480 Mr. J. M. Brown on a new 



LVI. — A new Termitophilous Collemholan from West Africa. 

 By James Meikle Brown, B.Sc, F.L.S., F.E.S. 



AMONGST a quantity of Apterygota material very kindly 

 forwarded to me for determination by Mr. P. A. Buxton, 

 F.E.S., of Cambridge, was a tube containing six specimens 

 of a species of Cyphoderus obtained in a nest of termites in 

 Sierra Leone. As the species proves to be new, it is described 

 in the present paper. 



Cyphoderus buxtoni, sp. n. 



Abdomen IV. about 2\ times the length of abdomen III. 

 Antenna 1| times the length of the head. Proportional 

 lengths of the antennal segments approximately as 1:3:2:4. 

 Eyes absent. 



Tenent-hair of foot distinctly clubbed and not quite as long 

 as the claw. Claw of foot | the length of the mucro of the 

 spring, with a small indistinct inner tooth about the middle of 

 the margin, in addition to the usual pair of large basal teeth. 



Empodial appendage (" lower claw ") about § the length 

 of the claw, with a large broad outer tooth (fig. 1). 



Dentes of spring each with two rows of ribbed dorsal 

 scales, five inner and seven outer, of which the distal outer 

 scale projects slightly beyond the apex of the mucro, and the 

 distal inner scale is nearly twice the length of the mucro 

 (fig. 2). Manubrium 1J times the length of the dens ; dens 

 3! times that of the mucro. Mucro with slightly curved 

 ventral edge, and, in addition to the small apical tooth, with 

 three dorsal teeth, the two more distal ones approximately 

 equal and in the distal third of the mucro, the third small 

 and placed about ^ from the base of the mucro (fig. 3). 



Colour white. 



Size 1*2 mm. 



In the nest of termites (see below), Sierra Leone, West 

 Africa (P. A. Buxton, 19. vi. 1917). 



Types in the British Museum (South Kensington). 



Cyphoderus buxtoni differs from most of the described 

 members of the genus in having seven outer dorsal dental 

 scales, the usual number being six (Bonier, 1913). The fork 

 (spring) of one specimen was abnormal, the right dens 

 carrying eight outer dorsal scales and the corresponding 

 mucro having no small basal tooth ; the left dens and mucro 

 were normal. 



