. 2330, Nos. 31-33. Nos. 34—36. Nos. Siimmoos 386 ANOPLURA. HAMATOPINUS ACANTHOPUS (Auri.).—-25. Specimens (2); 26. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 27. Illustrative vignette (field mouse). Infests field mice. HMATOPINUS SPINULOSUS (Burim.).—28. Specimens (eggs and insects) ; 29. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 30. Illustrative vignette (brown rat). Infests the brown rat. HMATOPINUS VENTRICOSUS (Denzny).—81. Specimens (2); 32. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 38. Illustrative vignette (rabbit). Infests the rabbit. HMATOPINUS LYRIOCEPHALUS (Guvm.).—84, Specimens (2) ; 35. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 36. Illustrative vignette (hare). Infests the hare. HAMATOPINUS SUIS (Leach).—87. Specimens (3); 38. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 39. Illustrative vignette (sow). This species, says Mr. Denny, is found in great abundance on swine ; but it does not appear so generally spread as might be Hzematopinus suis (on the sow). Anterior leg ot ditto rj to 1$ line in length. expected from the dirty habits of the animals. It most frequently occurs on those freshly imported from the Sister Isle. It was many months before he could obtain a single example. He had CASE 15 sx OS 5 —45- applied to both farmers and their butchers, neither of whom seemed to approve the idea which he had conceived of their pigs being lousy, but referred him to those of the Emerald Isle as being sure to gratify his wishes, forgetting that the Irish pigs come to this market to meet English buyers. He accordingly visited a colony just arrived, when he most certainly met with a ready supply; but here they were confined almost entirely to lean animals, and wherever he found a pig fat and healthy, no parasites were to be seen. In walking, this species uses the claw and tibial tooth with great facility, which act as finger and thumb. _ HAMATOPINUS VITULI (Linn.).—40. Specimen; 41. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 42. Illustrative vignette (calf). This is said by Denny, in his great work on this subject, to have been taken only on the calf. It seems, however, very un- likely that a particular species could be restricted to the young of any animal; but the figure given by Denny is too unlike that of the ox (H. eurysternus) to allow us to suppose it an abnormal or exceptional variety of it. HA:MATOPINUS EURYSTERNUS (MVilzsch).—48. Specimens (several) ; 44. En- larged figure of ditto: 45. Illustrative vignette (cattle). Hieniatopinus eurysternus (on the ox). 1 to x} line in length, Infests the ox, and seems to be especially troublesome on the BB 2 CASE AX. Wos 40—48. Nos. 49—51. 388 ANOPLURA. mane and shoulder, which are often rubbed bare in the efforts of the animal to get rid of its irritating parasite. There is an allied species (H. tuberculatus, Burm.) that occurs in Italy on the buffalo. M. Lucas gives a description and figure of itm the Ann, Soc. Ent. Mr. 2nd sera oe H&MATOPINUS ASINI (Lizz.).—46. Specimens (4); 47. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 48. Illustrative vignette (ass). Infests the ass. HAMATOPINUS PILIFERUS (Burm.).—49. Specimens (4); 50. Enlarged figure of ditto; 51. Illustrative vignette (dog). Infests the dog. When the dog tick, Hzematopinus piliferus, establishes itself on a dog, it is apt to be extremely troublesome, being very difficult A cid 3 rs ie Hematopinus piliferus (on the dog). 1 to 14 line in length. to get off its hairs, and harbouring in its bedding, and almost: defying all attempts at destruction. White precipitate, or ammo- miated chloride of mercury, the preparation used for cleaning off lice from the human patient, applied in the form of ointment well rubbed in, and afterwards well washed off with soap and water, is the best solid substance for this purpose, and a very weak solution of nitric acid answers well as a liquid. But in both cases the dog must be muzzled to prevent it from nibbling at its fur, and thus imbibing some of the poison. It is ashy flesh-coloured, with a slight chequering. ‘The skin is so trans- parent that the food (the blood) shines through its skin, and Nos, <= 2. LICE. 389 the intestines can plainly be seen of a dull red colour. This species has also been taken on the ferret. HAMATOPINUS QUADRUMANUS (Murr, 2. sf.).—52. Specimens (4); 53. En- larged figure of ditto ; 64. Illustrative vignette (monkey). From a species of Ateles. Monkeys are notoriously lousy creatures, as any one may convince himself by entering a monkey-house, where he is sure to see one or more of them busily engaged in searching for vermin amongst the fur of their companions, and eating the captured prey. _The specimen here figured was taken from a species of Ateles (a prehensile tailed monkey from South Ame- Hematopinus quadrumanus tica), and it will be seen that it has many points of resemblance with the Pediculus humanus. Genus Putuirius (Leach). The genus Phthirius is a very distinct and peculiar one, the essential character of which is that the grasping or scansorial claws are on the hind feet instead of on the fore feet as in the Pediculus. _— PHTHIRIUS INGUINALIS (crab louse).—1. Specimens ; 2. Enlarged figure of ditto. ed wit spl iN AN \ NSS Phthirius inguinalis. 4 to z line in length. Scansorial claw of ditto. 39° ANOPLURA. cask ‘This species confines itself to the hair on other parts of the os body than the head. It is the only species of Phthirius that has been described. Other species or varieties may, however, exist, for a parasite is spoken ef as infesting the eyelashes of some of the natives of the East Indies, but it has never been described, although it may only be this species, as, from the following account, which we quote from Denny’s Anoplura, it also would appear to infest the eyes in persons on whom it has established itselfi—‘“ The accompanying insects were sent to me by a lady whom I attended for some years in Devonshire. The following is a slight sketch of her case: She was about fifty years of age, spare in person, of a highly susceptible temperament, and long subject to disordered digestion: suffering from severe headaches, attended by biliary vomiting, and often followed by boils on or about the head. After a time, she informed me that she had been for some time troubled by insects coming apparently from the natural orifices of the body and infesting the surface, parti- cularly when warmer than usual. She complained especially of the annoyance caused by their presence in her eyes and ears. She said that they were often numerous in her throat, and that they were more than once discovered adhering to matters ejected from the stomach, after having been for some time troubled by these parasites. They did not make any permanent lodg- ment on the surface, from which they were stated to be at times removed in great numbers: nor did they get among the hair of the head. The lady was a person in whose veracity I had much confidence, very intelligent, well-informed, and religious. Her statement was in all its parts confirmed by a young woman who lived with her partly as servant, partly as companion. She said that being now and then called upon to sleep with her mistress, she was at such times greatly tormented by these insects, which she caught in numbers on her skin, but which had no tendency to continue or to breed there. The only parts on which I ever: saw them myself were the inner angles of the eyes, on the tarsal ° Gate 0 ens eee ee = ~ _ e Aleve LICE, 391 ESSE conjunctiva, and in the ears. The application of those external remedies, which readily destroy the common species of Pedicuii, failed entirely in extirpating these: a variety of internal means were likewise used unavailingly, and the insects were not admitted to be sensibly diminished in number at the time of my quitting Devonshire.” ? The reader, no doubt, recollecting what we have already said on some of the acaroid diseases, will be able for himself to eliminate from the above what is essential, and what is doubtful, irrelevant, and accidental. Such cases only occur in private practice, and usually in the country. If the lady had been brought to a London hospital, we would undertake to say that everything mysterious would immediately have vanished, and the patient would have been discharged cured in a week. Genus PepicuLtus (Zzzz.), ‘True Lice. No one can examine the figures of the Hzematopini above given without seeing that they are exceedingly close to the Pedicuhi, so much so that that of the monkey might almost be equally well placed in either genus. We need not discuss whether more than one genus should be made for them, but a more interesting question, viz., whether different species of lice are appropriated to different races of men, can hardly be passed over without a word or two of consideration. The interest of the point lies in its bearing on another vexed question, the unity of the human race, on which it may throw some light. On the one hand it is main- tained by those who are of opinion that all men are not of the same species that the parasites which infest the different races of man are distinct ; and because we usually find that distinct species of parasites are allotted respectively to the different species of the iower animals, they infer that the same rule must hold with man, and that therefore each different race possessing a distinct parasite must be a distinct species. Their opponents, on the 392 ANOPLURA., os other hand, deny the fact that these parasites are distinct, assert- ing that one and the same species of Pediculus, and no other, infests all the races of man in every quarter of the globe; and I believe they add, that, even although they were found to be distinct, the inference thence drawn is neither necessary nor