OCR Text |
Show 578 REV. O. P. CAMBRIDGE ON EGYPTIAN SPIDERS. [June 20, each fore central and the fore lateral on its side is less than that between the fore centrals, while that between each hind central and the hind lateral on its side is very much greater than that between the hind centrals, being equal to about (or nearly) double the length of the line formed by these latter; those of each lateral pair are seated obliquely, but not quite contiguously, on a tubercle. The tegs are moderately long and not very strong • they are like the cephalothorax in colour, the femora being spotted with black, principally on their outer sides, the other joints are also marked and irregularly banded with black ; they are furnished with hairs and spines ; those of the second pair are distinctly longer than those of the fourth. In some examples the legs were more or less completely wanting in the black markings and spots. The palpi are short and similar in colour to the legs; the radial and cubital joints are very short, the latter is prominent and somewhat angular on its upperside, where it is furnished with two long, strong, curved, tapering bristles; the digital joint is large, and of an elongate-oval form ; the palpal organs are highly developed and complex, one of the corneous processes near their centre having two prominent, curved, horn-like spines. The falces are moderate in length, but not particularly powerful; and their colour is yellow, with a large blackish patch near their base in front. The maxilla and labium are of normal form ; and their colour is blackish, broadly tipped with pale yellow. The sternum is oval, pointed behind ; and its colour is blackish, marked with a broad, yellow, T-shaped marking on its fore part, followed near the middle by a somewhat diamond-shaped patch of the same colour. The abdomen is of rather large size, and of a regular oval form, and projects considerably over the base of the cephalothorax; it is thinly clothed with hairs and bristles; some of the latter are long, of a pale yellowish colour, and of a spine-like character. Its colour is a straw-yellow, marked and spotted with black ; the upperside presents a prettily freckled appearance, being thickly speckled with small black spots of different sizes, around the principal ones of which there is a slight clear space giving the appearance of an ocellated surface. Along the central longitudinal line of the upper-side there is, usually visible, an indistinctly paler band, edged with a slightly dentated, blackish line and narrowing as it approaches the spinners ; this band is crossed towards its fore extremity by a distinct but irregular black linear marking reaching on each side to a longitudinal dentated black line ; the dentations of these lines are bold, but bluntish ; the underside of the abdomen is also spotted ; there are likewise some other blackish markings, and some indistinct pale patches. In some individuals there is an indistinct pale transverse bar crossing the central one just behind the irregular black line mentioned above ; these examples were of a generally sandy hue, the darker markings being reddish-brown instead of black, and the legs scarcely marked at all. |