OCR Text |
Show 1899.] AND SPIDERS FROM TROPICAL WEST AFRICA. 851 dinal groove in front of it, somewhat as iu Larinia; length carapace exceeding that of 1st tibia, equal to that of 4th protarsus and tarsus and to patella, tibia, and half the protarsus of 3rd leg; width equal to length of 4th tibia and to 41 h protarsus, less than that of 1st or 2nd tibia; median ocular tubercle prominent. Ocular quadrangle much wider in front; the posterior eyes much smaller than the anterior and nearly a diameter apart; anterior medians about a diameter apart, more than a diameter from the posterior medians and from the edge of the clypeus ; eyes of anterior line when viewed from the front procurved, the upper edge of the laterals scarcely on a level with the centre of the medians ; lateral eyes not quite in contact. Mandibles moderately geniculate at the base; fang-groove armed with 4 anterior and 3 posterior teeth. Legs armed with many strong spines; spines black at the base and apex, reddish in the median portion. Abdomen heart-shaped, longer than broad, widely rounded in front, without shoulder-points, narrowly ovate behind, not surpassing spinners. Vulva with scape long and bent at right angles, its base as wide as the basal vertical, vestibular portion, which, when viewed from the side, is seen to send out a bitubercular prominence beneath the scape, from which it is separated by a narrow notch. Measurements in millimetres.-Total length 22; length of carapace 9, width 7-2 ; length of abdomen 14, width 12; length of 1st leg 34, of 2nd 33, of 3rd 19, of 4th 30 ; patella and tibia of 1st leg 13, of 4th 11; tibia of 1st leg 8, of 4th 7. Loc. Benito Biver (G. L. Bates). Mr. Bates procured many specimens of this handsome species. ARANEUS ERESIFRONS POC Araneus eresifrons, Poc. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1898, p. 509, pl. xii. figs. 3-3 b. Loc. Cameroons (H. H. Johnston). Previously recorded from Karagesi (Emin Pasha), Likipia (J. W. Gregory), Taru (Steuart Betton), and Mombasa (D. J. Wilson). This species is certainly nearly allied to A. strupifer Simon (Ann. Soc Ent. France, 1885, p. 368), which, according to Simon, occurs both in Senegal and Cape Colony. In the specimens from the Cameroons the abdomen is frequently variegated above with sooty black, a type of coloration not observed in the East-African forms known to me. ARANEUS TYLOSCAPUS, sp. n. (Plate LV. figs. 3-3 b.) Colour. Carapace testaceous ; cephalic region with blackish spots; legs testaceous, with small black spots ; patellae, tibiae, protarsi, and tarsi banded with black ; mandibles testaceous ; sternum, labium, and maxilla? infuscate; abdomen olive-yellow, variegated with blackish, marked above with five transverse black lines, the anterior of which is the strongest and runs from one shoulder-point to the |