[ 309 ] 



NOTES UPON vSOME IRLSH MYRIOPODA. 

 By R. I. PocoCK, British (Nat. Hist.) Museum. 



Some two or three years ago, Dr. R. F. Scliarff, of Duljlin, 

 generously placed at my disposal for determination some 

 species of Myriopoda which he had collected in various parts 

 of Ireland ; and this series was further supplemented by some 

 specimens obtained b}^ Mr. G. H. Carpenter, which this gentle- 

 man also kindly submitted to me for examination. 



Before sorting and carefuU}^ scrutinising this material, I was 

 in hopes that some new or interesting forms might be con- 

 tained in it. But unfortunately the results did not come up 

 to my expectations. For all the specimens that could be 

 named proved to be referable to species that occur commonly 

 in the south of England, and could be without difficulty 

 obtained by an hour's diligent collecting. Mr. Carpenter 

 has since sent me a second instalment of Irish Myriopoda, six 

 of which were not contained in the set that was first examined. 

 Five of these, however, are forms that are of common occur- 

 rence in England and on the Continent ; but the other, 

 namely, Polydesvms gallicus, furnishes a valuable addition to 

 the myriopod fauna of the British Isles. The chief interest 

 in the discovery of this species centres in the fact that it 

 belongs to the South-Western and Azorean element of the 

 European fauna. 



It is highly probable that fresh investigations of this un- 

 known portion of the fauna of Ireland will show that many of 

 our English species are not to be found there ; and further, it 

 is not improbable that some species will be discovered that are 

 unknown in Great Britain. Both or either of these dis- 

 coveries will of course open up interesting questions for future 

 study and explanation. 



In the south of England and Wales some fifty species of 

 Myriopoda are known to occur, although not one-half of this 

 number has been hitherto recorded in print. It is not prob- 

 able that the species in Ireland will greatly exceed this total. 

 So that in a few years a complete, or almost complete, list of all 

 the existing species might be drawn up, and our knowledge of 

 the group would be thus made as complete as our knowledge 

 of the butterflies of England. To compass this end, which 



