Pomona College Journal of Entomology 413 



sternum. It is, however, something quite different ; it is the basal ventral 

 segments of the abdomen pushed forward over the bases of the coxae. It 

 carries with it the opening of the genital organs, which thus in certain forms 

 appear to issue close to the mouth. This advancement of the abdomen 

 is so pronounced in many of our common forms that the coxje are crowded 

 at tile base, and so appear to radiate from a central point. 



/,(\i,M- are usually long and slender, they consist of a basal joint, the coxa, 

 almost wholly attached to the venter, a small trochanter, a long femur, a 

 short patella, a long til)ia, a long metatarsus, and a fairly long tarsus, more 

 or less broken up into several articles. The metatarsi and the tibiae are oft 

 times divided by what are termed false-articulations. The tarsus ends in one 

 or two claws. In front of the first pair of legs are the paljii, which are 

 of five joints, coxa, femur, patella, tibia, and tarsus, the latter often ends in 

 a claw, and the femora sometimes bear spines. Between the palpi are the 

 mandibles, fakes, or chelicerae ; they consist of a large basal joint, or paturon, 

 and an apical chelate claw. 



Male usually has the body either shorter or else more slender than the 

 female, in some cases the male has the tarsus of the palpus more curved than 

 in the female, and in others the male palpi are greatly enlarged. As a rule, 

 the male has longer and more slenger legs than the female. In a few cases 

 the male has the hind coxse enlarged ; in many species the males are more 

 spinose than the females. The Phalangida are commonly called "harvest-men," 

 "grandfather greybeards," or "daddy-long-legs." They spin no web, and make 

 no retreat or place of concealment. Usually they move slowly, but some can 

 run rather rapidly ; a few, when disturbed, feign death. They commonly 

 feed on living insects which they capture with their jaws, or with the palpi. 

 They appear to have few enemies, and their long legs and often hard and 

 spiny body make them rather undesirable food for birds. Sometimes one 

 finds a species of mite attached to their legs. When handled, they often 

 exude from near the coxae, a whitish fluid, which in some cases has a dis- 

 agreeable odor. The eggs are deposited in the fall or early spring, in crevices 

 of the soil, or in wet or decayed wood. The young, on hatching, are in 

 general similar to the adults, but often present differences in the palpi. Prob- 

 ably all of them have but one generation a year. 



Phalangids are widely distributed ; in the tropics are great numbers of 

 curious species, while others live on the storm-swept peaks of high mountains. 

 Several have been taken in caves ; some of these cave forms also occur outside 

 of caves, but in dark situations. 



The species do not vary much in appearance ; in some of the mountain 

 loving forms the colors vary from dark to light ; in some species that have 

 a long north and south range, the northern specimens have much shorter 

 legs, and a less spinose body than specimens from the southern localities. 



There are probably about 100 species in the United States; 20 species are 

 known from California. These belong to 16 genera that may be distinguished 

 by the following synoptic table : 



