204 PERCY SLADEN TRUST EXPEDITION 
In both sexes there is a blunt tooth at the base of both claws of all the feet. In 
the ¢ the claws of the anterior tarsi are much more sharply bent, and the teeth more 
prominent, than in the 2. In the claws of the middle and posterior tarsi I have not been 
able to make out any appreciable difference in the two sexes, neither does there appear to 
be any appreciable difference between the outer and inner claws in either sex. This does 
not agree with Kuwert’s statement (Verh. naturf. Ver. Briinn, xxviii. 1889, p. 56), 
““* Aeussere Krallen simmtlicher Fiisse mit einem langen scharfen Zahn.” The exact form 
of the claws is not easy to determine, even with a high power. 
Both sexes have a clear-cut, rather deep, rounded emargination, set with a series of 
yellowish seta, in the middle of the posterior margin of the 5th ventral segment. The 
whole segment is pubescent, and the pubescence is sometimes rather denser at the hind 
margin immediately on either side of the emargination: but the sete fringing the 
emargination are of quite a different nature, being much stouter at the base and tapering 
to the apex, set in a single regular series close together. Kuwert (/.c.) stated of this 
species: “  Fiinftes Segment mit einem kleinen gelbhaarigen Griibchen am Ende.” But 
in the series before me the emargination is present in both g and ?, and apparently of 
the same form in both sexes. The segment is sometimes a little impressed near the 
emargination, and when the setze are stuck together they render its nature less apparent : 
this might possibly account for Kuwert’s use of the word “ Griibchen” 
“* Ausschnitt.” 
Loc. Seychelles: Mahé; coastal plain at Anse Royale, I. 1909; 1896 (Brauer) : 
Félicité, from a pond at Grande Anse (sea-level), XII. 1908. Coetivy, 1905. Aldabra: 
Takamaka, 1908 (Fryer); 1895 (Voeltzkow). Madagascar, Tropical Africa, Egypt, Syria, 
India. 
instead of 
Philydrus parvulus, Reiche, var. 4 
A single ? has the entire prze-frons yellow, in contrast to the black posterior part of 
the head. It appears as though the triangular yellow patches have extended across the 
head and united: in the other specimens they seem to be constant, though Régimbart 
states (/.c.) that they are variable in this species. The specimen also has the 3rd joint of 
the maxillary palpi a trifle shorter in proportion to the 2nd, and the thoracic and elytral 
punctuation slightly finer and less dense, than in other females of the series. 
In having the preze-frontal region entirely yellow and the punctuation finer, this 
specimen resembles Philydrus fragilis Sharp (Ceylon: Trans. Ent. Soc. London, 1890, 
p. 350). But it agrees with the other specimens of parvulus in size and general form and 
in the stronger punctuation of the head. Phalydrus fragilis is larger than the largest of 
the series of Philydrus parvulus, and slightly more oval in outline, owing to the side- 
margins of the elytra being more curved: its punctuation, especially on head and thorax, 
is finer and more obsolete, even than that of the var. of parvulus under consideration. 
The specimen of fragilis before me has on either side of the head, in the region of the 
intra-ocular systematic punctures, a slight impression which I have not seen in parvulus : 
its yellow pree-frons is obscured in the middle, whereas that of the Philydrus parvulus 
var. from Silhouette is entirely yellow. 
