The Male Genital Armature of the Dermaptera. 437 



beginning abruptly near the base. Zacher describes this as a tooth, 

 connected to the proparameres by a fine chitinous membrane, but 

 the membrane is really a rigid but thin chitinous plate, and an 

 essential part of the metaparameres, comparable to the delicate 

 inner membrane so well seen in the Psalidm. The hinge is de- 

 generate, and the junction of the pro- and metaparameres recalls 

 that of the Eudermaptera. At the base of the virga is an inflated 

 vesicle not unlike that seen in certain Pygidicranidm, e.g. Crano- 

 pygia (hvmcli, and in the Forficulidse among the Eudermaptera. 

 The virga is relatively short, not much longer than the meta- 

 parameres, in some species, or five or six times as long, and 

 convoluted, in others. 



A noteworthy feature is seen in the two pairs of gonapophyses 

 of the female. The pair of the eighth segment is long and slender, 

 but not so very long as in the Pygidicranidse. The pair of the 

 ninth segment is broad and flat ; both pairs are strongly pubescent. 

 These will probably afford useful taxonomic characters. 



The validity of several of the so-called species is much open to 

 question ; for instance, the Indo-Malayan group of E. sumatranum 

 Haan, westermanni Dohrn, and horridum Dohrn, will probably be 

 shown to be one species. The African Eehinosomas fall into two 

 groups, the small species, as E. sekalavum Borm and E. congolense 

 Bor., on one hand, and the big forms E. afrum Beauv., E, occidentals 

 Borm, E. fuscum Bor., E. wahlbergi Dohrn, E. distanti Burr, E. 

 oolivari Rodz., and E. insulanum Karsch, on the other. 



Probably E. oolivari and E. insulanum, both Madagascan 

 forms, should be united, as also the colour variant from the 

 Seychelles recorded by me as E. oolivari var. Of the Continental 

 forms I think E. distanti Burr is to be fused with E. wahlbergi 

 Dohrn, and E. fuscum Bor. with E. afrum Beauv., of which 

 E. occidental Borm is a local race, well marked by the peculiar 

 colouring of the elytra. 



The Papuan and Australian E.forbesi Kirby, and E. yorkense 

 Dohrn, seem to be another pair, only differing really in size. 

 E. parvulum Dohrn, from Ceylon, is certainly a good species (PI. 

 VIII. fig. 3). 



As to the genitalia, E. oolivari is well characterized by the 

 form of the metaparameres, which are narrow, gently arcuate, and 

 truncate at the apex. If Zacher's identification of E. insulanum is 

 correct, and I see no reason to question it, more particularly as 

 he had access to Karsch's type in the Berlin Museum, it is practi- 

 cally identical, the slight differences seen in the virga being easily 

 accounted for by differences of point of view and preparation. 



E. wahlbergi is well characterized by the long convoluted virga, 

 also seen in E. distanti, which I feel I must accordingly reduce 

 to the rank of a merely well-developed form of the same species 

 (PI. VIII. figs. 2 and 5). 



