ON THE OVIPAROUS SPECIES OF ONYCHOPHOKA. 401 



mentally over the appendages from the oral papillae to the 

 last pair of legSj and a black or nearly black triangular patch 

 between each two successive green spots on each side. The 

 ventral surface nnder the same conditions appears to be 

 mottled grey or violet, with pale areas between the legs. 



Microscopic examination of the skin, after it has been 

 rendered transparent in Canada balsam, shows that three 

 very distinct pigments take part in the production of the 

 pattern, viz. indigo-blue, dull brownish orange, and bright 

 emerald green. In the mid-dorsal line is the usual very 

 narrow unpigmented groove or fissui-e ; this is bordered on 

 either side by a dark narrow band, partly of indigo-blue and 

 partly of orange brown. Outside this comes a broader band, 

 chiefly of orange. Then comes the row of irregularly shaped 

 green spots alternating with triangular dark areas, the latter 

 consisting almost exclusively of dark indigo-blue and the 

 former of bright emerald green, the two colours being- 

 separated by outward continuations of the orange bands. 

 Outside the row of green spots comes a zone in which dark 

 indigo-blue and orange-brown papilla are about equally 

 intermingled, the orange increasing immediately below the 

 intervals between the legs. Ventrally only the orang'e and 

 indigo-blue occur, and both lighter in tint than on the dorsal 

 surface. The legs are mottled with orange-brown and indigo- 

 blue, the two distal spinous pads and the large primary 

 papillae of the feet being indigo-blue. The antennas are for 

 the most part dark indigo-blue, but about every fourth 

 annulus is orange. The ovipositor is pale dull orange. 



Of course, as in other species, the colour and pattern 

 may vary, but the above may be taken as typical, and I 

 have never noticed any specimen without the green spots. 



The length of an adult female when fully extended and 

 crawling was 31 mm. and the breadth 3 mm., exclusive of 

 antennas and legs, the fully extended anteunse being about 

 5 mm. long. The males appear to be a little smaller. The 

 two sexes seem to occur in about equal numbers. Out of 

 thirty specimens which I collected myself at Lake Te Anau 



