226 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



most complete work on the group. Since that date many 

 other papers have been published, which will be referred to 

 later as necessary. 



The Protura are found in various habitats. 

 In this country Bagnall has taken them under 

 stones and under bark of trees, and I myself, 

 by means of a Berlese funnel,* in peat 

 and turf. Abroad they have been found 

 in similar situations and also in moss. 

 Eimsky-Korsakow [15] describes them as 

 being solitary, and usually I found them only 

 one or two at a time, but on one occasion 

 I obtained fifty from one small block of peat, 

 while Bagnall [1] alludes to finding them "in 

 profusion." 



In connection with the absence cf an- 

 tennae, they have developed the interesting 

 and remarkable habit of walking on the two 

 hind pairs of legs, with the rather elongate 

 front pair held forward in front of the 

 head, and acting as tactile organs. More- 

 over, it is found on examination that the 

 tarsi of the front legs are provided with a 

 number of well-developed sense hairs, which 

 enable them the more efficiently to take on 

 their unusual function. This habit, which 

 is extremely interesting to watch in living 

 specimens, recalls a somewhat similar one 

 seen in several Acarids, more especially those 

 with long front legs. 



Their food is not definitely known, but 

 the structure of the mouth indicates that 

 hard food is not taken, and it is probable 

 that the bark-inhabiting species eat soft tissue or sap, and the 

 ground species decaying vegetable matter. They have never 

 been bred, but larval forms of several species have been taken, 

 differing from the adult in having a smaller number of 

 abdominal segments. Eggs have not yet been found, but the 

 comparatively large size of those seen in the oviducts seems to 

 indicate that only one or two are laid at a time. 



The systematic position of the Protura has been the subject 

 of much debate and cannot yet be said to be finally settled. 

 There are so many conflicting and unusual characters that it is 

 doubtful whether to consider them as insects, as Myriapods, or 

 as a separate class intermediate between the two. It will be 

 best before discussing the various views to consider in more 



* I hope to give an account of this interesting apparatus in a future 

 number of this Journal. 



Fig. 1.— Diagram of Eo- 

 aentomon. a. position of 

 ventral abdominal appen- 

 dages (shown dotted). «. 

 spiracle, c. " concretions " 

 in the head and prothorax. 



