1 
NATURAL HISTORY. 197 
The fcatlet water Mite, has a body of an oval fhape, and a depref- 
fed back; it is of a bright ftrong fearlet colour, and has a {mall head ; 
but the legs are pretty long, and are of a paler red than the body. It 
3s common in fmall fwift currents, where it runs very nimbly at the 
bottom. It is called by fome the fimall red water Spider, 
The itch Mite, has an oval lobated body, and a fmall pointed head; 
it is of a whitith colour, aid has two femicircular dufky lines at the 
back, but the legs are fhort and brownith. It has been fometimes found 
in the puftules of the itch, but is not the caufe of it, as fome imagine, 
for then it might be always feen ther ein. 
The Scorpion Mite, has a roundifh inflated body, of a whitifh co- 
lour, and it is covered with a thin fmooth fkin, the head is very {mall, 
and of a dufky colour towards the mouth ; but it is moft remarkable 
for having claws like thofe of a Scorpion. It is not uncommon in old 
rotten wood, and it is called by fome the Scorpion Spider. 
The little fearlet Spider, has a roundifh body, or rather fomewhat 
oval, with a depreffed back ; it is of a fine fearlet colour, and the body 
is covered with a fort of down like velvet. It has a very fmall head, 
with two very little eyes, and the legs are fhort, and of a paler red, 
and there is a fmall black fpot near the infertion of thofe before. 
The fhepherd Spider, is the largeft of the Acarus kind, and has a 
roundifh body, which is of a dufky brown on the back, marked with a 
darker fpot, of a fomewhat {quare fhape near its middle ; the belly is 
whitifh, and the legs are extremely long and flender. On the back of 
the head there is a {mall eminence, furnifhed with a fort of double creft, 
which feem to be formed of many flender fpines. It has two eyes, 
which are {mall and black. Some call it the long legged Spider, though 
it has only two eyes; however it may be obferved, that few authors 
keep exactly to that diflindion. 
Linneus alfo takes notice of an Acarus, that is hardly vifible without 
the help of a microfcope, and which is found on Chaffinches. It has 
a head like a cone, with the point cut off, and on its hinder part there 
is a fegment almoft feparate from the reft of the body, to which belong 
two {mall crooked portions, and under it there is a longilh brown {pot 
It has eight feet, confifting of different fegments, and at the extremity 
of the fore feet there are four clear veficles or bladders, which become 
flat when this infect treads upon any thing; thefe are connected to a 
fmall long part, which feems not to belong to the leg, juft where there 
are two {trong prickles, which are fuppofed to enable this infeé& to ad- 
here to whatever it treads upon: the two hinder feet are like thofe be- 
fore, only the two prickles are wanting. But the feet that lye between 
the fecond and fourth pairs, are the moft fingular, for they are thick 
and fhapelefs, and have at their extremities, inflead of veficles, two 
faws, one of which is very fhort: the infect can move them, but not 
fo nimbly as the reft, and therefore it does not ufe them for walking, 
‘but drags them after it like two tails: they feem to be defigned to keep. 
it clofe to the feathers of Birds. Several parts are hairy, and the hairs 
through a microfcope, feem to be long and ftiff, of a whitith brown colour. - 
Linneus has another kind of {mall infe€t, which he calls Podura, and 
the French Puceron ; in general they have a fhort roundifh body, with 
a crooked forked tail, which affifts its leaping, or rather it is entirely 
for that ufe, for it only walks with its legs, which are fix in number. 
‘ Ie. 