warranted. The enquiries, the chief results of which are displayed in this Case, were undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining what the facts, in this respect, really were. Specimens were got from different races all over the world, and the result of the exami- nation was published in a paper that we read to the Royal Society of Edinburgh a number of years ago (1861). ‘That result was to leave the matter very much as it was before. It proved suffi- ciently that there were differences between the parasites of diffe- rent races. They differ in colour according to the colour of the people they inhabit. Those of the West African and Australian are nearly black ; those of the Hindoo, dark and smoky ; those of the Africander and Hottentot, orange ; those of the Chinese and Japanese, yellowish brown ; of the Indians of the Andes, dark brown ; of the Digger Indians of California, dusky olive, and those of the rnore North American Indians near the Esquimaux, paler, approaching to the light colour of the parasites of the European. Difference in shape is not so easily made out, for Claw of Pediculus capitis, from European. D:.to, from Indian of Andes the body being soft allows considerable variation, but there is considerable difference in size, and also some in the proportions i i EICE. 393 =e of the hard parts, such as the claws, and especially in their teeth. In some, as in those from the European, the Caffre, and the Japanese, the teeth are scarcely visible. In others, from the Hindu, Indian of the Andes, &c., they are numerous, large, and almost tubercular. In others, from the negro and King George Sound Australian, they are limited to two or three well-marked serrations. ‘The form and proportions of what may be called the thumb, are also different. In some, as the Mozambique Africander, Californian Indian, and Indian of the Andes, it is excessively developed ; in others, as the European, the Japanese, and Australian, only moderately so. The form of the penultimate joint also varies to a very considerable extent, in some being long, narrow, elongate and straight ; while in others it is conical, curved, short, and broad at the base. But then comes the question, what is the value of these differences as bearing upon the unity of the human species? It has been proved that there are differences, and that these differ- ences are constant and permanent—that is no doubt something, But, unluckily, these differences are most singularly similar to the differences in the races whose unity is the question in dispute, Claw of Pediculus capitis, from North American Ditto, from Australian, Indian of Slave Lake. and to solve which this evidence has been adduced. If we can- not believe that the negro is a different species from the European, CASE XX, Nos. 3—6. 394 ANOPLURA. on account of his being black instead of white, neither should we believe that the Pediculus of the Negro is different from that of the European because it is black instead of white. If we cannot believe that the Australian is different from the Esquimaux because he has proportionally a much longer leg, neither can we believe that the Australian Pediculus is different from the Slave Lake Pediculus, because it has a longer and straighter penulti- mate joint to its tarsus. If the curved tibia of the African does not constitute him a different species from races with straight tibias, neither should the greater or less curvature of the joints of the tarsi in the Pediculi be considered to form specific dis- tinctions in them. It so happens, that not only are the differ- ences, both between man and man, and Pediculus and Pediculus, very similar in degree, but they are also differences of the same kind. They are differences in colour and proportion of the very same, or, at all events, analogous parts in both. To attempt to draw any deductions from these differences in the Pediculi, would, therefore, be something like begging the whole question. PEDICULUS VESTIMENTI (body louse).—38. Specimens from Britain; 4, En- larged figure of ditto; 5. Specimen on glass slide ; 6. Enlarged figure of anterior claw. Pediculus vestimenti. 1} to 1? line in length. Sucker of ditto. This is cistinct from the head-louse, but it is not easy to give LICE. | 395 any very good specific characters. It is the larger and broader of the two. It is greyer and more uniform in colour, wants the spine at the top of the thumb, and has few or no projections on the inner side of the penultimate joint, characters which accord with its less scansorial mode of life, which requires less powerful appliances for seizing and tenaciously retaining hold of the hairs through which it passes. The concurrent opinion of those who are practically familiar with the animals and their habits also con- firms the view that they are distinct species. We remember the remark of a young private soldier on his return, wounded, from the Crimea, who, in speaking of the sufferings of the troops before Sebastopol, dwelt upon the annoyance experienced from these parasites ; and in reply to some suggestion as to the specific virtues of a small-toothed comb, which was understood to form part of a soldier’s necessaries, answered, ‘‘Oh! we did not mind the head ones; it was the body ones,”—thus implying a clear and well recognised distinction between the two in power of annoyance. The remark of “‘a certain great personage” quoted by Leewenhoek as made to him when he exhibited to him this creature under the microscope, to the effect that his soldiers, who were infested with lice, found them more troublesome in rainy than in dry weather, also obviously applies to the body species. They are exceedingly prolific. Leewenhoek ascertained the rate of multiplication by actual experiment. He disbelieved the vulgar saying that a louse might be a grandfather in twenty-four hours, and the mode in which he settled the question was this: He at first proposed to hire some poor child to wear a clean stocking for a week with two or three female lice in it, well tied or secured at the garter, in order to see how many young ones would be produced in that space of time; but he afterwards considered that he could make the experiment with much more certainty on his own person, at the expense only of enduring in one leg for a week or two what many people are obliged to suffer CASE XX. 396 AW OPPURA, in their whole bodies during their whole lives. It must be ey remembered that, if this looks like a calumnious aspersion upon r: those whom he calls “poor people,” it was written two hundred — a years ago, and that Leewenhoek was a Dutchman. Let. | the galled jade in Leyden wince. In London here our withers are unwrung. He cannot mean to reflect on us. But to proceed. He accordingly put on one leg, instead of a white understocking that he usually wore, a fine black stocking, choosing that colour in order that the eggs and young lice might be more easily seen. Into this stocking he put two large female lice, and cutting another black stocking into long strips, he bound it over the first, we presume in two places, so as to keep his studs apart, as it were, in two paddocks, to prevent their escaping. After wearing this stocking six days he took it off, and found that one of the lice had laid fifty eggs and the other about forty, and in the body of one that he opened he found at least fifty more, besides un- doubtedly having in its body many more that his powers of vision could not reach. Having tied them up again and worn the stock- _ ing ten days longer, he found in it at least twenty-five lice of three different sizes, and, not to make a long story of it, the conclusion he arrived at was that two female lice might in eight weeks be grandmothers, and see ten thousand of their own offsprmg—“ and who can tell whether in the heat of summer these creatures may not breed in half the time.” This cumulative increase will sufficiently explain the vast numbers that we read of as occasionally swarming on. those persons of whom the louse has taken posession, as it were. But it will not account for some of the cases where there has been no sufficient time allowed them to establish a colony by legitimate process of succession—as, for example, the following case men- tioned by Denny :—“ The sudden appearance of these creatures (says he) in vast numbers in places where they were not known before, and upon individuals previously free from such com- panions, is a circumstance not easy to account for. This, like | LICE. A E many other occurrences, has been viewed by the superstitious, and is still, as the prognostication of some impending evil, as sickness or misfortune to the individuals so visited. Without endeavouring to clear up the mystery, I can only bear testimony to the fact of their sudden occurrence, having known an instance when this species appeared in such quantities, that it was neces- sary to cleanse the bed linen twice a day for several days, at each of which visitations there appeared no visible decrease in their numbers, though at last they as suddenly disappeared. A late medical friend of mine says he held the opinion that the Pediculi migrate, and stated to me the following fact in confirmation of his belief : ** His father, who was also a medical practitioner in the West Riding of Yorkshire for fifty years, had frequently in the course of his practice to enter the cottages of the poor in his neighbour- hood (z.e., colliers and cloth weavers). On one occasion, having a case which required his attendance near the bed for about half an-hour, he found himself on his return home literally swarming, with these gentry, both his coat and waistcoat, and beneath the . collar of the former: to use his own words, ‘you might have actually scooped them out with a teaspoon.’ Now whether this was owing to his coming in contact with a legion on its march, or whether it might not be that a fresh subject has superior attrac- tions for these puny persecutors, is a question for the decision of competent judges: of one thing, however, we are certain, that this locality was well stocked with this peculiar species of game.” (Denny’s Anoplura, p. 17). The latter suggestion is, no doubt, the true explanation of the case of the Yorkshire doctor and similar stories that we have heard. We do not think there is any warrant for the idea of migrations, and as for those cases that seem persistently to defy cleanliness and remedies, we believe that all they want is sifting. If properly sifted, there will always be found some dirty nurse or unclean garments that unwittingly supply fuel to the flame we wish to extinguish. Such a case fell j . CASE XX. 398 ANOPLURA. within our own limited experience, and we may quote it as a fair example of the kind of cases out of which the third kind of Pedi- culus (Pediculus tabescentium of authors), said to be peculiar to diseased persons, has been made up. Modern naturalists do not, we think, believe in it; and if Denny, in his work on the Ano- plura, still gives it a place, he acknowledges that he has no actual knowledge of its occurrence. Our little experience of it was this: Dr. Jackson, of Edinburgh, some years ago consulted us regarding a case of the kind, where a patient, a young lad, was supposed to be infected with the Pediculus tabescentium. Repeated washings seemed to have no effect. A few hours after washing, the unfortunate victim was found again to be swarming as badly as before; and Dr. Jackson could speak to this fact from personal observation. We expressed our disbelief in the supposed disease, and recommended a more searching inquiry into collateral circumstances, and, above all, the securing specimens for exami- nation. Dr. Jackson soon procured these; and neither of us will, we think, readily forget the examination of the specimens. Not being supplied with entomological apparatus, he had put them into an old pomatum pot, which happened to be at hand. With justifiable pride he announced that he had secured the desiderated specimens, and had three in this pomatum pot, which he had . carefully enveloped in several folds of brown paper. On removing the paper, however, and opening the pot, to our dismay, instead of three specimens we found only one. The other two had escaped from the insufficiently secured vessel ; but whether in Dr. Jack- son’s pocket or in our room we could not tell. Friendship has its limits ; and we confess we were unfriendly enough to hope that the escape had taken place before the pomatum pot reached us. ° Fortunately their comrade remained to settle the question, that the supposed Pediculus tabescentium was only the common Pediculus vestimenti. Dr. Jackson had further ascertained the fact that, although the patient was frequently and carefully washed, he was always immediately thereafter re-indued in his old Ji) a ie 399 o ASE dirty flannel jacket, whence the swarms were successively supplied which astonished beholders ; and the further history of the case was, that so soon as the dirty flannels were burned, the mysterious disease disappeared, and the patient recovered. Such, we have no doubt, would be found to be the rationale of Lady Penruddock’s case, and of all similar recorded cases of the disease of P. tabes- centium, which have obtained credence from not having been examined at the time.” Before leaving this subject, it may be desirable to say a word or two as to the best mode of getting rid of these vermin. The treatment employed in the metropolitan hospitals and poorhouses, which has the recommendation both of ample experience and complete success, is the application of ‘‘ white precipitate,” which is the bicarbonate of mercury in the form of an ointment. It kills them at once. Nos. PEDICULUS CAPITIS (Head Louse).—%. Specimens from Britain and Russia; at 8. Enlarged figure of ditto; 9. Specimen on glass slide ; 10. Anterior claw of ditto, much magnified; 11. Illustrative vignette. Pediculus capitis. % to 1} line in lerg:h. Nos PeEpIcULUS CAPITIS (Varieties from the Esquimaux).—12. Specimens, and - > Enlarged figure of ditto; 13. Specimen on glass slide ; 14. Anterior claw, much magnified ; 15, Illustrative vignette. Nos. 26—30. Nos. 3I—35- Nos. 30-40. Nos. 41—45. Nos. 46—50. Nos. 51-54 400 ANOPLURA. PEDICULUS CAPITIS (Variety from Californian digger, Indian).—16. Spe- cimens ; 17. Enlarged figure of ditto; 18. Specimen on glass slide; 19. Anterior claw, much magnified ; 20. Illustrative vignette. PEDICULUS CAPITIS (Variety from Indian of the Andes of Quito),—21. Spe- cimen ; 22. Enlarged figure of ditto; 23. Specimen on glass slide ; 24. Anterior claw much enlarged ; 25. Illustrative vignette. PEDICULUS CAPITIS (Variety from Tierra del Fuego).—26. Specimens ; 27. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 28. Specimen on glass slide ; 29. Anterior claw much enlarged ; 30. Illustrative vignette. PEDICULUS CAPITIS (Variety from West African Negro).—31. Specimens ; 32. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 83. Specimen on glass slide; 34, Anterior claw much enlarged ; 35. Illustrative vignette. PEDICULUS CAPITIS (Variety from Mozambique Africander).—386. Spe- cimens ; $7. Enlarged figure of ditto ; $8. Specimen on glass slide ; 39. Anterior claw, much enlarged ; 40. Illustrative vignette. PreDICULUS CAPITIS (Variety from Hindoos).—41. Specimens ; 42. Enlarged figure of ditto; 48. Specimen on glass slide; 44 Anterior claw, much enlarged ; 45, Illustrative vignette. PEDICULUS CAPITIS (Variety from Australia).—46. Specimens; 47. Enlarged figure of ditto ; 48. Specimen on glass slide; 49. Anterior claw, much magnified ; 50. Illustrative vignette. 51. Causes of vermin, illustrative vignette ; dirt and overcrowding ; 52. ditto ; misery ; 53, ditto; disease ; 54. remedies, cleanliness, &c. og ail SPRING TAILS. 401 Order THYSANURA, Latr. (Spring tails). This order of insects is certainly not in its natural position here. We do not pretend that it is; but unless we were to abandon the great convenience of bringing all the Apterous insects into one group, we do not see where else we could put them. Their natural position is between the Crustacea and the N europtera (the lace-winged flies). Some entomologists place them among the Neuroptera, some among the Orthoptera, but this seems to us a stretch of arbitrary power, even worse than putting them here. Perhaps we should have begun with them, but they would have lain like an isolated lump as much at the beginning as here, leading to nothing, and would have interfered with the natural transition from the Isopodous crustaceans to the Myriapods ; and Sir John Lubbock’s interesting discovery of the genus Pauropus, which seems at once to connect the Myriapods with the Thysanura, and both with the Crustaceans, seems to warrant us at least in bringing this group into the Aptera. The reader, therefore, will regard their interpolation here as one of the digressions that we have more than once been forced to adopt as a choice of difficulties. We do not say that it would not be more philosophical to do away with the Aptera as a distinct division altogether, and to have carried the Pediculi to the Hemiptera, the Thysanura to the Neuroptera or Orthoptera, and treated the remaining groups not as Aptera, but simply as Arachnids and Myriapods; but the course we have taken has its conveniences, and its adoption does not in any way interfere with the proper understanding of the different groups, or put any obstacles in the way of studying them. Until 1873, this order was always regarded as a single group, sufficiently homogeneous. Sir John Lubbock, however, in that year published an able and exhaustive monograph of them, and gave it as the result of his researches that there was so much difference between two parts of it that they could not be included CC CASE XXI. 402 THYVSANURA. in the same order, and consequently broke it up and made two orders of it—one, the Spring tails, which he called Collembola, and the other the Lepismidz, for which he retained the name Thysanura. No one can dispute that there is a marked distinc- tion between the two—the one with its jumping apparatus, and the other with its projecting terminal, jointed bristles, besides other distinguishing characters—and effect must be given to these differences in some shape; but whether it is sufficient to warrant the establishment of two orders seems doubtful. This is not the place to go into a discussion as to the value of the differences and resemblances, but we may point to one that, although trifling in itself, seems to us very suggestive. It is the identity in type of the peculiar scales with which they are clothed, and which are common to, although not universal in, both sections, and are met with in no other order of insects. These scales have another and an economic interest for us: they have for long been employed as tests for the quality of object-glasses of the microscope, from the facility with which they display both the spherical and chromatic aberrations. ‘The woodcuts show the scale of Tomocerus (one of Scale of Tomocerus longicornis, much magnified, Scale of Machilis, mucn magnified, and portion of and portioi of it still more enlarged. it still more enlarged. the Collembola) and that of Machilis (one of the Lepismidee— Lubbock’s Thysanura), and it will be seen that the type is the same in both. We also show the more common form of the scale | CASE XXI. SPRING TAILS. 