OCR Text |
Show 1875.] NEW SPECIES OF ERIGONE. 325 and somewhat crescent-shaped one at their base on the outer side, the upper limb of the crescent having a series of short bristly hairs on its margin, and from their extremity projects a reddish brown spiny process whose point is somewhat bifid, and near its base there is a small, curved, pointed spine; the general colouring of the palpal organs is yellowish red-brown, of different tinges, mixed with a little black on the edges of some of the processes. The falces are long, strong, vertical, and rather divergent; towards the extremity of each falx, on the inner side, are three teeth rather widely separated from each other, the upper one being much the smallest. The maxilla are of moderate length, of a broad oblong form, with the outer corners of their fore extremities rounded off and a little inclined towards the labium ; this latter is very short, of a somewhat semicircular form, and of a yellow-brown colour, similar to that of the sternum. The abdomen is of oval form, moderately convex above, and projects a very little over the base of the cephalothorax; it is of a dull pale yellowish brown colour, and clothed (but not thickly) with hairs. The female is larger than the male, the abdomen being much more convex above, and projecting considerably over the base of the cephalothorax ; the form of the genital aperture is peculiar, and from within it there projects backwards a not very long, but strong epigyne. Adults of both sexes of this species were received from M . Simon, by whom they were found at La Grande Chartreuse, France. This Spider belongs to Menge's genus Bathyphantes, which, though difficult to characterize distinctively from either Linyphia or Erigone, will probably eventually be held to be a good genus. It certainly appears to have as much affinity with the former as with the latter ; and its ultimate place will probably be that of a transitional group distinct from either. ERIGONE SERRATA, sp. n. (Plate XLIV. fig. 2.) Adult male, length not quite 1 line. This Spider is very closely allied to E. sylvatica, Bl., but may be distinguished at once by being much smaller, by the caput being less elevated, its highest point being no higher than the thoracic junction, and also by the closer grouping of the eyes, those of the hinder row being as nearly as possible equidistant from each other, while in E. sylvatica the interval between those of the hind central pair is distinctly less than that between each of them and the hind lateral on its side. Owing to the less-elevated caput, the height of the facial space and clypeus is also distinctly less than in E. sylvatica. In several important particulars there is a very marked similarity between the two species. Thus the present one has the peculiar, and very characteristic, longitudinal row of minute denticulations on the front of each of the falces; the palpi and palpal organs also are remarkably similar, the latter having on their outer side an almost identically shaped corneous process, whose upper edge is distinctly serrated ; the cubital joint also has a similar strong, tapering, nearly |