SCORPIONS, SPIDERS, ETC. 301 



these are popularly supposed to inflict a most dangerous bite, 

 but all that is actually known about them is that they are 

 used for catching and killing the prey — which consists chiefly 

 of insects. The pedipalps resemble the legs. Between the 

 bases of the chelicerae there is a little horny spout at the tip 

 of which the mouth opens. 



The thorax is composed of 3 independent segments and 

 carries four pairs of legs, which are long, flexible, and hairy, 

 and end in a pair of long, stalked claws ; on the hind margin 

 of some of the basal segments of the hind legs there is a 

 series of long, club-shaped, or somewhat racquet-shaped, 

 appanages of unknown function — the malleoli. 



The abdomen consists of 10 distinct segments ; the anus 

 opens on the last, and the genital pore on the first. 



The breathing-organs are tracheae, which open between 

 the coxae of the second pair of legs, and on the sterna of the 

 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes the 4th abdominal segments. 



The male is distinguishable from the adult female by the 

 form of the first abdominal sternum, which consists of two 

 lateral halves, with lip-like folds covering the genital pore 

 and projecting between them ; in the male also there is 

 usually present, on the base of the chelicera, a process known 

 as the flagellum. 



The Solifugae are nocturnal and predaceous, hunting their 

 prey with the agility of cats and often taking tremendous 

 leaps. They are found, particularly in arid and desert tracts, 

 in South Europe, Africa, South-west and South Asia, and 

 .the warmer parts of America. In Madras they are known 

 as " Jerrymunglums." 



They are arranged in the three following families : — 



(i) GaleodidcB. Stalks of the claws of the legs hairy ; 

 abdominal stigmata covered by finely-toothed plates. One 

 genus, Galeodes, found in the countries bordering the 

 Mediterranean Sea, South-west Asia, and India. 



(2) SolpugidcB. Stalks of the claws of the legs not hairy ; 

 abdominal stigmata not covered. Many genera and species 

 distributed like the Order. 



(3) HexisopodidcB. Some of the segments of the legs 

 spinous ; fourth pair of legs without claws. One genus, 

 Hexisopus, restricted to South Africa. 