403 of species of Collembola, being that of a scale of Lepidocyrtus curvicollis, which, no doubt, deviates from the others, but still Scale of Lepidocyrtus curvicollis, much magnified, and portion of it still more enlarged. bears the same cachet. We therefore propose to retain the name Thysanura for the whole order, and to take Sir John’s name Col- _ lembola for the first section, and leave the other under its old name of Lepismide. Tribe COLLEMBOLA. Horticulturists, at least those who possess “ frames,” still more those who have cucumber-frames or hot-beds, are pretty familiar with the insects of this family. If we place a cloth over the glass, we shall probably find next morning, on removing it, that the place where it lay is swarming with a quantity of minute soft ' delicate insects, some of which will take to their heels and endea- vour to escape by running, and others will spring upwards with considerable force, taking bounds which, were we able to take them proportionately high, would carry us over our highest steeples. These surprising leaps are not made like those of the flea and most other jumping insects, by means of powerful muscles placed in very thick thighs, but by means of a sub-abdominal forked organ, which acts as a spring very much in the same way that the toy familiar to our boyhood called a jumping-frog does. These are Collembola. But it is inside the frames that we see them in greatest numbers ; they often swarm there as thick as powder, Cie 2 CASE XAL 404 THVSANURA. in the chinks and corners, and we find too that they are not harm- less tenants. .Our young gherkins will be found shrivelling, and on examination, it will be seen that they have been stripped of great portions of their skin, that have been browsed or rasped away by these little creatures. Nor are their ravages confined to frames, although the greater heat there, seems to suit their delicate semi-transparent bodies. But in the open borders they carry on the same work on succulent roots and plants, especially where anything has happened to dinunish the vitality of the plant. On carrots, for instance, that are suffering from rust, they will be found browsing on the sound parts. Mr. Curtis (farm insects) mentions that in Nova Scotia, the crops of turnips and cabbages are principally destroyed whilst in the seed-leaf by some species of this tribe, the size of a pin’s head, and nearly globular. It hops with great agility by means of its forked spring, and may be found on every square inch of all old cultivated ground, but it is not plentiful on new land. He adds, probably from Nova Scotian information, that, “‘as these ‘ground fleas,’ will not remain on damp ground, they may be expelled by sprinkling salt over the land after the seed is sown and well rolled down, or a thin layer of sea-weed spread over the drills, is a perfect security against them.” In some respects, this information must be erroneous, for it is especially in dampish places that the spring tails luxuriate. Drought kills them. Some few species (Podura aquatica, Smynthurus aquaticus, and Isotoma aquatilis) frequent the surface of standing water. Some species of Smyn- thurus live on the leaves of plants; Seira domestica frequents houses ; Lepidocyrtus curvicollis, is found in cellars; and Lipura maritima occurs on the sea-shore between tide marks ; but the species of this group are chiefly to be found in loose earth among dead leaves, under bark, and in similar situations, and that as a rule, their food is vegetable matter, and most frequently decaying vegetable matter. | We do not however know much of the habits of these creatures. SPRING TAILS. 405 = We do not even know what is the special purpose for which their most striking peculiarity, their spring tails, is given. } As Sir John Lubbock says, the possession of a powerful salta- tory apparatus appears to be a fantastic provision, for a species which lives in the chinks and crannies of bark, in the interstices of fungi, or buried among decaying leaves, in other words, in places where the saltatory power can only be occasionally exercised, and the anomaly is by no means diminished by the circumstance that, as a matter of fact the jumping and non-jumping species are con- tinually found together under the same old board, or in the same decaying heap of leaves. Still we know that it must serve a pur- pose, and one useful to the creature endowed with it. The Collembola are divided by Lubbock into six families, for the scientific characters of which we must refer the reader to his work. It is only exceptionally that we give detailed characters in this work. As far as they go we endeavour to supply their place by illustrations, and we shall merely note one or two salient t points which may serve to guide the reader to the family to which his species belongs. And here let us begin at the begin- : ning. Supposing we have in our hands a species of Thysanura, . how are we to tell whether it is one of the Collembola or one of the Lepismide? If it has either two- or three-jointed bristles at the tail, then it belongs to the latter—if not, then to the former. In the next place it may have a jumping apparatus, or it may not. It is not, however, to be taken for granted that it is not a jumper, because it has not jumped and no jumping apparatus is visible. This is packed away under the body from the tail:for- wards, and will be seen when searched for. Let us suppose then that our species has got the jumping apparatus. It then belongs to the first section of Collembola. Further, it may be of an elongate cylindrical shape, or it may have a globular body, seemingly composed of a head and a bag. If the latter, it must either be a Smynthurus or a Papirius. In both the antennz are four-jointed, but in the former the terminal joint is long, in the latter short. CASE XXI. No. 1. 406 THYSANURA. But suppose, on the other hand, that the species is elongate and not globular, then it must either belong to the Degeeriadze or to the Poduridz. If to the former, it has its jumping apparatus attached to the fifth abdominal segment; if to the latter, to the fourth. Supposing it to belong to the former, it is an Orchesella if its antennze have six joints, if only four or five it may belong to one or other of eight genera which we shall mention below. If the jumping apparatus is attached to the fourth abdominal segment (Poduridz) it may have either one or two claws to its feet. If two claws, it is an Achorutes—if one, a Podura. But it may have nothing of all this and be without a jumping apparatus at all. Well, in that case it will be found either to have mandibles or not. If it has them, it is a Lipura. If it has none, but a suctorial mouth instead, then it must be Anoura. Family SMYNTHURID&, SMYNTHURUS FUSCUS (Zzz.).—1. Magnified sketch of ditto.* Smynthurus fuscus. Copied from T emple Smynthurus viridis. Copied from Templeton’ ur ; 2 = y 5 p T ton's figure. ton’s figure n Tr. Ent. Soc. I. o.z2sth Ps 7 eile ; ( anfnichanilcucey: 5 1-12th of an inch in length. ce Where not otherwise stated, all the sketches of Thysanura are taken from Mr. Hollick’s figures in Sir John Lubbock’s monograph, SPRING TAILS. 407 338 This is the largest of the Smynthuri, about 1-roth of an inch in length. It is common about London, and no doubt elsewhere, on pieces of wood and bark in damp situations. It feeds prin- cipally on the spores and first shoots of fungi, and Sir J. Lubbock mentions that many specimens are infested by a small mite which adheres to its under side in considerable numbers. SMYNTHURUS VIRIDIS (Zzv7.). Green;eyes on a black patch; common. Lubbock describes eight species of Smynthuri as found in England, and notices several others from the Continent and foreign parts. In his “ Farm Insects,” Curtis describes a species which he calls Smynthurus Solani as possibly or probably inju- rious to the potato crop by browsing on the parenchyma of its green leaves, on which it may be found in quantity running and skipping about their under side and often falling down on its back. He says it is not bigger than a small grain of sand, and either entirely of a deep ochreous colour with black eyes, or as black as soot with ochreous horns. He gives a figure of it, but neither his figure nor his description is sufficiently detailed to allow of its accurate determination, and it is not impossible that he may have confounded two species. If so, his species would most probably be S. luteus and 3. niger, viz. :— SMYNTHURUS LUreEusS (Lubd.). Yellow ; eyes on a black patch ; apical part of antennze violet. Sir John Lubbock gives the following account of the courtship of this species, the only one whose amours have been observed :— “Tt is very amusing to see these little creatures coquetting to- gether. The male, which is much smaller than the female, runs round her, and they butt one another standing face to face, and moving backwards and forwards like two playful lambs. Then the female pretends to run away and the male runs after her with 408 . LH YVSANORA. CASE a queer appearance of anger; gets in front and stands facing her SX. ; ' j again ; then she turns coyly round, but he quicker and more active, scuttles round too, and seems to whip her with his antennz. Then for a bit they stand face to face, play with their antenne, and seem to be all in all to one another.” S. NIGER (Zwd0.). An ugly little species, bluish black.; feet, terminal segment of spring, and a spot at inner corner of eye-patch, pale. Said by Lubbock to be not common. No. 2. PAPIRIUS ORNATUS (JVicolet).—2. Magnified sketch of ditto. Found in the latter part of November, Decembez, and January, among leaves and under logs of wood, with Smynthurus fuscus and Papirius fuscus. It is of livelier colours than either of these (black, green, and various shades of brown), and of more active habits, running freely and jumping more lightly and gracefully. No. 3. PAPIRIUS FUSCUS (Zuc.).—8. Magnified sketch of ditto. Papirius fuscus. 