OCR Text |
Show 1875.] NEW SPECIES OF ERIGONE. 195 ERIGONE HABILIS, sp. n. (Plate XXVII. fig. 5.) Adult female, length 1 j line. The cephalothorax of this fine species is of a deep rich chestnut-brown colour and very glossy; the caput is roundly convex above and slightly elevated; the thoracic junction is also rather elevated, so that between this point and the caput there is (when looked at in profile) a deepish hollow; the thoracic indentations are rather strongly marked, and the clypeus (the height of which is about half that of the facial space) projects a little forwards towards its lower margin. The eyes are in four pairs, of tolerable size, and form a somewhat roundish oval figure ; those of the hind central pair are separated by an interval equal to an eye's diameter, and each is separated by an equal space from the hiud lateral eye on its side; those of each lateral pair are slightly obliquely placed, and are contiguous to each other ; those of the fore central pair are the smallest of the eight, and situated rather beyond the straight line formed by the fore laterals. They are not quite contiguous to each other, but are separated by a small interval equal to that which divides each of them from the fore lateral eye nearest to it. The legs are long and strong, particularly the femora and tibiae of the first two pairs ; and their relative length appeared to be 4, 1, 2, 3; their colour is yellow, except the femora, which are a bright rich orange-red, and the tibiae of the first and second pairs, which are strongly suffused with brown ; they are all well clothed with hairs, especially the tibiae of the two pairs just mentioned. The palpi are short, of a dark greenish yellow-brown colour, and furnished with hairs and longish bristles. The falces are tolerably long and strong, slightly inclined backwards, a little prominent near their base in front, and similar in colour to the palpi; they are armed with sharp teeth towards the extremities on their inner sides. The maxilla and labium are of normal form; and their colour is similar to that of the falces, that of the sternum being like that of the cephalothorax. The abdomen is oval, and projects well over the base of the cephalothorax ; it is of a dull black colour, sparingly clothed with short hairs : the genital aperture is of simple but characteristic form. A single example of this Spider was received in 1873 from M . Eugene Simon, by w h o m it was found at the Col de Natoia between Embrun and Barcelonnette. Although it is posssible that this m a y be the female of some male already described, I a m inclined to think it is of a new species. It is allied to E. unicornis, Cambr., and to E. clara (id.); but the form of the cephalothorax is different and very characteristic, as also is the length, size, and colour of the legs, the brown tibial joints of those of the first and second pairs, with their more conspicuous clothing of hairs, making them very conspicuous. It is impossible to conjecture what structure the male m a y possess; but it will be probably found to resemble the female in general colouring as well as in that of the tibiae above mentioned. 13* |