404 



MR. A. D. MICHAEL ON 



This species is closely allied to the CTiorioptes sefifems, var. 

 liyencd of Megnin ; there are, however, well-marked specific dif- 

 ferences. 



I have adopted G-erlach's name of Symliotes for the genus in 

 preference to G-ervais's name of CJiorioptes^ which Megnin has 

 employed, because Gerlach's is the earlier, and Megnin appears 

 to have used Chorioptes under a misapprehension. Megnin says 

 that Grerlach's name has priority, but he says that it fails because 

 Eedtenbacher had already called a genus of Coleoptera by that 

 title ; this, however, seems to be an error. G-erlach's name was 

 published in his monograph in 1857, whereas Eedtenbacher's 

 genus was in his ' Fauna AustrisD ' in 1858 ; it is therefore the 

 latter genus which fails, not Gerlach's. 



I haye, unfortunately, not been able to obtain the adult male. 



Female. — Eody irregularly pentagonal, broadly truncated pos- 

 teriorly ; considerably wider anteriorly than posteriorly ; anus 

 projecting from the hiud margin. Body almost white, semitrans- 

 parent ; rostrum, epimera, and legs strongly chitinized and brown. 

 First and second pairs of legs thick and strong ; the tarsus of 

 each of these legs has a strong hair or rod springing from its 

 upper surface in the median line ; this hair is of almost equal 

 thickness throughout, and ends quite bluntly, it stands upward 

 and is considerably longer than the tarsus. These tarsi are ter- 

 minated, as usual, by suckers. The epimera of these two legs nearly 

 join at their posterior ends. The third pair of legs are much 

 smaller, not above half the length ; they are terminated by three 

 very long hairs of unequal lengths, the longest is more than twice 

 the length of the body. The fourth legs resemble the third, but are 

 so small as to appear quite rudimentary ; they are not above half 

 the length of the third pair, they also are terminated by three 

 long hairs, but these are small and short compared with those on 

 the third pair. The body bears two pairs of very long hairs on 

 the hind margin, the outer hair of each pair is considerably longer 

 than the inner, the outer hair is longer than the body. The vulva 

 is a rounded median depression, towards which the striae of the 

 skin run from all sides, as in S. setiferus. 



The Nymph. — Eesembles the adult female, but, of course, is 

 smaller and less chitinized. 



Habitat. I found the species upon the hedgehog {Erinaceus 

 europcBus). It is very active, running up and down the spines of 

 the hedgehog with great rapidity. 