00.5 of an inch in length. Brown. Common. , Family DEGEERIADA. Roe ORCHESELLA CINCTA (Linz.).—4. Specimens of ditto; 5. Enlarged sketch aan of ditto ; 6. Enlarged sketch of another variety of ditto. A very common, pretty, and variable species found under fallen i i CASE XXI, Nos. 8. . TOMOCERUS PLUMBEUS (Linz.).—9. Magnified SPRING *ZAILS. 409 boughs of trees, in moss, among decaying leaves and similar situations. There are only two species of this genus found in Britain, the present and another named O. villosa. The latter is yellow, and has the entire body, mottled with black, whereas O. ‘cincta, although very variable and often yellow mottled with black, has always the third seg- ment of the abdomen black. The whole insect is sometimes almost entirely black. The body in this genus is without scales. TOMOCERUS LONGICORNIS (JZiiller).—7. Magnified sketch of ditto; 8. Magnified sketch of scale of ditto. The antennz in the genus Tomocerus are long (in this species very long and rolled up Orchesella cincta. 0.25 of an inch in length, at the apex like a piece of tape) four-jointed, the two terminal segments being multiarticulate or ringed. The body is clothed with scales and the eyes are seven in each group. The colour of T. longicornis is leaden unless where the scales are removed, when it is yellow. The antennz are longer than the body. It is a large species, being one-fifth of an inch in length, found in England and on the Continent, under logs, &c., throughout the year. sketch of ditto. Similar to the last species, but the an- tennz are shorter than the body; the body where the scales are removed is leaden-coloured. Found with the pre- ceding ; common all through the winter, ‘even during sharp frosts. Tomocerus plumbeus. 1-sth of an nch in length, No. 12. No. 1 Nos. 14, 15. 410 THYVSANURA. > SEIRA BUSKII (Zudb.).—10. Magnified sketch of ditto ; 11. Magnified sketch of scale of ditto. The antenne of Seira are four-jointed, the body clothed with scales. The terminal segment of the antennz is simple ; it has eyes, and the head is not concealed under the thorax. The species S. Buskii is dark violet with metallic reflecticns. Lubbock found it only in green-houses and hot-houses, whence he, with apparent justice, infers that it is probably an exotic species introduced. TEMPLETONIA CRYSTALLINA (Zudd,.).—12. Magnified sketch of ditto. Templetonia is an interesting genus combining a number of characters belonging to different genera. Its scale is peculiar to itself, and its antenneze are five-jointed instead of four-jointed like its allies. The first joint, however, is small, and may be over- looked if not sought for. Its eye consists of one lens in each eye-patch. The species when alive is silvery white, but when it has been a few days in spirits it becomes pale with innumerable reddish brown streaks and spots. It has figured in no less than six different genera, a sufficient indication of the difficulty of placing it in any of the old ones and of the necessity of a new genus for it. Said to be common in Kent. 3, BECKIA ARGENTEA (Zuzé0.).—18. Magnified figure of ditto. Beckia may be said to be a Seira without eyes. The species argentea is silvery with metallic reflexions. LEPIDOCYRTUS CURVICOLLIS (Bovwrlet).—14,. Magnified Sass of ditto ; 15. Magnified sketch of scale of ditto. Lepidocyrtus curvicollis. 2} millimétres in length. Lepidocyrtus is a Seira with its head overshadowed by the a SPRING TAILS. AIL BSE projecting front of the thorax. When full grown and unrubbed it reflects the most gorgeous metallic tints. As remarked by Sir John Lubbock, its general appearance is most singular; the depressed position of the head, and the gait gives it a most ludicrous resem- blance to a hippopotamus, and at the same time the body does not look as if it belonged to the head and legs, but rather as if it were some foreign object supported on the animal’s back. Mr. Beck the microscopist speaks of the scales of this species, or of a variety of it, as being a superior test for object glasses. This species seems uncommon, but another L. lignorum is very common. There are a number of British species of this genus. . DEGEERIA ANNULATA (/ad.).—16. Magnified sketch of ditto. Degeeria has no scales, and the segments of the abdomen are unequal. Its antenne have four joints, and 2 minute basal ring. There are eight eyes in each eye-patch. We have followed Sir J: Lubbock’s arrangement in placing Degeeria here, but we cannot help thinking that the natural place, both of Degeeria and Isotoma, is next Orchesella. They are smaller, but similar in make to it, and, like it, have no scales, and their general appearance and system of coloration are disposed very much on the same pattern. This species is pale greenish yellow or Deegeria annulata. t-roth Oa stone colour, with brown transverse markings. an inch in length. Under logs in Kent throughout the year. - IsoToMA VIATICA (Linn.).—17. Magnified sketch of insect. This genus is very like the preceding and Orchesella, differing from Degeeria in having the segments of the abdomen sub-equal. The present species is bluish black. It is not common, and January to April is said to be its period of appearance. CASE LOE No. 18. No. 19. No. 20. No. 21. 4x2 -THYSANURA. ISOTOMA GRISEA (Zud0.).—18, Magnified sketch of ditto. Uniform grey ; common in winter and spring. Family PODURIDA, ACHORUTES PURPURASCENS (Zwdd.).—19. Magnified sketch of ditto. One of the Poduridz with two claws, of a brownish-purple colour. Achorutes purpurascens, 1-reth of an inch in length “On a hot bed, and under branches of trees. Throughout the year.” —(Lubbock). PODURA AQUATICA (Lzzz.).—20. Magnified sketch of ditto. One of the single-clawed Poduride; opaque blackish-blue. Common on the surface of standing water throughout the north of Europe to Switzerland. Also found in Greenland. Podura aquatica. 0.08 of an inch in length. Lipura fimetaria. 1-zoth of an inch in length, LIPURA FIMETARIA (Zzi7.).—21. Magnified sketch of ditto. We have now left the jumping Collembola. The following species only run. This species is very common, and may be found in damp earth throughout the year, often engaged in LIPURA. 413 sE browsing upon carrots, potatoes, or other roots. It is white, and ' of a velvety texture, as are several other species. The Lipurz as a genus are interesting from an evolution point of view. We have, in speaking of marine mites, alluded to the fact that certain insects, and more particularly certain beetles, passed their lives under the very exceptional condition of spending half their time under the sea. They live between high and low water-mark, in the chinks of rocks, under beds of sea-weed, and similar places of shelter; and this is a manner of life not peculiar to one country alone. Wherever there are suitable sea-coasts, there we shall doubtless find some of these beetles; at any rate, we know that they occur on the coasts of Europe, Madeira, North America, Chili, New Caledonia, and Australia, different species in each, but all belonging to the same two contiguous families, the Trechidse and Bembidiide. Now it is worthy of note that it is the same family that supply some (not all) of the eyeless species that live under another peculiar and abnormal condition, viz., in the dark limestone caverns of Carniola, Kentucky, &c. It is as if they had a special facility of adaptation given them for accom- modating themselves to any condition of life. If it were not so, why have thousands of other families of insects not done the same? We cannot suppose that no Carabidze but the Trechide, although there are four or five hundred genera, were subjected to the same trial, and that they alone were subjected, not only to the trial by darkness, but also to the trial by sea. If we did, the present genus would help to confute the idea. It also contains a species that lives under the sea, and another that lives in dark caverns. One family thus furnishing a double adaptation in both instances, implies that there is something special in them favourable to their accommodating themselves to unwonted conditions. LIPURA MARITIMA (Guwer.). Dark lead coloured, and of a velvety texture that throws off CASE XXI. No. 22. No 2S 4l4 THVSANURA. water. Found under young sea weed and between layers of shale between tide marks in the Firth of Forth, and along the coast both to the north and south, also at Kinsale in Ireland, and on the French coast, occurring no doubt wherever there is a suitable habitat. LIPURA STILLICIDII (.Sc/.). A white species, very common in the Adelsberg caves. Either it or a closely allied species also lives in the Mitchelstown cave near Cahir, in Ireland. It is eyeless ; for although there are two rows of seven prominences in the place behind the antennee, and before that where the eyes should be, which have been called — eyes, we think that their very unusual profusion in a medium where no other insect has any eyes at all, or any use for them, is not favourable to the idea of their being eyes. They also occur in other species where eyes are present. ANOURA MUSCORUM (Zemp.).—22. Magnified sketch of ditto. This is another of the non-saltatorial genera, has no mandibles. It is suctorial. The species is of a dark purple colour, and is found under wood and bark. It is common. ANOURA GRANARIA (WVic.).—28. Magnified sketch of ditto. This is of an alabaster white, and has occurred Anoura muscorum. 0.07 ofan inch inlengh, UWOder detritus in France and England) (bare has not been often met with. These are the only species of Anoura that have been found in Britain. and it is the only one of the Collembola that LEPISMIDA. 