Mr. J. N. Ilalbert on Irish JlydracJiniJa. II. — Notes on Irish HydracJinida ; wiih Descriptions of a new Genus and Two new Species. Bj J. N. Halbert. [Plate II.] The following paper contains vecon.ls of some species of new or rare Hydrachnida selected from a large amount of material found in various localities in Ireland during the last five years. Of these species two appear not to have been previously described ; one of them proves to be the type of a new genus, while of the remaining species eight are here recorded for the fir^<t time from the Britannic * area. It was originally intended to reserve the new mites for description in a general list of the Irish Hydrachnid fauna which is being prepared. Before such a list can be com-pleted, however, it is necessary to carry out some further collecting in certain parts of the country, and it seems more satisfactory to record the new species without further delay. The most interesting of the new mites is one of which I was fortunate enough to find fully developed specimens when collecting last May in the south-west of Ireland. The species in question seems to bean extremely isolated form, possessing a combination of diameters which at once distinguish it from any of the known genera. It would be easy to briefly define a new genus for the reception of this mite by referring to the structure of a very few organs, sucli as the palps, legs, &c. ; in a group like the Hydrachnida, however, where there is such a great variety of structural detail, it seems especially necessary to rely on a combination of various characters in the formation of new genera. I have to acknowledge the assistance of the Irish Fauna and Flora Committee sujiported by the lioyal iSociety, ami also of the same Committee when acting under the auspices of the Boyal Irish Academy : several grants enabled me to collect in distant parts of the country. The nomcnclatui'e used in the following list is that of the 'Tierreich^ (" Hydrachnidfe und Ilalacarida?,'' Piorsig and Lohmann, Lieferung 13, 1901). * The use of the word Britannic instead of British for faunistie purposes has been proposed by Professor G. II. Carpenter, as the latter trrni is now so frequently used to distinguish records referring-to Great lirilain alone (' Irish Naturalist/ vol. xv. p. IM).
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