OCR Text |
Show 202 REV. O. P. CAMBRIDGE ON T W O [Mar. 18, The labium is similar in colour to the sternum, with a pale apex, but the maxilla-: are pale brownish cream-colour, with a brown marking towards their base on the inner side. The abdomen is of a dull yellowish brown (deepening to sooty black in some examples) on the upper side, softening off into cream-yellow on the sides and underneath. Along the middle of the upper side, but not extending to either extremity, is a fine cream-yellow line, and the middle of the hinder part is of a blacker hue than the rest. The tubercles are numerous, symmetrically disposed towards the sides and hinder part, shining, subconical, of various sizes, with a short bristle at the apex of each. The spinners, and the surrounding area to a small and irregular extent, are of a whitish cream-yellow hue. The underside of the abdomen is marked with some considerable patches of black. Examples of this Spider were received some years ago from Ceylon, from the late Mr. G. H. K. Thwaites. ORNITHOSCATOIDES NIGRA, sp. n. (Plate XV. fig. 4 ) Adult male, length lg line. The cephalothorax is of a deep rich black-brown hue, tuberculose, and between the eyes of each lateral pair there is (as in O. ceylonica) a short horn-like prominence ; the tubercular prominences on which those eyes are placed are stronger than in that species ; giving a much nearer appearance to the form of the ocular area in Thomisus. The eyes are larger than in either of the foregoing species, but preserve the same proportion and relative position as in 0. ceylonica, and have narrow yellowish rims. The height of the clypeus is less than half that of the facial space. The legs are moderately long and strong, black, tuberculose, armed with long and strong, but not numerous spines on the tibiae and metatarsi of the first and second pairs. Some of the tubercles in a longitudinal row on the underside of the femora of those pairs are white ; a white annulus encircles the extremity of the metatarsus in all the legs; and near the middle of the femora of the third and fourth pairs is a broad annulus of a clear yellow-brown hue, and the tips of the tarsi in these legs are also white. The tibiae are bent, as in O. ceylonica. The palpi are short; humeral joints black-brown, with a white spot or two near their fore extremity ; the cubital joint is somewhat nodiform, brown, with a white spot or two on the inner side ; the radial is similar in colour and length to the cubital; its fore extremity is enlarged and has on the outer side an apophysis of a somewhat spine-like character, as long as the joint, tapering to an exceedingly fine, slightly curved, sharp point directed forwards and outwards ; the digital joint is of moderate size, ordinary form, and of a deep brown colour. The palpal organs are of a simple form, encircled with a blackish spine. The falces are moderate in length and strength, of a deep black-brownish hue. The sternum, labium, and maxilla are black, the last slightly tipped with a pale colour. |