HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



of specimens captured, reminding one of similar 

 repairing processes in tlie Crustacea (crabs, lob- 

 sters, &c.). 



Fig.6. Orchesella cincta, x 15. 



Begeeria is a very abundant genus. Peel off the 

 bark of any tree and you -will disturb numbers. So 

 also will they be found abundantly under the first 

 heap of brickbats you choose to search ; and even 

 the dry sea-weed, just beyond the reach of the tide, 



^Pig. /. Degeeria cincta, 

 X 25. 



Fig:. 8. D. Nicoletii, x 25 (without 



scales), Scirit Biiskii (with scales). 



will yield them in crowds. They are capital runners; 

 and a glance at the figures will enable the reader to 

 recognize them by their spindle-shaped bodies at 

 once when he meets with them. There are many 

 species, and their colours are mostly yellowish stone- 

 colour, witk brownish-purple blotches and bands. 

 One of them, D. Nicoletii, is marked exactly like 

 Seira Buskii ; and the two are often found in com- 

 pany. (The markings on the skin of Seira Buskii 

 are not always seen till the scales which that species 

 is furnished with are partially removed.) 



Podura. — There has only one species come under 

 my notice, and this is P. aqtiatica. It congregates 

 in patches, sometimes extensive, on the surface of 

 stagnant ponds, and looks, to the naked eye, like a 

 deposit of soot. When examined under the micro- 

 scope the colour is much modified, and a dark 

 reddish-brown would be a more correct description 

 of it. I have found it very abundant on occasions 

 on Hampstead Heath, Wandsworth Common, and 

 Streathani. It has a very long springer. 



Isotoma. — Several species of Isotoma have come 

 under my notice. One of them, figured in Science- 

 Gossip, 1867, page 53, is /. trifasciata. It is to be 

 captured under decaying leaves and wood. Others 

 may be taken on the weeds at the margin of ponds 

 and ditches. And one very pretty species, with a 

 velvety skin, which changes colour under the 

 microscope according to the direction in which it is 

 lit up — purple, green, and black, — inliabits the bark 

 of trees. None of the Isotoma can be regarded as 

 active insects : they can walk tolerably fast, but 

 their springer is rather short in proportion to their 

 length, and so they are not very good jumpers. 



Fig. g. Achurutes pnrpurescens, 



X 3J. 



Fig. 10. Lipnra marilhna, 

 X 25 (dark blue). 



Acliondes, the last genus, is very abundant in 

 certain localities, especially brewers' cellars. A. pur- 

 purescens is purple in colour and very sluggish in 

 its movements. I have often found pieces of de- 

 caying vegetables covered with a perfect crust of 

 them — thousands of all sizes. When hatched, the 

 young ones are white ; soon they become pinkish in 

 colour ; and after each change of skin they acquire 

 a deeper tint, passing through various red and 

 brown shades, till the purple tint is at last reached. 

 Several species are recorded, but I confess I have 

 not paid much attention to the distinctions. In 

 Achorutes the springer is very minute, and I cannot 

 call to mind having ever seen the insect jump. 



We have now taken our rapid glance at the 

 Poduradse, and the Lipuradse alone remain to be 



