WHIP-SCORPIONS. 



219 



Tailless Group. 



being generally only found during the heaviest rains, and soon dying when removed 

 from their humid haunts. In Florida there is, however, a species frequenting dry 

 sandy localities; and some species dig burrows in the ground and use them as 

 permanent places of abode. 



In the tailless group, or Amblypygi, the body is much flattened, 

 the carapace being wider than long, and kidney-shaped, and the 

 abdomen oval with the segments gradually decreasing in size in front and behind, 

 and none at the hinder end being narrowed to form a stalk. Corresponding with 

 the great width of the carapace, we find the coxae of the third and fourth pairs of 

 legs widely separated, so that there is an oval sternal area, around which the coxge 

 of the five pairs of large cephalothoracic limbs are arranged radially. The anterior 



A WEST AFRICAN TAILLESS WHIP-SCORPION, TUanodamen johnstoni (nat. size). 



and posterior sternal pieces of the preceding suborder are present between the coxae of 

 the first and last pair of legs respectively, and the space between them is filled by 

 horny pieces, varying in the degree of their development. The appendages also 

 differ from those of the Uropygi, the basal segments of the pincers being freely 

 movable and not united together, while these appendages are longer, thinner, and 

 very spiny, The terminal segment forms a sharp claw, closing back on the pen- 

 ultimate segment like the blade of a knife. The legs of the first pair are long and 

 slender, and all its segments, except the first three, are converted into a long, 

 thread-like, many-jointed lash acting as a feeler. The males do not as a rule differ 

 strikingly in external characters from the females; although the abdomen is 

 narrower, and the pincers and legs are longer. 



In geographical distribution the group resembles the Thelyphonidce, with the 



