189 

 1. Armadillidium vulgare, Latr. 



(PI. LXXX1I.) 

 Armadillo vulgaris, Latreille, Hist. Crust. Vol. VII, p. 48. 



Syn: Armadillo pilularis, Say. 

 trivialis, Koch. 



ater, Schnitzler, 



uariegatus, Latr. 



maculatus, Risso. 



pustulosus, Desm. 



Armadillidium commutation, Brandt & Ratzeb. 



Specific Characters. Body oblong oval, more than twice as long as it 

 is broad, side-contours sub-parallel, dorsal face strongly vaulted and perfectly 

 smooth. Cephalon, seen dorsally, broadly quadrangular, transversely truncated 

 in front, lateral lobes comparatively small, rounded. Side-plates of 1st segment 

 of mesosome with the posterior corner acute. Metosome broad, semicircular, 

 scarcely occupying more than l / 5 of the length of the body; last segment much 

 shorter than it is broad at the base, and slightly tapering distally. tip transversely 

 truncated. Antenna? very short, scarcely exceeding in length Y* of the body, 

 flagellum about the length of the last peduncular joint, and having its 1st arti- 

 culation somewhat shorter than the 2nd. Last pair of legs with the ischial joint 

 rather large, equalling in length the succeeding part of the leg. Copulative ap- 

 pendages of 1st pair of pleopoda in male with the tips slightly divergent; oper- 

 cular plate of 2nd pair rather produced, but scarcely curved outwards at the tip. 

 Uropoda with the outer ramus much shorter than the basal part, and very broad, 

 its distal edge being continuous with the last segment. Colour of dorsal face 

 somewhat variable, sometimes uniformly dark grey or nearly black, sometimes 

 variegated with lighter patches generally arranged on the mesosome in 3 longi- 

 tudinal rows, one median and 2 lateral; between them, moreover, on each seg- 

 ment is a group of more or less distinct flexuous stripes. Length attaining 14 mm. 



Remarks. This is the first described form of the family Armadilli- 

 diidoBj and it is even very probable that the Oniscus armadillo of Linneus may 

 refer to this species. It may be recognised from the other known species espe- 

 cially by the form of the cephalon and the last segment of the metasome, as 

 also by the very broad spatulate form of the outer ramus of the uropoda. 



Occurrence.- The only record of the occurrence of this widely distributed 

 species in Norway is in a short note of Dr. Aug. Hansson, who states its 

 occurrence at Femsjo near Fredrikshald. I cannot, however, doubt that, on a 

 closer investigation, it will be found to exist in many other parts of the country, 



