152 R. HORST. PARAPERIPATUS LORENTZI. 



decided as yet, because the diagnosis published by Mr. SEDGWICK in „Nature" is too concise ; the 

 ground-colour of botb species appears to be very well the same, differing from that of 

 P. ceramensis and -novae-britanniae , but there is a différence as to the number of the pairs 

 of legs, that is varying from 23 to 29 in P. papitensis, whereas the female of P. Lorentzi 

 has only 22 pairs of them. It must be referred to later investigators to solve this question, 

 when more material will be at hand ; but it is a remarkable fact, that, whereas the Fauna of 

 New Guinea in other regards much agrées with that of Australia, this does not concern 

 the Onychophora. The group Melano-peripatus, in which SEDGWICK has united the above- 

 named species, is according to this author even nearer to Capo-peripatus than to Austro- 

 peripatus „from which it is distinguished by the very important characters of its ovum as 

 well as by its leg-number" (loc. cit. p. 393). However it must be taken into account that the 

 species of both vast continents of Africa and South America neither do belong ail to one 

 and the same group, therefore probably the présent differentiation among the Peripatus- 

 species of Australia and Melanesia had already arisen at a period when New Guinea was not 

 yet separated from Australia. 



In view of the possibility that soon more species of Peripatus will be detected in the 

 Indo-Malayan région, I hère give a Key to the identification of the species hithertho known 

 from there. 



