164 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



without glands. In -P. intricatum the flowers are red-brown, the 

 sepals all equal in length, and the lateral ones tipped with a 

 gland. In P. reflexum the flowers are also red brown, and the 

 lateral sepals united for half their length. P. eriochilum is 

 furnished with a hairy surface of the labellum. In P. Woollsii the 

 sepals are red-brown. From P. fimbriatum this new orchid 

 differs in the labellum being non-ciliate, in the absence of the 

 fringe of hairs, and the colour of the flowers, and from P. 

 Dixoni it is distinguished by the darker flowers, by the broader 

 dorsal sepal, the narrower paired petals, and the shape of the 

 labellum. 



NOTES ON THE TERRESTRIAL ISOPOD, PHREATOI- 

 COPSIS TERRICOLA, Spencer and Hall. 



By W. H. F. Hill. 



(Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 14th February, 1898. ) 



When the description of this crustacean by Professor W. Baldwin 

 Spencer and Mr. T. S. Hall, M.A., appeared in the "Transactions 

 of the Royal Society of Victoria," vol. ix. (new series), none but 

 spirit specimens were available to work upon, so I thought that 

 some short account of such characters as were observable only 

 in the field, although of minor importance when compared with 

 the systematic description, would nevertheless be of some 

 interest. As such the following notes are brought forward : — 



Colour. — Frontal portion of head, yellow. Body, faint bluish 

 white and translucent, usually darkened by earthy material in the 

 digestive organs. Legs and other appendages white and semi- 

 translucent. Posterior dorsal edges of some segments about 

 the middle and towards die end of the body usually yellow. 

 This character is very variable, and occurs in adult specimens 

 most markedly, but is often visible in the young. The 

 integument is colourless and almost transparent. The yellow 

 colouration before mentioned fades out of spirit specimens, which 

 become opaque, and vary from creamy white to grey, according 

 to the amount of earth in the body. 



Habits. — The animals live in permanent ramifying burrows 

 from a few inches to more than a foot in depth, which they 

 widen out, particularly in contact with buried boulders, logs, and 

 stumps, into small irregular chambers. These frequently hold 

 water and mud, in which the animals lie. They make no effort 

 to swim when placed in a basin of water. 



Casts, somewhat similar to those of earthworms, are scattered 

 through the burrows and chambers. I doubt whether there is, 

 as a ride, permanent communication with the surface ; at any 



