CLASSIFICATION 



449 



Ph alangodes. They all avoid the light,and are usually found in caves. 

 Simon ^ records six species found in France. A Nortli American 

 species, P. armata, is entirely destitute of eyes. 



The family has representatives in Australia 

 and in tropical Africa and Asia. Mermerus, 

 Epidanus, Maracaudns, and Sitalces are some of 

 the exotic genera. 



The other two families of this Sul)- order — 

 Fam. 2, Cosmetidae ; Fam. 3, Gonyleptidae — 

 include a large number of species, some of con- 

 siderable size (up to an inch in length of body), 

 found in Central and South America. 



Sub-Order 3. Plagiostethi.^ 



(PALPATOliES.) ^^i'^- 234.-P;;«/««- 



^ ' gocles terncola, 



First ahdominal segment produced forward simon.)' 

 ventrally to the level of the first pair of legs, 

 bringing the month and the genital opiening very near together. 

 Sternum consequenthj mucli reduced. Pedipalpi thin, ivith 

 te7'minal claw ahsent or rudimentary. Terminal claws of the 

 legs single. 



The Plagiostethi include most of the Harvestmen of temperate 

 regions, the most familiar examples of these creatures belong- 

 ing to the large family Phalangidae, and being much more in 

 evidence than the slow -moving and ground-living forms in- 

 cluded in the other families. 



Fam. 1. Phalangiidae. — Eye-turret ahoays far removed from 

 anterior border of cephalothorax. Second 2mir of legs with well- 

 marked maxillary lobes. Legs siinilar, without the false joint 

 called " trochantin." Multiarticulate tarsi. Simple pedipaljn, 

 tvith tarsus much longer than tibia, and possessing terminal 

 claw. Some have soft, some coriaceous integuments. 



The Phalangidae fall naturally into two groups or sub-families, 

 named by Simon Sclerosomatinae and Phalangiixae. The 

 first group consists of more or less coriaceous forms living among 

 moss and herbage. They are not very numerous, there being only 

 about twelve known European species divided among the three 

 genera, Sclerosoma, Mastobuiius, and Astrobunus. 



^ Arachnides de France, vii., 1879. '^ Transverse sternum (7r\d7(os = transverse). 



VOL. IV 2 G 



