380 PERCY SLADEN TRUST EXPEDITION 



Maldives and the Laccadives, and, as mentioned above, it is also found in the Seychelles 

 (Coetivy). The remaining species (Argiope anasuja Thor.), occurs in the Seychelles, 

 Laccadives, and in Southern India, but the specimens from the Seychelles and Chagos 

 belong to a well-marked variety, which differs from the Indian form in coloration. 



Apparently the central islands of the Seychelles group are the only ones of those 

 visited by the expedition in which Opiliones are found. Six species belonging to this 

 order have already been recorded from these islands and examples of five of these are 

 present in Prof. Stanley Gardiner's collection. In addition, four new species were obtained, 

 so that ten species of Opiliones are now known from the Seychelles, all of them being 

 peculiar to this group. They all belong to the Opiliones laniatores. It is interesting to 

 note that the family Trisenonychiidse*, which has a number of representatives in S. Africa 

 and Madagascar, does not occur in the Seychelles. From a zoogeographical standpoint the 

 most interesting of the seven genera into which these species fall is Ibalonius, which is 

 represented by four species ; it has representatives also in New Guinea, Fiji and the 

 Philippines. Four of the remaining genera are peculiar to the Seychelles, but one of 

 them (Holozoster) is closely allied to Ibalonius. The genus Sitalces] occurs besides in the 

 island of Reunion, whilst Hinzuanius has a wide distribution but is practically restricted 

 to the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean. 



The Pseudoscorpion in the collection (Feaella affinis, n. sp.) belongs to a genus, which 

 has been recorded from Portuguese Guinea and Natal. It is probable that this species 

 has been introduced into the Seychelles, whilst clinging to some insect host. 



I must express my sincere thanks to Prof. J. Stanley Gardiner for having allowed me 

 to study the material on which this paper is based, and also to Prof. L. Jagerskiold, 

 Dr J. C. C. Loman, and M. Eugene Simon, for their kindness in lending me specimens of 

 Arachnids from the Seychelles and of closely allied species from other localities. 



* This interesting family is considered to be restricted to the Southern continents and neighbouring islands, 

 I take the opportunity to point out that the genus Sclerobunus Banks (occurring in the Western United States 

 of N. America and Alaska) also belongs to the Tricenonychiidaz. Immature specimens of a species from Bassett, 

 Queen Charlotte Island, British Columbia, which either belongs to the genus Sclerobunus or to some closely 

 allied genus, are preserved in the Brit. Mus. Coll. 



t Some time after this paper had left my hands, my attention was directed to Dr W. Sorensen's report on 

 the Opiliones collected by the Swedish expedition to Kilimandjaro and Meru. In this report Dr Sorensen 

 describes, amongst other novelties, a new genus (Palpipes) with two new species, for which he creates a new 

 family (Palpipedoidai), the principal character being that the tarsi of the first and second legs are divided into 

 two joints. 



It seems to me that Sitalces novem-tuberculatus Sim., and S. gardineri, n. sp., are congeneric with these two 

 species described by Dr Sorensen under the name Palpipes. The tarsi of the anterior legs of S. gardineri are 

 formed exactly as described by Dr Sorensen for his species. 



In his well-known paper on the extra-European Opiliones (Zool. Jahrb. (Syst.) 1902, pp. 198 and 200), 

 Dr J. C. C. Loman places the genus Sitalces in the family Epedanida?. I must say here that I, also, think that 

 it belongs to that family. Quite recently, I have received a specimen of an Opilion from Izu, Japan, which 

 resembles the species of Sitalces rather closely in structure, the shape of the ocular-tubercle, pectination of the 

 femur of the first leg and granulation of the body being remarkably similar. This Japanese species undoubtedly 

 belongs to a genus (undescribed), which is closely allied to Sitalces. The tarsi of its legs are very different from 

 those of Sitalces, however, for that of the first has three segments and that of the second four. From this 

 it would appear that the number of the tarsal segments in these Opiliones is, at the most, only of generic 

 importance. 



