BRITISH hydrachnidj:. 129 



evil, if ever these have cursed the soil of Mars, have ere now 

 passed away ; and that " peace and good-will," revealed from 

 above, now reign in that world of life. 



By Charles D. Soar. Part VII. Plate VII. 



Genus IX., Atax (Fabricius). 

 1805. — J. C. Fabricius, Systema antitatorum, p. 364. 



THE chief distinguishing features in the genus Atax may be 

 briefly described as follows : — The epimera are arranged in 

 four groups ; the eyes widely separated ; the legs are fur- 

 nished with* swimming hairs; and it will be noticed that there are 

 claws to all the feet. This hydrachnid is soft-skinned. The 

 anterior pair of legs is fitted with powerful jointed hairs, the 

 jointed base of each hair being let into a prominent and specially 

 projecting socket. 



A great number of so-called species of this genus have been 

 figured and described by various Continental acarologists. Koch 

 figured a great many, but on careful examination the majority of 

 them have been found to be the same species under different 

 names. In 1894 Dr. Piersig made a new genus of certain species 

 which had always been previously regarded as true species of the 

 genus Atax, which he named Cochleophorus. But this will be 

 referred to later on. 



I can find very little information about Atax in any Enghsh 

 works treating on the subject. Murray, in his Economic Entomo- 

 logy, p. 154, has but very few words to say about it. He mentions 

 four species, three of v^hich are very doubtful. In the fourth edi- 

 tion of the Micrographic Dictionary, p. 85, will be found a very 

 good description of the genus ; it, however, gives but little infor- 

 mation about the different species. On PI. VI., Fig. 14, it also 

 gives a figure of a Limnesia under the name of Atax histrionicus. 

 This is an error that Murray also falls into, but which is not at all 

 to be wondered at when we consider the scanty information 

 available at the time those notes were written. The Journal of 



