230 M. A. Stecker on a new Genus of Arachnida. 



XXIII. — Onaneio Genus of Arachnida of the Section Arthro- 

 gastra. By A. Stecker *. 



In an entomological excursion which I made some time ago 

 in the Bohemian Riesengebirge, for the purpose of collecting 

 Chelifers, I found amongst other things in the so-called 

 Riesengrund, about a [German] mile north of Gross- Aupa, a 

 remarkable small Arachnid, which, at first glance, I took for 

 a species of the Chernetidaj. On m j return home I examined 

 more closely the material collected by me ; and to my great 

 surprise the above-mentioned diminutive Arachnid proved to 

 belong to a new genus of the family Cyphophthalmid^, de- 

 scribed in 1868 by Dr. Joseph f. 1 was the more delighted 

 at this, because this family was previously represented only by 

 the single cave-genus Cyphophthalmus, Jos., and therefore 

 was with perfect justice regarded as belonging exclusively 

 to the cave-fauna. Dr. Joseph, indeed, remarks in his Supple- 

 ment X that the . Cyphophthalmida^ occur most frequently at 

 the entrance of the caves, and therefore are not true c^ve- 

 animals ; but, so far as we know, no one has succeeded in 

 finding these little creatures anywhere else. 



I collected the new genus in the leafy forests of the Riesen- 

 grund under stones, in shady, moderately damp ])laces, the 

 soil of which Avas partly covered with decaying fallen leaves, 

 and where, amongst other things, numerous species of Chtho- 

 nius and Obisium occurred — consequently almost under the 

 same conditions as Dr. Joseph found the Cyphophthalmi in 

 the Lueger grotto ; and I am now convinced that the Cyphoph- 

 thalmida3 are not confined to caves, but that they have a much 

 wider distribution than has hitherto been supposed. Notwith- 

 standing all my endeavours, I have obtained only twelve 

 specimens ; these, however, have enabled me to dissect and 

 carefully investigate the new genus, which I shall name 

 Gihocellum. This brief memoir is therefore to be regarded 

 only as a preliminary notice ; as my space is small, I refrain 

 from reporting in detail on the interesting anatomical and 

 histological results obtained during the dissection, and will 

 publish these elsewhere. 



Externally Gihocellum indisputably appears to be very 

 nearly allied to Cyphophthalmus ; the distinctly segmented 

 abdomen, the eyes curiously placed on obliquely ascending 



* Translated by W. S. Dallas, F.L.S., from a separate impression of 

 the paper in the 'Sitzungsb. der kon. bohmischeu Gesellsch. der Wi.«s.' 

 Heft vi., 1875. Communicated by the author. 



t Berl. entom. Zeitschr. xii. 1868, pp. 241 et seqq. pi. i. figs. 1-12. 



t IbiiJ. pp. 269 et seq. pi. i. figs. 13-17. 



