PHALANGIUM. 
475 
possible. It preys on the smaller and weaker kind 
of insects, as the Termes pulsatorium, the larvae 
of Ptini and Dermestides, &c. 
Phalangium Americanum is extremely allied to 
the immediately preceding, but differs in being of 
a somewhat larger size, and of a paler colour; the 
body is also of a much more lengthened form. It 
is found in many parts of America. In our own 
country we have a species very much resembling 
it, but smaller and of a dark brown colour: it 
is sometimes distinguished by the name of the 
Lobster-Insect. 
I shall add the description of one more species 
to this genus; an animal which, if we may rely 
on the most respectable authorities, must un- 
doubtedly be numbered among the most formid- 
able of the whole Insect tribe. This is the Pha- 
langium araneo'ides, of Pallas, nearly similar in size 
to the Ph: caudatum, of a lengthened form, a 
brown colour, and covered with dowmy hair; the 
claspers are short, but very large in proportion to 
the animal, and the tips are toothed internall}'-, in 
such a manner as to bear a resemblance to a lobster’s 
claw. This insect is a native of the warmer parts 
of the South of Europe, and of Africa, inhabiting 
fields, and by its bite producing most painful swell- 
ings on the skin, and even, as it is said, sometimes 
proving fatal. Mr. Herbst, in his excellent work 
on the Aptera, has ranked this species, with some 
others of a similar appearance, under a distinct 
genus of the name of Solpuga.X f" 
9 
