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Genus Philongria, Kinahan.
(Bate's and Westwood's “British Sessile-eyed Crustacea,” vol. ii., p. 454.)
Generic character.—“Ovate, subdepressed. Cephalon without frontal or lateral lobes. Outer antennæ 9- or 10-jointed, with the second joint cylindrical; terminal joints subulated. Coxæ of first and sixth rings of pleon obsolete. Uropoda entirely exserted; basal portion trigonate. Outer ramus elongate, pointed, and exserted obliquely. Inner narrow, extending beyond the middle of outer, pointed.”
Philongria rosea (loc. cit., p. 460).
Specific character.—“Ovate scabrous, covered with small tubercles. Eyes small. Inner antennæ conspicuous. Outer antennæ with the flagellum slender, with apparently only four articuli, which are very difficult to detect except under a strong lens; tipped with a pencil of hairs. Terminal segment of the pleon with the extremity truncated straight. Colour reddish, with whitish spots and dorsal line.
“Length, three-twentieths of an inch.”
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Hab. Christchurch and Eyreton. In damp situations, under decaying leaves, etc.
This species must, I suppose, have been introduced in some way from England, though there are difficulties in this belief, for I have found it abundantly at two places several miles apart, separated by rivers over which animals of this kind cannot easily cross, and, moreover, it does not appear to be widely distributed in England, for Bate and Westwood say (p. 461):—“We believe that this species has only hitherto been found in Mr. C. Spence Bate's courtyard and cellar, and that of the neighbouring houses, at Plymouth, where it is tolerably abundant.”
I have, however, no doubt that my specimens cannot be distinguished specifically from Philongria rosea, and we must therefore await further information before we can decide whether it has been introduced or not.