Subgenus PARADESMUS.
Dorsum modice convexura. Laminæ laterales magnæ,—horizonti ad libellam respondentes.
Dorsum convex. Lateral laminæ large, horizontal.
P. erythropygus.
P. olivaceo-castaneus; scutis postice aurantiaco maculatis; laminis lateralibus aurantiacis; scuto anale vix triangulare; appendicibus masculis modice robustis, spina terminale gradatim curvata, spinulo breve lato acuto armata, ultima bifida. (Fig. 46.)
Olive-chestnut; scuta posteriorly maculate with orange; lateral laminæ orange; anal scutum scarcely triangular; male appendages moderately robust; their terminal spine, gradually curved, distally bifid, armed with a short, broad, acute spine.
P. erythropygus, Brandt, Recueil, p. 134.
" Gervais, Suit, a Buffon, Apteres, vol. iv, p. 106; Exped. L'Amer. du Sud (Castelneau), Myriapoda, p. 6.
" Saussure, Mem. Soc. Nat. Hist. Geneva, vol. xv, p. 296.
P. Carolinensis, Saussure, Mem. Soc. Nat. Hist. Geneva, vol. xv, p. 295.
" Gervais, Exped. L'Amer. du Sud (Castelneau), Myriap., p. 14.
| Fig. 46. | Fig.47. |
| |
The general color of this elegant species is an olive-chestnut; in some individuals the olive overpowering the other tint, and approaching Sometimes to a slate color; in others the chestnut predominating. The color is not uniform, it shading darker and darker towards the maculæ. The latter are somewhat semicircular, bright orange, and placed on the posterior margin of the scuta. In most specimens there is a well-marked, black dorsal line. The vertex furrow is strongly pronounced. The anterior surface of the head has a pair of almost obsolete punctiform impressions, and is scarcely emarginate. The antennæ are coarsely pubescent, and not clavate. The first scutum frequently has an orange spot on its anterior margin. The last scutum has its posterior portion very broad, thin, and of an orange hue. The lateral laminæ are larger than in P. hispidipes; and their edges, though thickened, are not so much so as in that species. They are bright both on their Upper and under surfaces. The feet are somewhat hairy, and, with the under surface of the body, of a dull-yellow color. The terminal spine of the male appendages has something of the swan-neck curve; on one of its surfaces there is a thorn-like spinule; distally it is shortly bifid. The female appendages (Fig. 47) are composed of a
