OCR Text |
Show 1869.] SPIDERS FROM ST. HELENA. 539 thoracic segments; the clypeus is rather less in height than the length of the space occupied by the four central eyes. Eyes eight, in two curved rows, of which the curves are directed backwards ; the front row is the shortest and least curved ; the two fore central eyes are the largest of the eight, and the hind laterals slightly the smallest; those of the front row are equidistant from each other, aud those of the hind central pair are rather nearer to each other than each is to the hind lateral on its side; the four central eyes form very nearly a square. Legs moderately long and strong, furnished with hairs, bristles, and spines, of which latter those beneath the tibiae and metatarsi are most conspicuous; colour yellowish brown, clothed with a greyish-yellow pubescence ; the tarsi are thickly set on their undersides with short hairs, and terminate with two strong claws, beneath which is a blackish scopula. Palpi darker in colour than the legs, especially the digital joints, which are of a long, narrow, pointed-oval form, and equal in length to the radial and cubital joints together; the radial is longer than the cubital, it is rather produced at its extremity in front, and has two projections from its outer side, one (which is the smallest of the two) at the extremity, rather beneath, projecting over the base of the palpal organs, and with a curved dark red-brown spine issuing from above it, whose sharply bent point is in contact with the margin of che digital joint; it was difficult to see whether this spine issued from the radial joint or from the base of the palpal organs, but I believe it to be from the former; the other projection issues from near the base of the radial joint on its outer side, it is very strong and has three corneous prong-like projections or claws at its extremity ; the two upper ones sharp-pointed, the lower one broad and obtuse; the palpal organs are of a deep red-brown colour, well developed but not very complicated; they consist of a principal corneous lobe, at the extremity of which, near the outer side, are one or two strong curved points. Falces long, strong, conical, vertical, of a deep rich red-brown colour approaching black, and the surface rough as if from innumerable minute tubercles; they have also on their surface many bristly reddish hairs. Maxillee strong, curved, rounded on their outer sides, and obliquely truncate at their inner extremities. Labium short, broad, and square at its apex, which has its corners slightly rounded off; these parts are of a dark red-brown colour, glossy, but furnished with hairs. Sternum short-oval, of a reddish yellow-brown colour covered with yellow-grey pubescence. The abdomen was much shrunken; but its form appeared to be oblong-oval, truncate at its fore extremity; its colour (formed by a uniform pubescence) was greyish yellow ; on the fore half of the upperside was a central longitudinal somewhat oblong band of dark black-brown, followed towards the spinners by a series of similarly coloured and strongly marked chevrons whose apices had been |