SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



227 



two on each side of the ventral surface ; in colour 



they are a deep red. 



Palpi have five joints : the second is the thickest, 



the fourth the longest. They are like the legs in 



colour — first two joints yellow, 



others blue. Length about 



ro8 mm. 



Genital plates, two, one 



on each side of the fissure. 



The number of discs on each 



plate varies. In the mite 



under observation there are 



twenty-four on one side and 



twenty-seven on the other. 



They also vary in arrangement, 



but there always appears to be 



two discs on each plate larger 



than the others. In colour the 



ground part of the plate is 



pink, the discs yellow (see fig. 



6, which is drawn from a 



specimen mounted in Canada- 

 balsam). The genital plates 



have well-defined edges. 



Male. — The male is smaller than the female, 



being only 1-90 millimetres in length ; but this is 



not the sole difference, for the epimera, instead of 



being quite wide apart and separated, as in the 



female (fig. 2), are quite close, and apparently 



joined together at the posterior end (see fig. 7). 



The plates on each side of the genital opening are 



different in shape to those of the female. In the 



centre is a large deep cavity (figs. 7 and 8). Very 

 often in the summer one 

 may take a male Curvipes 

 with both the third pair of 

 feet firmly fixed in this 

 hollow (see fig. 22). There 

 are the two larger suckers, 

 or discs, in each plate, 

 similar to those in the 

 female ; but the actual 

 number and arrangement 

 of these discs also varies. 

 In one specimen I counted 

 thirty-three on one plate 

 and thirty-four on the 

 other. In another specimen 

 I found thirty-three and 

 thirty-one respectively. 



The last two joints of 

 the third pair of legs are 

 given in fig. 9, which shows 

 a very peculiar formation 

 and how different are the 



third pair of the male feet compared with those 



of the female. On the fourth leg is another 



extraordinary joint, called the genual (fig. 10) 



This joint is peculiar to all the males of this 



1 



Fig. 11, C. nodatus —Larval stage 



Fig. 10, C. nodatus. -Genual 

 joint of fourth pair of legs. 



genus ; their object, I believe, is to hold the female 

 at the time of pairing. 



The colour of the male is same as the female. 

 The larva of this mite is seen in fig. 11. It is 

 about 056 mm. long. The 

 figure was drawn from a living 

 specimen sent to me by Dr. 

 George in June, 1895. It 

 differs in colour from the 

 adult ; its prevailing tint being 

 a pale green. In this stage it 

 is provided with six legs only. 

 Localities. — The drawing 

 of the female (fig. 2) was made 

 from a specimen sent to me 

 by Dr. Measures, taken in 

 Epping Forest, Essex, in June, 

 1895. Dr. George has also 

 found this mite several times 

 in Lincolnshire. I have found 

 it not infrequently while col- 

 lecting around London. 



Koch gives a beautiful col- 

 oured drawing, both male and 

 female, of this mite, under the name of Nesaea 

 coccinea. Muller only gives a figure of a male of 

 this species, showing the third pair of feet locked 

 in the genital opening. 



Dr. George says that during copulation the con- 

 cavity of the fourth pair of legs fits on to the 

 shoulders of the female, and the single claw of 

 the third pair of feet are hooked into the female 



sexual organ. 



(To be continued.) 



YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS' 

 UNION. 



THE thirty-seventh annual report of this admir- 

 -*- ably managed society, which would be better 

 entitled the Northern Counties Union, as it is so 

 gradually extending its influence, was presented 

 at the Scarborough meeting on December 17th. 

 There are now thirty-seven societies affiliated, with 

 2,884 members. The annual income — ^479 — indi- 

 cates the prosperity of the Union. During 1898 

 six field meetings, one in each division of the 

 county, and a fungus foray were held. An advan- 

 tage gained by the administration is that of reduced 

 railway fares for members attending these meetings. 

 The sectional work carried on by various com- 

 mittees of research has been successful. Among 

 these sections we notice the Yorkshire Boulder 

 Committee, Fossil Flora Committee, Geological 

 Photographs Committee, Coast Erosion Com- 

 mitteee, Micro-zoology and Micro-botany Com- 

 mittee, Marine Biology Committee, Wild Birds 

 and Eggs Protection Committee, Mycological Com- 

 mittee, Bryological Committee, and Coleoptera 

 Committee. 



