242 HISTORY OF BRITISH CRUSTACEA. 



tubercle at the base. Legs taper, five-jointed, armed with 

 a simple nearly straight claw. Tail straight, five-jointed; 

 joints equal, distinct, armed on the under side with four 

 rows of compressed fins ciliated on the margins, and the 

 ultimate joint terminated besides with four similar appen- 

 dages and a triangular process between them. 



The large segment is, in some specimens, smooth and 

 even, but in others it is raised at the top into two oval 

 bosses that greatly resemble the elytra of a Meloe, and are 

 beautifully punctured. The same parts are visible on the 

 ventral surface in both varieties, but much smaller in that 

 whose back is smooth. It maybe a sexual distinction. 



AletterfromA. H. Hall iday, Esq., dated October 9, 1847,* 

 conveyed the following information: "I found a species of 

 Praniza pretty common on the clayey shores of Strangford 

 Loch last week, in company with Anceus maxillaris. They 

 were in small cavities on the surface of the clay, under stones, 

 sometimes singly, oftener two, or even three and four in 

 each hole ; the smaller slender green ones were few in com- 

 parison. You will find some of the new-born young with 

 them, having all the characteristic form of the parent, but 

 the posterior thoracic segments not so completely confounded 

 * Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. n. s. 1848, vol. i. p. 65. 