4ts Tribe LEPISMIDA, The Lepismidze are composed of two well-marked divisions, the one without scales and also without eyes; the other with both scales and eyes, and the scales of the same type as those of the Collembola. ‘They have all got mandibles ; farther than that, we do not know much of their habits. Unlike the Collembola they prefer dry and warm or even hot localities. Sect. I—WITHOUT SCALES. Sir John Lubbock takes this division first, and we have followed him, although we should have preferred to bring them last, as we think the genera Lepisma and Machilis are more closely united to the Collembola than it is. Their scales, aspect, and coloration, which often reveal affinities, which the actual structure has not prepared us for, all, we think, indicate that the nearer relationship is with the second section. But it is for everyone’s convenience to follow a recognised authority, even when we differ from him (unless the difference be extreme), and therefore we proceed first with the section which contains the two latter genera. This is represented in Britain by only a single species. CAMPODEA STAPHYLINUS (Westw.).—24. Magnified sketch of ditto. An elongated parallel soft white insect, which is common in loose damp earth. The chief interest, both in this species and the next, lies in its structure and affinities. . JAPYX soLiFruGuS (Halliday).—25. Magnified sketch of ditto. This is a species of another genus (Japyx), which is as well entitled to a section for itself as Campodea. It has a pair of forceps at the tail fashioned like those of the earwig. It occurs in the Mediterranean district, and as far north as Paris, but has not been found further north, nor in Britain. Nos. 28, 29 lLepisma saccharina. z-3rd of an inch in length. THYSANURA. Sec. II.—WITH SCALES, LEPISMA SACCHARINA (Lz77.).—26. Magnified sketch of ditto ; 27. Magnified sketch of Stale of ditto. An easy distinction between this genus and Machilis (the only British members of this section), is that Lepisma is not saltatorial, Machilis is. This species is silvery white, with a yellowish tinge about the antennz and legs. Common not only in Britain, but over the greater part of the Continent. There is no other species in Britain. MACHILIS MARITIMA (Leach),—28. Magnified sketch of ditto ; 29. Magnified sketch of scale. Brown, mottled, with bronze reflections. Common on the rocky shores of England, Ireland, and France. Machilis maritima. 0.5 of‘an inch in length. This and Machilis polypoda (a brown species, which is found in woods and dry places) are the only two that have been found in Britain. eT fit OF ONISCUS asellus antenna of . Porcellio scaber antenna of . Armadillo vulgaris rolled up antenna of Glomeris limbata . Sphezeropzeus glabratus castaneus, antenna of . Julus in young stage with only six legs ‘ . older, with 14 legs pulchellus, full-grown terrestris antenna of Londinensis nitens : Spirostreptus annulatipes Polydesmus complanatus, young and full grown Brachycybe rosea . Polydesmus dorsalis . Geophilus longicornis Scolopendra morsitans variegata Cryptops hortensis Lithobius forficatus head and antenna of Cermatia smithii . Pauropus huxleyi Chelifer muszeorum cancroides Obisium carcinoides PELs TRE TIONS: Buthus afer. Veejovis, sp.. Phrynus palmatus Telyphonus proscorpio . Galeodes araneoides . Mygale avicularia . Atypus sulzeri nest of teniza ionica, trap-door of fodiens nest of | Nemesia czementaria, trap-door of eleanora, trap-door of . nest of meridionalis — . ceementaria, figure of Eleanora Latrodectes malmignatus Lycosa tarantula . Dysdera crocata Drassus sericeus Eresus cinnabarinus Argyroneta aquatica | Water-spiders under water. | Ciniflo ferox. Ciniflonidz, web of . | Calamistrum of Ciniflo . _ Agelena labyrinthica . Tegenaria guyonii Pholcus phalangioides Theridion tepidariorum nest of lineatum, cocoon of pallens, cocoon of DD 418 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS: PAGE Walckenzeria pratensis . af e ROe Epeira diademata, web of . Be — threads of web of ate a — diademata . : 1935 Xysticus cristatus . : boy 2 teO7. — audax . : . Sy, Thomisus abbreviatus . ed eames Dolomedes fimbriatus é 4. 89 Epiblemum scenicum . : 92 Trombidium fuliginosum, palpi a 95 — typical palpusof . - 95 Tetranychus prunicolor, claw of 96 Trombidium holosericeum, clawof 96 Tetranychus telarius, tarsus of . 97 — mouth, palpi, and man- dible of . é eh Oy, — young . A : aie Oi, — male. : : le Ey — female . : : HGS — lintearius . s sae OM — tiliarum . : : . 108 — socius. : : Fs KOS — eriostemi : ‘ . 109 — autumnalis. . Feet LOG Raphignathus ruberrimus . . 115 — ruber. 5 : Rr esa IS Megamerus celer : 3 ae © @ Leptus americanus , Poca -— trmitans . : ‘ Gye 6) Bryobia speciosa . 5 Jo See MLS Petrobia lapidum, young . SLES — full-grown . : peat te Tydeus mutabilis : : ZO Eupodes hiemalis . : en, -(0) — celer, young . : BP § SS SS ayn ne ° eo) ee eT Penthaleus hematopus . Lon Scyphius diversicolor . SMe? Linopodes longipes . : “el28 Penthalodes ovalis ; oP ee Stigmzeus cruentus . 5 oy ee Caligonus piger . : Ser i! Rhyncholophus cinereus. A 25 Rhyncholophus aes. — major Smaridia papillosa, rostrum of . — papillosa Pachygnathus velatus Trombidium parasiticum — holosericeum, young — — mature — — wnhder side. — — hairson upper side . — — hairs on sides — trigonum — — hairs on back of — curtipes. — — hairs on bape — — hairs on sides — fasciculatum — tinctorium . — bulbipes. — gryllarium, young — sericeum. — aurantiacum Calyptostoma Hardyi — — underside . — — side view. — — leg Erythrzeus ruricola — cornigera Molgus longicornis, mouth a Eupalus vitellinus . Scirus vulgaris . — insectorum, young — — (leptus phalangii) — hexophthalmus — obisium . Hydrachna, palpus of Atax bonzi, claw of . Limnochares aquaticus . Thyas venusta . Smaris impressa Alycus roseus Eylais extendens, young —— == iklurS LIST: OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Hydrachna, nymphs of, adhering to hinder part of nepa cinerea 151 /— ' géographica’ . ; Eas Limnesia fulgida . : Sahise. Diplodontus scapularis, young . 153 — -— Mature .- me - 153 Hydrochoreutes globulus . . 154 — — nymph . : 154 — — perfect insect, ide side : ere 7! Hydrachna EpEator, male 1 155 — — female : Serene ys Atax histrionicus, male. . 156 — — female : : 156 Gamasus tetragonoides, claw of. 157 Dermannyssus avium, claw of . 157- -— auris, claw of . ee) SS Y, Gamasus coleoptratorum re GS ‘— ‘marginatus . : - 159 Lelaps hilaris : : oe 159 Gamasuscrassipes .. . « 161 '— tetragonoides . See LOL -— podager. Ban TOK Uropoda vegetans : a je LOZ Zercon dimidiatus. : . 164 Sejus vidius . 7 : s° a: TOS “— maritimus : : . 166 ‘— marinus. 2 Pee TO a halicheri, young . 168 — — mature 3 oe LOO Dermanyssus nitzschii ; . 169 — avium : : Het BO ‘—— — under side : Ei (0) ‘“— pipistrellz . . pets Ye r- Liponyssus setosus . : be Macronyssus longimanus Sie DTS Lepronyssus rubiginosus_ . Pe ty! — lobatus - Mei Se Pimelonyssus idenitellis P 174 Vampire, hair of . P Pers iy i Diplostaspis dasycnemi, hair of . 175: Periglischrus rhinolophinus . . 177 UE PS iy 419 PAGE Tinoglischrus punctolyra . 178 — — under side: = 198 — audouinii . 178. Diplostaspis vespertilionis . . 179 —— arcuata: - 179 Leiostaspis zeleborii . . 180 Argas reflexus, tarsus of . 180 _— - pipistrellee, young . 180 — — legof. . 180 -— reflexus . . 181 — miniatus . 182 — moubata : 5 pits -— (ornithodoros) coriaceus . 183 — — talaje : : A giro Ixodes, rostrum of - . 184 — clawof . . 184 — erinaceus, maie . 190 — — female . 190 — fodiens . I9L — marginatus, male . = 192 — — female : -- 3 EQOZ — transversalis'. . pe Sarconyssus nodulipes . . 196 Hyalomma hispanicum, male . 197 — — female : oe OT Heemalastor longirostris . . 198 — gracilipes: . : = « 'QG Dermacentor pardalinus . . 199 Hzemaphysalis rosea . 200 Rhipicephalus senegalensis . 200 Adenopleura compressum . 200 Xiphiastor rostratus . . 201 Amblyomma rotundatum 208 Ophiodes flavomaculatus 2 204: Halacarus ctenopus . 208 — falcatus . . 209 — — clawof . 209 — — mandibles of . 209 — sculptus . : 2 20g — — underside . 209 — — side view - 209 — — mandible and pallptis of ‘, 209 DD 2 420 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Halacarus rhodostigma . ery 52) — notops . . : . 211 Dameeus auritus, head of fee aes — — legof . : . 215 — — claw of ; eaitysk 2S — geniculatus, young . . 215 *— — mature ° see 4) Hs Leiosoma ovata, young stage . 217 Notaspis bipilis, mature pone) 4 Oribata punctata, young . « 218 — globula, mature . ae t2US — — mandibleof . ~ 218 Pelops acromios, young Suivi) BRO MUTE . ~ 219 — — — leeof. ine e2LO Nothrus spiniger, young . 24220 — — claw of : singe eeo — horridus, mature. 5 220 — — covered with its cloak Olidirt 4/4 By 220) Hermannia crassipes, young . 221 inate . ie. 22 Eremzeus tibialis, young. i222 AALS ° Sid) Bee Hoplophora contractilis . 228 — — shut up : ey 22753 — — legof. : 21222 — — larva of 5 sed Sa cau A - . 29225 Ilypoderas brevis . ; JyetZ2o, — — under side ; 229 — lineatus, under side . . 230 — columbe, under side ae2g0 =a ==) ON Wellleh pigeon..ai. 1230 Hypopus muscarum . 5 = 234. — — lipcf. 4 ske 234 — filicum . : . 235 — arvicola . : . 236 Rhizoglyphus echinopus, young. 238 — — with young developing inside . : 7238 Hypopus, inside of ditto Sue 1280 — removed from ditto . 5 2309 PAGE Hypopus, with Tyroglyphus mycopha- gus emerging fromit 242 — alicola 4 : «,, « 250 Trichodactylus osmize, leg of . 251 — osmice | 252 ——— : . 252 — xylocopze « 253 Homopus elephantis . 253) — — mouth of = 252) Rhizoglyphus, tarsus of . 256 Tyroglyphus, tarsus of . . 256 Rhizoglyphus echinopus, young. 257 — phylloxere. ~. 25e — rostroserratus . . 261 — — side view ~ 26% — — mouth of. TREE — mycophagus 263, Tyroglyphus siro . 268 — — more magnified . 268 — longior . 271 Acarus horridus 278 — weekesii. 278 Tyroglyphus siculus , 274 — malus, under side ares — — side view » 275 Glyciphagus spinipes, mouth of . 276 — — hair of . 270 — — claw of . 276 — cursor . 278 — hippopodos . 279 — buski . 280 — spinipes . 