39 66 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



Holostaspis longispinosus (Kramer). 



Clare Island, in moss, during March ; Achill 1 sland, in moss and under 

 bark, nympha generans and mature female, September. 



Distribution. — A widespread European species ; recorded from Germany ; 

 Holland ; Italy, &c. 



Holostaspis longulus Berlese. 



1887. Berlese 1, Fasc. xliii, n. 9. 1902. Oudemans 74, p. 42. 



Clare Island, ? in moss, during March ; Mulranny, 2 in rotten wood, 

 September ; Castlebar, nympha coleoptrata under stones on lake shore, July. 

 I have also found it on the sea shore at Howth, Co. Dublin. 



In his " New List " (74) Oudemans points out that the epistome has a 

 straight spinous margin, and is not produced at the centre as it is shown in 

 the original figure. This is also true of the few Irish specimens that I have 

 seen. In one of these the bifurcated apex of the central process is distinctly 

 rebranched so that there are, on each side, at least four finely pointed 

 extremities. The dorsal shield is very distinctly punctured, and has crenulate 

 side-margins, clothed with a number of stout pectinated spines, and there 

 are some plain bristles on the central part of the dorsum. 



Distribution. — Italy (Berlese records this species as occurring in moss in 

 Sicily); Holland (Oudemans, among decayed leaves) ; France (Moniez 53). 



Holostaspis tridentinus G. et B. Can. 



Clare Island, <$ in moss, July ; Achill Island, ? in moss and under bark 

 in September; Croaghpatrick, 9 in sphagnum, 600 feet, October; Knappagh 

 Wood, near Westport, in moss, August. 



Distribution. — Evidently a common European species, the recorded 

 localities ranging from Lapland (Tragardh) to Italy, where, according to 

 Berlese, it occurs chiefly in mosses on mountains. 



Holostaspis terreus (Can. et Fanzago). (PI. V, fig. 13.) 



1877. Canestrini et Fanzago 25, p. 48. 1882. G. et B, Canestrini 23, 

 p. 27. 1889. Berlese 1, Fasc. lii, 7. 1902. Oudemans 74, p. 43. 



Achill Island, ? in fungi, September ; Kappagh Wood, near Westport, in 

 moss, August. I have also found it under bark of old pine stumps at Howth, 

 Co. Dublin. 



This beautifully sculptured species was first described, without figures, 

 by Canestrini and Fanzago. Berlese referred it to a variety of his Holostaspis 

 alpinus, a form which he subsequently identifies as the nympha generans stage 

 of H. longispinosus (2, p. 70j. 



