444 SAJVIUEL H. SCUDDER ON THE 



Family Poliocheridae Sen elder. 



Cephalotliorax quadrate, not nuich smaller than the abdomen. Coxae radiating ap- 

 parently from a median line. Abdomen rounded, of equal breadth witli the ce[)halotho- 

 rax, with very indistinct or no longitndinal scnlptnring, composed of only fonr seg-ments, 

 of which the basal is very short and the others of eqnal length. Xo abdominal appen- 

 dages. 



A single genus and species are known, confined to North America. 



PoLiocHERA Scudder {-^">-'^', X^.P"^) 



Poliocliera Scudd., Pi-oc. Amer. Acad. Arts So. xx, 16 (ISSi) . 



Cephalotliorax quadrate, a little longer than broad, the front square, the sides nearly 

 and the posterior border quite straight, the surface flat. Abdomen rounded subquad- 

 rate, a little longer than bi-oad, its base completely sessile, as broad as the cephalotliorax, 

 the sides and extremity convex and with a continuous curve, the surface flat and on the 

 same plane as the cephalotliorax, the first segment short, the others large and equal, the 

 ti-ansverse sutures straight. Legs stout, depi-essed, moderately long. 



This very anomalous arachnid, the position of which seems to lie near the Architai-- 

 boidae, must be referred to a distinct family as given above. It would seem not im- 

 probable that Kusta's genus Scudderia (name preoccupied in Orthoptera, — Stal, 1873) 

 is nearly allied to this. 



Poliochera punctulata. 



PI. 39, figs. 2, C. 



Poliocliera punctulata Scudd., Proc. Amei\ Acad. Arts Sc. xx, 16 (1881). 



The front border of the cephalotliorax is a little elevated, and behind it, extending 

 neai'ly to the middle, a very broad, very shallow, transverse depression; there is also an 

 equally slight but small central depression, but all of these scarcely aflect the extreme 

 flatness of the whole field which is shared also by the abdomen; both cephalotliorax 

 and abdomen are regularly and deeply punctate, as shown in fig. 6, excejiting on the brief 

 first abdominal segment which is only punctate along its hinder edge, and excepting 

 also, as in the figure, in the division lines of the segments; the punctuation is perhaps 

 a very little heavier on the cephalotliorax than on the abdomen. The abdomen is also 

 marked by slight straight lateral ridges, dividing the segments into three nearly equal 

 parts which are only noticeable on the front half of the segments, but can be traced 

 throughout; a moderately narrow and slightly elevated rounded bounding ridge seems 

 to follow the entire rim of the abdomen. The legs are stout or at least all but the front 

 pair, and all are long though none ai'e preserved for their entire length; the basal joints 

 ol'all of tlu'iu ai'e short, stout and quadrate, those of the front pair about half as stout as the 

 others, and those of the third pair the stoutest of all; the joint beyond is long and only a 

 little more than half as broad as the basal joint, those of the dific'rent legs of about equal 

 length with each other and nearly as long as the width of the cephalotliorax; the third 



