166 rOEFICULID^. 



101. Forficula schlagintweiti, Burr* (Fig. 54.) 



Anechura schlagintweiti, Burr, (04) p. '313, (08^) p. 118. 

 Forficula schlagintweiti, Burr, (07i) p. 110. 



Stature rather stout, large. Colour entirely deep black, smooth 

 and shining. Antennae Avith 12 segments, fourth segment not 

 very much shorter than third, the fifth equal to third ; remaining 

 segments subcylindrical, elongate. Head quite smooth, tumid, 

 the sutures obsolete. Pronotum nearly 1| times as broad as long, 

 anterior margin truncate, lateral and posterior margins subrotun- 

 date, very slightly convex ; general outline rectangular, but the 

 angles themselves rounded ; prozoua somewhat tumid, with clear 

 median sulcus, metazona and sides flattened. Elytra ample, quite 

 smooth, the humeral fold well marked, but no trace of a keel. 

 Wings long, quite smooth. Legs intense black, including even 

 the tarsi, which are clothed with a dense reddish pubescence ; 

 femora rather long ; tarsi long, the first segment as long as the 

 other two united, the second segment longer than usual, but very 

 distinctly lobed. Abdomen quite smooth, broadest about the 

 middle; lateral tubercles fairly distinct. Anal segment of 6 

 smooth, transverse, short, depressed, the posterior margin truncate 

 and somewhat reflexed, with a tumid tubercle over each root of 

 the forceps ; in the 2 similar but angustate. Pygidium of c? 

 forming a very short blunt tubercle ; similar in $ . Forceps of S 

 with the branches flattened throughout their length, but only 

 dilated at the base itself, with a strong depressed prominent 

 blunt tooth ; strongly diverging at first, then halfway down 

 strongly bent inwards ; in the $ simple, straight, attenuate." 



d 2 



Length of body 9-1G-5 mm. 12-14-5 mm. 



,, forceps .... 3- 3*75 ,, 3"5 ,, 



SiKKiM : Darjiling (Paris Mus., coll. Burr) ; Tibet : Lahol 

 (Schlfigintiveit, coll. de Bormans). 



Type in the Paris Museum. 



This species varies to a considerable extent in stature and 

 curvature of the forceps ; the author possesses a small male from 

 Sikkim in which the body is only 9 mm. long ; the forceps are 

 proportionately longer than in the typically well developed forms, 

 as they are less bowed and only gently arched ; they are 3-75 mm. 

 long, but their greatest breadth is only 2 mm. In the finest male 

 the forceps are only 3 mm, long, but they attain a breadth of 

 5-5 mm. In the small variety, the basal tooth of the forceps is 

 absorbed by the dilated portion, which extends considerably 

 further down the arms of the forceps ; this form more nearly 

 resembles the pattern of typical Forficula, but there exists every 

 gradation up to the extreme form, which seems to represent a 

 transition towards the Anechnrince, especially as the fourth au- 

 tennal segment is somewhat longer than is usual in Forficula. 



