THE CIIILOFODA OF CALIFORNIA III 



KALPII V. CIIAMDICItl.l.N 

 I'NIVKHSITV OK I'K.VSSVI.VANIA, IMIII.AI>K l.l-ll I \ . \-\. 



Siihordir Geophiloidea 



Tlif iiKinliiTs of this siihoriliT iirc (listril>iitr(l ovt-r tin- ciilirc c/irtli liiit pprfcr 

 the wanner and dninpcr rf({ioiis, tlic nmjority (MTiirrinn in the northern lieniis- 

 J)here. They are to h<- found in damp piaees un(h-r stones, h>j{s. h'nves, the hark 

 of trees and lops, and in the liinnus of woods and gardens into which tliey (h-seetid, 

 especially during dry ])criods such as recur in California. 



In all the body is elongate and very slender and consists of from thirtv-onc 

 up to one hundred and eighty-one segments, as in a t'nlifornin species here 

 described for the first time. The number of segments varies not only from genus 

 to genus and species but, with few exceptions, also within the species, the range 

 in some species U-ing very great. The number ui most cases is quite regularly 

 longer in femaU-s than in males, though the maximum for the one ordinarily 

 overl.aps the minimum for the other. The antennie arc short and consist invariably 

 of fourteen articles, excejiting in occasionally met eases where the antennir have 

 been broken and are in process of regeneration. Eyes are always lacking. A 

 basal plate, the tergite to which the prehensorial feet belong, is always well 

 developed; while a small plate, remnant of a jjreceding tergite, mav or may not 

 show between it and the caudal margin of the cephalic plate. The cephalic plate 

 may or may not juissess a transverse suture, the frontal suture, setting off the 

 front.'d region. The mandibles may bear only so-called pectinate lamellip, which 

 consist of comb-like rows of slend»'r bristles borne upon a conunon base or plnte; 

 or they may in addition, bear a strongly chitinized plate dentate along its distal 

 edge, the dentate lamella, which, while usually entire, may be sulxlivided. The 

 first maxilla- usually have their coxa? fused together at the median line to form 

 a single ])late or coxosternum, but, more rarely, they may be entirely separate; 

 distad each maxilla presents an inner division and an outer one, the latter, the 

 palpus, being usually biarticulate but sometimes entire; at the distal exterior 

 angle of each coxa and of the first joint of the palpus proper there may be a 

 membranous process or lappet. The second maxillce, often spoken of together 

 as the Labium, usually have the coxie fused in the middle line, though, as with 

 the first ])air, they may remain distinct; the j)alpi are, in all known California 

 species, triarticulate and may or may not terminate in a claw. Each leg-bearing 

 segment exce|)ting the first and the last bears a pair of spiracles, each s])iracle 

 opening through a sderite in the pleural region. The coxopleura- ( pseudopleura*, 

 pleura-) of the last segment give exit through the so-called coxopleural |)ores to 

 a munber of glands which may be many or few and may open separately or into 

 one of two common larger pits at the edge of the last ventral plate. 



The fauna of California includes an exceedingly interesting representation 

 of this suliorder, showing a greater variety and richness than in any other section 

 of the I'nited States. The C.alifornian families known may be thus separated. 



