102 DR. C. CHILTON ON THE 



littoral, being- found on or near the sea-beach, and probably Sctjphax (?) aiicklaiidUe 

 should also be added to this list. Of these, LUjia noviC-zealandice is found all round the 

 New Zealand coast, and is very abundant under stones or sea-weed, especially on rocky 

 portions of the shore; Scyphax ornatus and Acicecia eiicJiroa are found on sandy beaches 

 either on the surface or burying themselves a little in the sand about high water mark 

 or a little lower ; Scijphax oruatus is probably abundant on all such beaches in the 

 North Island, but in the South Island has, so fjir, been recorded from "VVestport only ; 

 Ackecia euchroa is known from the south as well as the north, and is also found in 

 Tasmania. The remaining littoral species have as yet been recorded each from one 

 locality only. 



Of the more strictly terrestrial forms, leaving out of account the two cosmopolitan 

 species PoreeUio scaher and Armadillklimn vulgare, and also Philoscla pubescens, which 

 is found at the Cape of Good Hope and elsewhere, we have Onlscus ptmctatus, found in all 

 pnrts of New Zealand ; ArinadUlo ambitiosns from all parts of the North Island, and from 

 Kenepiu-u and Greymouth in the South Island, laut not known further south ; while, on 

 the contrary, Armadillo rugnlosus and the three species of TricJioniscits are Avidely 

 distribiited in the South Island, but as yet not recorded from the North, though in the 

 case of Trlchoidsciis this is no doubt partly owing to their small size. Of the remaining 

 species too little is known to justify any general remark. 



It may perhaps be well to mention here a few of what seem to be the more important 

 points brought out in this paper. I have been able to settle, in Avliat I hope will be 

 considered a satisfactory manner, uncertainties that have long existed with regard to 

 several of Dana's descriptions, and in so doing to reduce to the rank of synonyms some 

 species subsequently described (see Lkjla novce-zealandiiC, ScypJiax ornatns, PhUoscia 

 piibescens. Armadillo speaiosus) : I establish a new family, Scyphacidce, corresponding 

 mainly with Dana's subfamily Scyphacinw, Avhich had been ignored by most subsequent 

 writers, and show that the imperfect development of the seventh pair of legs, which Dana 

 had considered a character of the genus Scyphax, is merely an immature character which 

 in this instance is retained till a later period of life than usual, and settle the question as 

 to the relationship of Scyphax ornatus to Ackecia euchroa by showing that the only 

 connection between them is that both have the same habit of living on sandy beaches. 



In the case of some of th(^ commoner species, I have had numerous sj^ecimens from 

 many localities, and have thus been able to make some observations as to the variations 

 that may be met with in these species. 



In most of the species there is to be found on the dactylus a specially long and 

 peculiar seta which has characteristic forms in some, at any rate, of the genera. 

 Schiodte figured this " dactylar seta " many years ago in Tltanethes * alhus, and Weber 

 mentioned its presence in some species of Trichoniscus f , but I cannot find that any 

 one has drawn special iittention to it, though in some cases it is rather noticeable, and 

 together with the form of the dactylus itself, may be of use in readily identifying 



* Bidrag til den uuderjordiske Fauna (Copenhagen, 1849). 



t " Anatomisches iiber Triclioniscidon," Archiv fiii- ^likroskop. Anatomic, Bd. xis. p. 5S2. 