281 — plumiger . 283 — palmifer, male . 284 — — female . 284 Cheyletus eruditus, male . 286 — mericourti, female . . 289 Heteropus ventricosus . . 290 — — impregnated female . 290 — — leg ofditto. . 290 Sarcoptes scabiei, anterior leg and sucker = 208 — — mouth. . 201 LYST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Sarcoptesscabiei, male,under side 292 female, ditto 202) two of posterior legs of male -, 203 two of posterior legs —_—_ of female . 2203 — — burrow of . 294 Sarcoptes dromedarii 305 — mutans, male . - 305 — — female on 305 — — side view. - 306 Psoroptes equi, mandibles - 308 anterior leg and sucker 308 — — figure of. . 309 — — two of posterior legs of male - 309 — — two of posterior legs of female . - 309 Symbiotes bovis 313 — — anteriorlegand Bicker 313 Sarcopterus nidulans wegt4: Myobia musculi, young 316 — — female 2 SiG, mouth and anterior legs more highly magnified - 316 — — posteriorlegandtarsus 316 English bat, magnified hair of . 318 Otonyssus sticholasius, magnified hair of . 2318 magnified bristle of . 319 tarsus of, copied from —_—_—_ — Kolenati . » $59 — — — copied from aa dox. 5 919 — — palpus, copied Healt Kolenati . fuse G9) — — mouth of do. Bes PL! — — — more magnified. 321 copied from Kolenati 323 — — — — Maddox . 323 Peplonyssus seminulum nazA — pagurus . e324 42. PAGE Listrophorus Leuckarti, mouth of 325 — — legof : 4 325 — gibbus - 325 — Leuckarti 2325 Myocoptes musculinus, male. . 326 — — female . . 326 — — _ seen in front . 326 — — mouth of. . 326 Dermaleichus bifidus, male . 328 — — female : 2 as — chelopus, male «329 — — female . 329 Demodex folliculorum ; +320 in bulb and follicles of human hair 27.330) Lime tree leaf with nail galls) A332 Section of gall on do. om 3G2 American vine leaf with trumpet gall formed bya Cecidomyia 335 Section of gall on do. ° - 335 Sallow leaves with galls produced by Phytoptus salicis - 307 Section of gall on do. Bee e7¢ Phytoptus salicis - 339 — tiliz . - 339 — ribis aga9) == PYEIM. - 340 Gamasus, supposed by ‘Sthenten to be perfect insect of ditto. 340 Hypopus, supposed by Scheuten to be larva of ditto. «| Sax Flexipalpus tiliz . 7) 942 Tetranychus tiliz, augusta Be Scheuten to be perfect Flexi- palpus tilize - 342 Phytoptus, after Low - 346 — headof — - 346 — legof — - 347 — tailof — . 348 — pyri, claw of - 348 — tiliz, claw of . - 348 Currant buds attacked by Phy- toptus ribis - » 355 422 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE ? PAGE. Bract of Tilia parvifolia attacked Haematopinus, anterior leg . . 386 by Phytoptus tiliarius . - 356 — quadrumanus . . . 387 Volvulifex aceris on sycamore | Phthirius inguinalis .. . . 387 leaf : é BA 9 | — posterior leg of a 3 307 — section of } : . 357 | Pediculus capitis, anterior claw Cephaloneon myriadeum . .. 358 a of European . . 392 Pear leaf with galls of Typhlo- — — Andian Indian. - 392 dromus pyri. : - 359 — — North - American : Section of gall of ditto . - +» 359 Slave lake Indian. 393 Ceratoneon on leaves of sloe . 360 — — Australian : «3938 Section of ditto . : ae. BBO — vestimenti . A aie GOH Volvulifex pruni on plum twig . 361 — — sucker of ditto. - 394 — onplumleaf . . . 361 | Pediculus capitis . é =» «3399 Menopon pallidum. : . 377 | Tomocerus longicornis, scale of, — posteriorles . Be ated ir, - magnified . ; as . 402 Trinoton luridum . 1278 — — part of. -do., more — anterior leg . «ay 378 magnified . : ol AZ Docophorus semisignatus, ae Machilis, scale magnified . . 402 Ob eke é : 370 — part of do., more mag- , == icterodes ; SP PeeeH ie — nified . : . 402 Nirmus claviformis . . - 379 | Lepidocyrtus curvicollis, scale, Goniocotes hologaster . .. 380 magnified . ap 1403, Goniodes falcicornis . A « 380 _. = ‘part of) ido. mone — dissimilis . + Li SOIL | enlarged : - 403, — — anteriorleg of . 381 | Smynthurus fuscus ‘ «eng OG — tetraonis . : i) BS — viridis . 5 ; . 406 Lipeurus, antenna of male. . 381 | Papirius fuscus . : . . 408 — variabilis . 2 . . 382 | Orchesella cincta . “1 a Oo! — squalidus - . » 382 | Tomocerus plumbeus . | 92 e04e9) Ornithobius cygni : - 383 | Lepidocyrtus curvicollis . : 410: Trichodectes sphicroscoraing - 383 | Degeeria annulata : Pee == — posterior les cf ye. i3eg Achorutes purpurascens. . Az — _scalaris : : : - 384 | Podura aquatica . z . cee: — equi . 3 se aod Lipura fimetaria : ‘ 4 412 ie atus | hye : : . 384 | Anoura muscorum : < sae Heematomyzus elephantis . . 385 | Lepisma saccharina . : . 416 Haematopinus suis . 5 - 386 | Machilis maritima : Pee) ie INDEX. PAGE ACARID&. : A ‘ ~ 227 Acarina 5 2 ; 3 ales 2S Acarocecidium . 355 Acaropsis mericourti. yt 280 Acarus basteri . : ‘ - 143 — crossi. ZF 273) — dimidiatus 270 — domesticus. : 3a 267 — farine . ; 5 =») 267 — favorum . ; akira 207 — horridus. 270s 272 — hyacinthi . : en 27 — lactis. : , . 207 — nigua. 4 : a | #194 — passularum . : 2 ol — spinitarsus . 2 ato 8- — translucens . : « 275 — vespertilionis . ee Hy (6, — weekesii ? : Pea Ge Acarellus muscz . ; ani DA Acercus . : . P . 156 Achlysia ; 5 op vtZe Achorutes purpurascens 2 452 Actineda cornigera : Aen Actinopus nidulans . ; a gD Adenopleura compressum . . 200 fEcidium abietinum . 374 Agelena labyrinthica . ahs SE Agelenidz ; : : tie Ge Alycus . : , - ape ERO — roseus . ‘ , 2 ESO Amaurobius ferox . ‘ Paar aes — mordax . , ; « gy PAGE Amblyomma 187, 201 — pacificum : ; “203 — rotundatum : or On American vine trumpet gall 335 Ancystropus zeleborii . ede oC) Androctonus . ‘ ‘ ego — priamus . . Se ee) — sp.. : : : a 38 =e SP 38 Anoplura . : ; : - 395 Anoura granaria 414 — muscorum : . 414 Arachnoidea. : ; si) a aa Araneide . : : ; 43 Argas . : : : wget LOO — americana. : . 182 — coriaceus . : a Tee — miniatus. : : . 182 — moubata . : 2.5 kO2 — persicus . : : lox — pipistrelle . ; «= Venlo — reflexus . 4 ; . ESI — savignii . : ie. Moe — talaje . : : ales Argaside . - : sos a EEO Argyroneta aquatica . . ny 2 Armadillo vulgaris ; ip) SO Arrhenurus viridis. ; . 156 Ash clusters . 364. Astoma . : ‘ ; «Sg — gryllaria . - ‘ieee — parasiticum . : 2) ¥29 |) Abase : ; : Bt et ea . 424 INDEX. PAGE PAGE Atax bonzi . 155 | Cephaloneon solitarium . 358 - — globator - 155 | Cepheus 221 — _histrionicus . 156 — vulgaris . 222 — miniata - 155 | Ceratoneon attenuatum. 359 — varipes ~ 155 — vulgaris. 356 Atoma. 128, 129 | Cermatia 29 Atractides. . 156 — capensis . 30 Atypus sulzeri - 55, 69 — smithii 30 Cheese mites 227 BALLUS depressus ‘92 | ‘Cheliter 34 Batoneus populi . 368 — cancroides 35 Bdella egregia . . 144 — geoffroyi 35 Bdellidze . 142 — muszeorum 34 Beckia argentea. - 410 | Cheyletus 285 Beetle mites . oi 2UT — eruditus . 286 Bog mites. . : ‘ . 148 — mericourti . 289 Bon, M., his manufacture of — robertsoni 286 spider silk. 47 | Chilognatha . 14 Brachycybe rosea 21 | Chilopoda. 22 British spiders 69 | Chiracanthum nutrix 71 — mygalidze 69 | Chorioptes 312 Brotheas 38 | Ciniflo ferox 75 Bryobia I17 — mordax . Hib — speciosa 118 | Ciniflonidze We Buthus afer ay — web of ; 1 76 —— )Gecsal 38 | Classification, general system of. 12 — imperator 38 — of aptera 13 — sp. 38 — — arachnoids . 23 — — mites 93 CALAMISTRUM of Ciniflo . 76 | Clubiona epimelas 71 Caligonus : 124 — pallidula. 71 =) PIGEE as 124 | Collembola . - 4OR Calyptostoma, Hardyi . 140 | Craterium pyriforme . 11g Campodea staphylinus 415 | Cryptops hortensis 28 Carapato 201 | Cteniza fodiens . 57 Caris : 128 — ionica 56 Cecidoptes pruni . 363 Celeripes . 176 | DAMAUS . 215 Cellularia 229 — auritus 212, 216 — bassani . 230 — geniculatus. . 205 Cephaloneon myriadeum 357 | Degeeria annulata . - 4Il — pruni 360 | Degeeridz . 408 — pustulatum. 365 | Demodex caninus » 330 Demodex folliculorum . Dermacentor . : — pardalinus . Dermaleichide . Dermaleichus — bifidus — chelopus — musculinus — passerinus . — pici majoris —'sp. . Dermanyssidee . Dermanyssus — agilis — albatus — arcuatus. — avium — hirundinis — nitzschii . — pipistrellze Dermatodectes — bovis — equi. — ovis Dermatokoptes — communis Dermatophagus — bovis Dizea dorsata Dictyna arundinacea . Dictynide . Diplodontus scapularis Diplopoda . Diplostaspis arcuata . — vespertilionis Docophorus — icterodes — semisignatus Dolomedes fimbriatus . Drasside . Drassus blackwallii — micans — sericeus INDEX. PAGE - 329 186, 199 . 199 e227 - 327 e225 x 320 - 326 | - 329 | 29 «328 . 169 SOO - 174 - 179 - 179 . 169 2 be = 169 azz Poy, . 308 . 308 - 308 307 . 308 312 2 BUS 88 72 71 - 153 yy! - 179 - 179 Beye: a19 Bes arc 89 70 71 70 71 Dysdera crocata -—— rubicunda: . Dysderidze EPEIRA arbustorum — bicornis . — diadema . — diademata — quadrata — web of Epiblemum scenicum Eremecus . = fiialis Eresus cinnabarinus . Ergatis benigna Erineum . — acerinum — eesculi — alneum — aucuparice — betulinum . — juglandinum . — juglandis — mali — oxyacanthee — populinum — pulchellum. — purpurascens . — quercinum . — tilize Erythrzeus — corniger. — ruricola Eschatocephalus gracilipes. Eupalus — vitellinus Eupodes — celer — hiemalis Eylais extendens FALSE scorpions , - 331; 426 Flexipalpus tiliz Fresh-water mites. GALEODES araneoides Gall mites Gamaside. Gamasinze Gamasus . — auris . — coleoptratorum — crassipes — gigas — halophilus . — hilaris -— marginatus. —— marinus . — maritimus . — podager. — quadripunctatus . — salinus — testudinarius — tetragonoides . Geophilide . Geophilus longicornis — subterraneus Glomeris limbata Glyciphagus . — balenarum — buski — cursor — hippopodus — palmifer . — plumiger — prunorum — spinipes Goniocotes — hologaster . Goniodes . — colchici — dissimilis — falcicornis . — numidianus INDEX. PAGE +944, B42 ay i 4O 6 Be . 158 - 157 ansS < 167 . 158 . 161 . 160 . 166 - 159 » 159 2 167 . 166 oor . 161 . 166 . 160 J rOT nee Dib 2 23 14 21276 . 281 - 279 275 Sy kes m2o3 . 282 5 BaF {1286 - 379 - 380 - 380 . 380 - 331 . 