548 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



its carbon under conditions where no transpiration of water as vapour is 

 possible, a certain increase in the percentage of free water in the ali- 

 mentary canal must be produced in this way. The grubs do not seem 

 to have any power of condensing water vapour from the air. 



■y. Myriopoda. 



Structure of Julus.* — H. Krug gives an account of the external 

 segmentation, the respiratory system, the alimentary tract, and the 

 posterior growing area of J\dus mediterraneus and other species. 



Antarctic Halacaridse.f — E. L. Trouessart describes an Antarctic 

 variety of Leptospathis aJherti, which differs slightly in size and pro- 

 portions from the Arctic form. He supposes that the species will turn 

 up in intermediate localities, and denies that it has any bearing on the 

 " bipolarity theory," in which he has no belief. 



2. Arachnida. 



New South African Tick.| — W. F. Cooper and L. E. Robinson de- 

 scribe Rhipicephalus phthiriokles sp. n., taken from a horse in Rhodesia. 

 The female is quite a typical Rhipicephalus, but the male shows very 

 remarkable modifications of the ventral chitinous plates or adanal shields, 

 the caudal protuberance, and the form of the fourth pair of legs. If 

 the male only had been found, it would apparently have justified the 

 creation of a new genus to accommodate it. 



to*- 



Antarctic Pycnogonids.§ — T. V. Hodgson reports on the large col- 

 lection of Pycnogonids collected by the ' Discovery.' There are no 

 fewer than 28 species, of which 23 are new, including representatives of 

 3 new genera, Austrodecus, Austroraptus, and Pentanymphon. It may 

 be safely stated that the headquarters of the Pycnogonids is in the 

 southern seas, where 63 species are now known to occur. Four genera 

 are, as far as is yet known, confined exclusively to the Antarctic region. 

 The " bipolarity theory " is aflfected only by a single species, Golos- 

 sendeis australis, for of all the numerous species of this genus, C. pro- 

 loscidea, from the north, and G. australis, from the south, stand apart 

 from all the rest on account of their bodily form, and there can be no 

 question that they are much more nearly related to each other than to 

 any other members of the genus. The two species, as species are 

 recognised nowadays, are perfectly distinct, but how is their present 

 position at opposite ends of the earth to be accounted for ? Another 

 interesting form is Rlmjndiothorax australis, the only other species of 

 the genus being found in the Mediterranean. Austrodecus is perhaps a 

 close relation of Tanystylum Miers, and is a curious little form with a 

 slender and elongated proboscis, Hke the snout of a weevil beetle, no 

 chehfori, six-jointed palps, and small ovigers. Austroraptus is remark- 

 able for its spurred body and the length of its legs. These two genera, 

 Austrodecus and Austroraptus, belong, along with Leionymplion^ which. 



* Jen. Zeitschr. Naturw., xlii. (1907) pp. 485-522 (3 pis. and 8 figs.). 



t National Antarctic Expedition, iii. (1907). Acari, 6 pp., 1 pi. 



X Journ. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) xxx. (1907) pp. 35-8 (1 pi. and 4 figs.). 



§ National Antarctic Expedition, iii. (1907). Pycnogonida, 72 pp., 10 pis. 



