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205 



pollen would readily attach itself. Thus, upon visiting 

 other flowers, the pollen would be carried to those 

 flowers, while fresh supplies would be obtained. 

 Suffice to say, that, by the conveyance of pollen from 

 one flower to another, obtained by imitating an insect, 

 seeds have been produced ; and, of course, insects 

 could do the work much more efficiently. 



J. T. Riches. 



NOTES ON HOPLOPHORA FERRU- 

 GINEA. 



DURING the month of March I found a few 

 specimens of this most singular mite. The 

 " Micrographic Dictionary" mentions the genus, but 

 says "not British," adding, however, a query in a 

 parenthesis. There is, however, no doubt about its 

 being British, as not only have I found it alive myself, 

 but a friend of mine also tells me that he found it 



Fig. 162. Hoplophora /crniginea, side view. 



some time ago. It looks like a little egg of polished 

 cornelian, and is about yfo^hs of an inch in length : 

 it belongs to the family Oribatea, and its chitinous 

 covering is very brittle, so that it is easily broken by 

 pressure. The body is covered with a bright, shining, 

 egg-shaped case of chitine, deficient in front and on 

 the under side. The thorax, legs, palpi, and pro- 

 boscis are covered with a shield of the same material, 

 joined above to the body part of the case by mem- 

 brane, acting like a hinge ; the deficiency underneath 

 is also protected by four plates of chitine, moving 

 towards each other, and meeting in the middle line, 

 like two pairs of sliding doors. When the creature 

 is placed on its back, on a glass slide, under the 

 microscope, at first he lies still, and having closed his 

 sliding doors and shut down his head-shield, he looks 

 exactly like a highly-polished, egg-shaped piece of 

 cornelian, only exhibiting marks of a somewhat darker 

 colour at the edges of the diff"erent pieces of chitine, 

 and some slight shades, produced by the body within 

 this semitransparent case ; but after a short time, the 

 carapace slowly opens, the palpi and legs are pro- 

 truded, and the creature commences to struggle, in 

 order to regain its feet ; but, in consequence of his 

 short legs, he is rarely able to accomplish this feat 

 unaided. Whilst watching this process when first 

 examining the creature, I was astonished to see the 



pieces of chitine covering the abdomen open like 

 sliding doors, the vent then becoming conspicuous. 

 If a slight jar was given to the stage, or the creature 

 touched with a needle, the doors immediately closed, 

 the legs and proboscis were withdrawn, the head- 

 shield shut down, and the creature once more resumed 

 the egg-like form. 



The eyes were not apparent ; the palpi are jointed 

 and hair}- ; the mandibles chelate, and very powerful, 



Fig. 163. Hoplophora, with Fig. 164. Hoplophora ; under 

 carapace and .abdominal side view ; abdominal plates 



plates closed. partly opened. 



Fig. 165. Hoplophora lavigata (traced from Koch). 



resembling the claws of a lobster ; the legs rather 

 short, very hairy, and terminated by a single hooked 

 claw. 



They are found under damp stones and pieces of 

 decaying wood : they move very slowly. When I 

 first found them I thought they were common, but I 

 have since looked for them in similar situations in 

 vain; and I did not secure drawings of the legs, 

 palpi, and cheUv, thinking to do so on a future 

 occasion. 



I am not sure that I have named the variety cor- 

 rectly. The only book in which I have found any 

 information, besides the "Micrographic Dictionary," 

 is in the third Heft of C. L. Koch's " Uebersicht des 

 Arachnidensystems," where there is a figin-e of H. 

 lavigata. The legs appear to be much longer in 

 this species than in the one examined by me. Koch 

 names no less than thiiteen varieties. 



C. F. George, M.R.C.S. 



Kirton-in-Lindscy. 



