258 
Psyche 
[December 
rows and surface nests. Biting, raking, and plowing were all 
utilized ; but biting and raking were predominant. Soil clods and 
stones were removed from burrows in chelicerae, sometimes assisted 
with the palpi, by backing out, not using position reversal. Plowing 
was accomplished with the chelicerae and first legs; palpi were held 
to the side and aloft. 
Males frequently emerged from burrows during daylight hours 
in the laboratory. 
A female burrowed into and deposited eggs in a section of corn- 
stalk. An immature burrowed into a section of cornstalk and 
moulted. Both burrows were constructed in the laboratory. 
Ammotrechella stimpsoni (Putnam). — A single female and 19 
immatures were collected from the Florida Keys in moist termite- 
infested and rotten limbs of mangrove, Rhizophora mangle L., and 
sweet bay, Magnolia virginiana L. During dry periods, no specimens 
were taken under these conditions. Two immatures were collected 
from nests under the bark of standing dead pine trees. In the lab- 
oratory, females, males, and young all constructed nests and burrows 
in soil, and nests and burrows in pith, cornstalks, and rotten wood. 
Subterranean burrowing involved biting, raking, and plowing with 
variations similar to those exhibited by A. peninsulana. Burrows in 
wood, pith, or cornstalks were constructed by biting and raking 
with biting predominant. Nests in such media were smaller than 
those constructed in soil. Young frequently utilized termite gal- 
leries or woodboring beetle tunnels rather than burrow in rotten 
wood. 
Branchia brevis Muma. — Three females of this species were 
collected from surface nests beneath cow pies. 
Males and females constructed subterranean burrows in the lab- 
oratory. The species did not burrow in pith or cornstalks. Biting, 
raking, and plowing were all utilized. No unusual variations were 
noted, but the species is quite small and minor variations could easily 
have been overlooked. 
Males emerged from burrows during daylight hours in the 
laboratory. 
Summary and Discussion 
This comparative study of the burrowing habits of North 
American solpugids has demonstrated a broad similarity in behavior. 
All species used the chelicerae to bite at the substrate, pith, wood, 
or soil; the second and third pair of legs, particularly the second, 
to rake loosened particles back under the body between the fourth 