380 - 380 Goniodes stylifer . — tetraonis. HALACARIDZ Halacarus. — ctenopus — falcatus . — granulatus . =) NoOfops — oculatus — rhodostigma — sculptus Halarachne halicheeri Heemalastor . — gracilipes — longirostris Heemaphysalis . — rosea. Heematomyzus . — elephantis . Heematopina Hzematopinus — acanthopus — asini. — eurysternus — lyriocephalus — piliferus . — quadrumanus — spinulosus — suis — tuberculatus — ventricosus. — vituli Harpactes hombergi Harvest bug — mites. Heczrge maculata Heliaczeus populi. Heliophanes cupreus . Hermannia crassipes — reticulata Heteropus ventricosus . Homopus. 187, a t a at ‘ ¥ f r ic a INDEX. PAGE Homopus elephantis sn2g3 Hoplophora S222 — arctata ~ 225 — contractilis “222 Hyalomma . 186, 196 — cornuger. 196 — hispanicum 197 — syriacum. 197 Hydrachna . | I5I — _buccinator es - 174 - 174 » 128 . 109 - 145 . 208 428 Lice : Limnesia fulgida . Limnocharis — aquaticus — holosericeus Linopodes — cursorius — longipes — ravus Linyphiide . Linyphia montana Liotheidze Lipeurus . — jejunus — polytrapezius . — squalidus — stellaris . — _ variabilis Liponyssus ° — setosus Lipura fimetaria — maritima — stillicidii Listrophorus — gibbus — leuckarti Lithobius forficatus Louse-mites infesting birds Lycosa allodroma — tarantula Lycoside . — British MACHILIS . — maritima — polypoda Macronyssus Mallophaga Malotrichus carpini Marica Marine mites Marmignatto Mecistocephalus punctifrons . INDEX. PAGE O15 , E52 . 148 . 148 . 148 Megamerus — celer. — ovalis Melichares agilis . Menopon . ; : — fulvo maculatu — pallidum — perdricis Micrommata virescens Microphtheridze Micaria pulicaria Moggridge, Mr., researches on trap-door spiders Molgus — longicornis Mud mites Mygale avicularia — californica — convexa — detrita -—— erichsoni — fasciata . — klugii — versicolor Mygalidze — British Myobia — coarctata — musculi Myocoptes — musculinus Myriapods NEMESIA czementaria — eleanora — meridionalis Neriene Nesea Nirmus — cameratus — claviformis Notaspis . — bipilis . 22,8 Nothrus — horridus. — spiniger Norwegian itch OBISIUM . — carcinoides Ocypetus Oniscidze . Oniscus asellus Oonops pulcher Ophiodes — flavomaculatus — gervaisii — gracilentus — ophiophilus Opistophthalmus Orchesella cincta . Oribata — globula — notata — orbicularis . — ovalis — punctata Oribatidze Oribatinze Ornithobius — cygni Ornithodoros — coriaceus — talaje Otonyssus — sticholasius Oxyopes lineatus . PACHYGNATHA Pachygnathus — minutus. — notops — sculptus. — seahami — velatus . Papirius fuscus . - 317 - 323 - 2II PAS 209 eA ize - 408 INDEX. Papirius ornatus Pauropus huxleyi . — pedunculatus . Pediculus — capitis Andian Australian British Californian Fuegian . Hindoo Mosambican Russian West Africa — muris musculi — vestimenti Pedipalpi Pelops — acromios Penthaleus — hematopus — insulanus Penthalodes . — ovalis Peplonyssus . — pagurus . — seminulum. Periglischrus asema . — caligus — rhinolophinus Petrobia — lapidum Philodromus pallidus — margaritatus Pholcide . Pholcus phalangioides Phrynidzs . : Phrynus ceylonicus — palmatus Phthirius . — inguinalis . Phyllerium Esquimaux . 429 PAGE - 408 32 32 . 391 - 399 . 400 - 400 = 599 . 400 - 399 . 400 . 400 . 400 3155 . 218 399 400 326 394 34 . 219 1 12k er Mee w112R a o aoe «324 « 32d: - 177 - 177 «AT Paes fa te é RLS . 389 88 88 79 79 39 a7 a9 - 389 - 353 430 INDEX. PAGE PAGE Phyllerium alnigenum . . . 366 | Pontarachna punctulum » GS — axillare . : ; . 371 | Porcellio scaber : : .. xO — juglandis . | 1 9370) Proctopaydladesi : «See — liliaceum : : . 356 | Pseudo scorpiones . : a — vitis . : ; = 248303 seSOroptestam. 5 : oo BOR Phytopti on alder. 303,804: — equi 3 ; : » 308 — onbeech . : » .. 971 | “Pterodectes: : : 5. ay B28 — onelm. : : . 365 | Pterolichus : Pa ey, — onhornbeam . . . 366 | Pteronyssus . ; : a Rain — onpeartree . : - 362 | Pteroptidee : 2 ; - Las — onScotch fir. - . 372 | Pteroptus vespertilionis Paint 7(6) — onwalnut : : 13704) ) Puiloptentdas mm. 5 : : 379 — onwillow 367, 368, 369, 370 Phytoptidze . : ‘ 227, 331 | RAPHIGNATHUS . : onal Phytoptus aceris é : = 350 — ruber . d : Ath f= — attenuatus . . «359 — ruberrimus. : see Le — onBromus . : - 373 | Rhagidia gelida 5 : . 120 — carpini . : - . 367 | Rhipicephalus . 5 187, 200 — coryli. : ; - 354 — senegalensis . ‘ . 200 — myriadeum : - + 357 | Rhizoglyphus : : - e255 — onmaple : : ety — echinopus ; F - 257 — on mulberry : Mea (ay.t — feculz , : 2 2 2EO — on salvia . : e713 — mycophagus . : - 202 — onstrawberry . Sree — phylloxeree : - 25S — persicae . ; ; - 354 — robinii . p f . 259 — pruni. 5 : 2. eo BOO — rostroserratus . «we hE = yet : : - 358 | Rhyncholophus 5 5 . 224 — ribis . : 339, 343, 355 — cinereus . : Peru ies — salicis . Reem wien 2 opt — major. ss alee — taxl . : - 354 — htalanmotdies : Papen) — tiliz A ese: ao. 356 | Rhynchoprion columbe . J SE — tiliarius . : . 356 | River-water mites ; oe eRe — vitis : ; § - 343 | Reestelia cancellata . : 2 Bn Physogaster larvarum . AaB 0 Vo) — lacerata . : a a Pimelonyssus . , 72 — biscutellus. ; oe NAY) CARCI PE: ty ates : 5 2, ROE Piona : 3 j ! . 156 | Salticis cupreus . : i bo) Podura aquatica . : Meh db.) 107 ==) fOMmmICarius as ; «0 192 Poduride . ; . : mae: | — ‘obscurus . . » feo Polydesmus . , 5 Bae iro) — scenicus . 5 ‘ «Oz — complanatus . 5 . 20 | Sarcodermatodectes . 2 5 ee — dorsalis . : 20) 0 = eapress |. d : « 35g Pond-water mites. : eR 5O i SareOnyssus ecu) ee eae . OS Sarconyssus nodulipes Sarcopterus nidulans Sarcoptes . — bovis. — caprze — cati — cuniculi. — dromedarii — minor . — mutans — rupicaprze — scabiei — scabiei-crustosz — squamiferus — subcutaneus — vulpis Sarcoptidze Scirus . — hexophthalmus — insectorum. — obisium . — vestitus . — vulgaris . Scolopendra, — angusticollis — cceruleoviridis — ceylonensis — electrica — leachii — morsitans . — placeze — platypoides — tuberculidens . — variegata Scolopendridz . Scorpionidz, Scorpions. Scutacarus femoris Scyphius . — diversicolor Scytodes thoracica Scytodidz Segestria senoculata . INDEX. PAGE . 196 314 . 291 = 303 1.302 2302 302 3 405 2302 » 305 * 305 290, 292 - 300 302 +, 228 = BODE: 2 201 - 144 ZS) - 145 . 146 ETAG . 144 24 27 27 26 23 27 24 26 26 27 Seira buskii Sejus — auris — halophilus . — marinus . oy antchalubnol yous — salinus . — viduus . Smaridia . — papillosa Smaris : — expalpis — impressa. Smynthuridze Smynthurus fuscus — niger. — viridis Snouted mites Soipugidee Sparassus smaragdulus . Sphaside . Sphasus lineatus . Sphzeropceus castaneus — glabratus — heterostictus . : Spiders : Spiders, British. Spiders’ nests with cork doors — — with wafer doors. — — silk of — — trap-door . . Spinning-mites . Spinturnia . ; ; Spirostreptus annulatipe — javanicus Spring tails Steatonyssus Stigmczeus . — cruentus Sugentia . Symbiotes — bovis — elephantis . 432 Symbiotes equi TARANTISMUS . Tarantula Tegenaria domestica . — guyonii Telyphonus giganteus — proscorpio . Templetonia crystallina Tendaraman. Tetranychidze Tetranychus. — americanus — autumnalis. — cucumeris — eriostemi — ferrugineus — fici . — irritans — lintearius — prunicolor — rosarum — russulus . — socius — sp.. Sax, — talsahuate — telarius — — yar. cinnabarinus var. heematodes . var. tini . — tillarum . — trombidinus a VLEs ia Theraphoside . Theridiidz . Theridion benignum . — lineatum — pallens . — riparium — tepidariorum . — tredecimguttatum Thomiside INDEX. Thomisus abbreviatus — audax — floricolens . — onustus . Thyas . . — venusta . Thysanura Ticks A Tinoglischrus audoninii. — punctolyra Tomocerus longicornis . — plumbeus Trap-door spiders Trichodactylus . — osmiz — xylocopze Trichodectes — equi — latus. — longicornis — scalaris — similis — spheyrocephalus . — subrostratus Trichodectidze Trichoxyreus, sp. Trinoton — luridum. Trochosa cinerea . Trombidiidze Trombidiine Trombidium — aphidis — aurantiacum — bicolor — bulbipes. — celer. — curtipes . — fasciculatum — fuliginosum — gryllarium — holosericeum — miliare 402, PAS 955 96, INDEX. PAGE Trombidium miniatum . 139 | ULOBoRIDA — parasiticum ‘ . . 129 | Uloborus walckenaerius — phalangii : : . 129 | Uropoda . — sericeum . : saa SO — vegetans — tinctorium . 5 » 135 — teOnum . : Se ah 33)" VASATICN Tydeus . : ; : - 120 | Vzejovis — mutabilis . : ' = £20,)) Veleda lineata —- Typhlodromus mali . 362 | Volvella coronille = : : 340, 358 | Volvellina marginalis Tyroglyphide . : . 227, 255 | Volvulifex aceris . Tyroglyphus : : 255, 263 — rhodizans — echinopus 257, — entomophagus . . . 263 | WALCKENAERIA pratensis . — fecule . ; : . 259 — longior . Sh a 270) | KIPHTASTOR — malus . : . e275 — rostratus — mycophagus : 242, 262 | Xysticus audax . — phylloxere . : . 258 — cristatus — siculus : ; a 27a — pini — siro ; ‘ ; > 267. — translucens . : » « 275 | ZERCON dimidiatus THE END OF VOLUME I. BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. ale ensington Museum Handbook Advertiser, October, 1876. BEST ILLUSTRATED HORTICULTURAL PAPER. Registered for Transmission Abroad. 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' ~ h| JOHN GOSNELL & CO. will be happy tosupply Handsome q) Covers to Collectors of their GRAPHIO THEATRICAL PROGRAMME | which will form a highly amusing and attractive addition to the Drawing Room Table, All communications to be addressed to | Mr. E. H. BURGOYNE, 93, Upper Thames St., London. P ens ington Museum Handbook Advertiser, October, 1876. 5 MESSRS. MACMILLAN & CO.’S” PUBLICATIONS. HISTORY AND LITERATURE PRIMERS, Edited by JOHN RICHARD GREEN. 18mo, cloth, price 1s. each. Furope. By EH. A. Freeman, D.C.L., LL.D. With Maps. Greece. By C. A. Fyrrs, M.A. Maps. Rome. By M. Creicuton, M.A. Maps. Classical Antiquities. _ I. Otp Greek Lire. By J. P. Manarry, M.A. Illustrated. Finglish Literature. By Storrorp Brooke, M.A. : English Grammar. By RB. Morris, LL.D. Children’s Treasury of English Song. By F. T. Patcrave. Two Parts. Others to follow. SCIENCE PRIMERS. 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