562 Records of the Indian Museum. [Vol. VIII, 



Protanura spinifera, sp. nov. 

 (Plate Iv, figs. 1-9). 



Three ocelli, a smooth post-antennal area, and two spinose 

 tubercles on each side of the head (fig, i). Mandible (figs. 3, 4) 

 with three apical teeth, a sharp crescentic molar tooth, and a deli- 

 cate dorsal toothed lamella. Maxillary lacinia (fig. 6) with three 

 apical teeth, a long delicate external " comb " bearing bifid teeth 

 and terminating in a " brush," and an internal two-toothed pro- 

 cess ; no basal process. Foot (fig. 8) with strongly toothed claw 

 and small empodial appendage. Dorsal tubercles wanting on 

 abdominal segments ; intermediate and dorso-lateral tubercles 

 rounded, the former very small ; each tubercle bearing a sensory 

 bristle. 



lycngth 2-5 mm. Colour yellow ; eyes on black spots. 



Localities. — N.E. Assam : Sadiya, five specimens, Abor Expedi- 

 tion (5. W. Kemp), Indian Museum -W-. Lower Burma: Farm 

 Caves near Moulmein, two specimens {F. H. G.), Nov. 17 - Dec. il, 

 1911, Indian Museum '1,7''. 



This species is nearly related to P. kraepelini, Borner (1906, 

 pp, 169-70), from Java, with which it seems to agree rather 

 closely in the arrangement of the abdominal tubercles and in the 

 structure of the jaws. That species, however, has the three ocelli 

 almost in a straight line, while in P. spinifera they form an elongated 

 triangle. The specimen from the Farm Caves, Moulmein, might 

 have been regarded as referable to Neanura pudibunda, Imms 

 (1912, pp, 86-7), the types of which came from an adjacent and 

 similar locality, and agree with the insect now described in the 

 arrangement of the eyes, but that the disposition of the abdominal 

 tubercles in the present species differs altogether from that shown 

 in Imms' figure {loc. cit., pi. vi, fig. 12). As Imms does not men- 

 tion the nature of the jaws, it is impossible to know whether his 

 species is referable to Neanura or to Protanura. 



The third and fourth segments of the feeler in P. spinifera are 

 imperfectly distinguished from one another ; the arrangement of 

 the spines and retractile sense-organ at the apex is shown in fig. 2. 

 The mandibles are of much interest on account of the delicate dorsal 

 lamella beset with fine teeth (fig. 4, la). This structure is men- 

 tioned by Borner in his description of P. kraepelini, and the 

 Hawaian species P. citronella (Carp,) has a somewhat similar 

 appendage (Carpenter, 1904, pi, ix, fig. 25, d). The maxillulae 

 (fig. 5, Mxl.) are simple chitinous plates with outer and inner 

 ridges, covering most of the dorsal aspect of the tongue (fig. 5, 

 Hy). The maxillary lacinia in Protanura is — as Borner has pointed 

 out — like that of Anurida, and differs very markedly from the 

 simple lancet-like maxilla of Neanura. The outer comb-appendage 

 (fig. 6, a) is a very beautiful structure with its inner row of bifid 

 teeth and terminal spreading whorl of bristles forming a " brush." 

 It evidently corresponds to the outer lamella in the maxillary lacinia 

 of Anurida. The labium (fig. 7) consists of paired sclerites with 



