136 Annals of the SoutJi African Museum. 



representative of the genus. They often occur in great abundance, 

 but generally only one species inhabits a particular locality. A few 

 exceptions to this rule have come under my notice. For instance, at 

 Eabiesberg, in the Langeberg Bange, Worcester Division, macer 

 and cliapcri occur in equal abundance on the same spot. There 

 are other apparent cases of several species occurring at the same 

 locality, e.g., at Ashton cliaperi and karrooensis are very common, 

 but here I found the latter confined to the stony " karroo-koppies " 

 (hillocks) and the former to the lower-lying ground. Bushmanland, 

 however, appears to form a notable exception to the rule, as Mr. 

 Max Schlechter found two or more species of the genus at most of 

 the localities he touched at in that country. 



The range of some of the species is very large, e.g., of carinatus, 

 (jlalirifrons, and macer. Many, however, have a very limited range, 

 being often confined to a few Divisions. By far the larger number 

 inhabit the western half of Cape Colony between the south coast and 

 the Orange Eiver, within which region doubtless a number of forms 

 still remain to be discovered. 



A striking feature of the species of this genus is their proneness to 

 form local races or varieties, showing peculiarities of either color- 

 ation, size, armature of the tarsi, number of pectinal teeth, length 

 of fingers of hands, granulation of the sterna and interocular area, 

 form of spiracles, &c. On the other hand, all specimens from one 

 and the same locality are nearly always similar amongst themselves 

 as regards these characters. 



It may be stated as a general rule that the species in which the 

 median groove of the carapace is forked anteriorly are characteristic 

 of the districts bordering on or near to the west coast of the Cape 

 Colony, viz., Cape, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Malmesbury, Tulbagh 

 (south-western part), Piquetberg, Clanwilliam, Calvinia (at least the 

 western part), Van Ehynsdorp, and Namaqualand (exclusive of 

 Great Bushmanland), while those species in which the groove is 

 not forked occupy the territory lying to the east and north of the 

 coast belt above mentioned, and extending as far west as the 

 Divisions of Stellenbosch (southern part), Caledon, Worcester, Tul- 

 bagh (exclusive of the south-western part), Ceres, Sutherland, Fraser- 

 berg(?), Kenhardt, Great Bushmanland, and German South- West 

 Africa. Besides carinatus, which occurs in Bushmanland, German 

 South-West Africa, and Ehodesia, pictus is the only notable excep- 

 tion to the above rule, the latter being the only species with a forked 

 groove found in the Eepublics or in the eastern parts of the Cape 

 Colony. It is recorded from Port Elizabeth and the Orange Free 



