114 



Dr. Johnston on the Acarides of Berwickshire. 



a shorter joint, on which is articulated the elongated curved and 

 clawed terminal one, and the equally long elliptical hirsute ap- 

 pendage. Legs eight, filiform, lateral in their origins, the an- 

 terior remote from the pos- 

 terior pairs; fourth pair long- 

 est, then the first, which are 

 only a little longer than the 

 third ; the second pair short- 

 est and about half the length 

 of the posterior, that again are 

 more than twice the length of 

 the body ; seven-jointed ; first 

 joint very short ; second long- 

 er and larger, bulged and con- 

 vex on the front side (fig. d) ; 

 third longer, narrowed at its 

 junction with the second, 

 otherwise cylindrical; fourth 

 longer and cylindrical; fifth 

 like the fourth ; sixth rather 

 longer and narrower, cylin- 

 drical; seventh nearly equal 

 to the sixth, cylindrical, with 

 a tendency to become ellip- 

 tical in the first pair only, ab- 

 ruptly truncate at the end, 

 and armed with two powerful 

 simple curved claws capable 

 of being bent back into a wide 

 sinus on the distal or external 

 aspect (fig. e). The legs are 

 all clothed with slightly curved 

 spinous hairs pointed down- 

 wards and arising from a bulbous root ; and from the number 

 and disposition of these bulbs, the articulation gets a somewhat 

 striate and nodulous appearance (fig. e) . The hairs are all sim- 

 ple and smooth, and not barbed ; and those of the tarsal joint 

 are more delicate than the others. 



This is a large mite, equal in length to the Trombidium holo- 

 sericeum, but diffierent in shape. It belongs to the genus Rhyn- 

 cholophiLSy but the tarsal joints are not heavy and elliptical as 

 in other species. Nor is it nearly so quick in motion as the 

 R. phalangioideSf although it moves at a tolerably quick pace, la- 

 bouring, as it were, to hurry its rate. When molested, it does 

 not stop and simulate death ; and if overturned, it rights itself 

 readily and attempts again to escape. The hairs of the body are 



Rhyncholophus errans. 



