18 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



Scotland. It was captured alive by the steam liner Caledonian, near 

 the Flannan Isles, in June 1910, and is now in the collections of 

 the Royal Scottish Museum. — James Ritchie, Royal Scottish 

 Museum. 



Notes on Hydracarina. — Workers in this group of Inverte- 

 brates may be interested to learn that the first part of a report on 

 the Hydracarina of northern Sweden, by Dr C. Walter, Basel, has 

 just come to hand (Natarwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen des 

 Sarekgebirges in Schwedisch-Lappland, Bd. iv., pp. 587-612, Taf. 

 8-9, Friedlander, Berlin). In addition to describing several new 

 species from this northern region, the previously unknown nymphs 

 of Huitfeldtia rectifies, Sig Thor, and Sperchon longirostris, Koen., 

 are described in detail. The characters are here reproduced for the 

 benefit of British workers : — Huitfeldtia rectipes, Sig Thor. — This 

 species has until now had a very limited range, being recorded only 

 from Norway and the Orkney Islands. The finding of nymphs of 

 B. rectipes in the north of Sweden extends the recorded distribution. 

 Up to this time only the male and female were known. According 

 to Dr C. Walter (Naturw. U?itersuch. des Sarekgebirges, Bd. iv., p. 

 602), the nymph possesses the following characters : — Length 

 from 0.6 mm. to 0.7 mm. ; breadth, 0.5 mm. to 0.55 mm. 

 Palpi scarcely any thicker than the basal segments of first 

 pair of legs, and possessing the same characters as the imago, 

 e.g., the strong outwardly directed bristle on the third segment, 

 the two slender hairs on the flexor surface of the fourth 

 segment, with its chitinous peg on the distal inner end. The 

 epimera and legs also resemble those of the imago. The 

 provisional genital area appears to be similar to that of the nymphs 

 of the genus Fiona, and consists of two small plates, each with two 

 acetabula and two or three fine hairs. Between the plates, which 

 are inclined to each other at the anterior end, there is a small 

 chitinous body. The so-called anus lies nearer to the posterior 

 margin of the body, between two gland pores. Sperchon 

 longirostris, Koen. — This species, which also occurs in the 

 Britannic area, has a wider distribution than the foregoing. 

 Walter (Joe. eit., p. 590) describes the nymph from material brought 

 also from the north of Sweden. The outline is a broad oval, 

 without any lateral indents; length about 0.57, and breadth about 

 0.51 mm. Between the eyes, which lie on the body margin, the 

 anterior portion of the body is slightly inflated and then flattened ; 

 slender antenniform bristles are to be found here. The skin is 

 closely covered with rounded papilla;, while the area round the 

 gland pores is very slightly chitinised. The rostrum and mouth 



