| OCR Text |
Show 736 REV. O. P. CAMBRIDGE ON NEW ARANEIDEA. [Nov. 1, Fam. TllERIDlDES. Subfam. SCYTODINA* (Cambr.). Nov. gen. MONETA (nom. propr.). Characters of the Genus.-Cephalothorax rather elevated or gibbous at the thoracic part, lower and flattened before; of a short oval form, narrowest in front, with but a very slight lateral compression at caput. Abdomen somewhat of a quadrangular form, broader behind than before, with a median cylindrical prolongation from its hinder extremity, terminating with the spinners. Eyes eight, rather unequal in size, in two nearly straight parallel rows, spanning the greater part of the width of the caput, and having a prominent hut flattened clypeus; the exterior eyes on either side are seated on a strongish tubercular elevation. Maxillee rather long, strong, enlarged at the base, curved and inclined over the labium, and rounded(?) at the extremities. Labium short and somewhat semicircular in form. Sternum rather long, and much resembling the form of a kite with its sharp end truncated. Legs long, slender, furnished sparingly with hairs and slender bristles ; the tarsi (which are very short) terminate with three claws ; relative length of the legs 1, 4, 2, 3. MONETA SPINIGERA, n. sp. (Plate XLIV. fig. 5.) Female adult, length 1^ line. The thoracic portion of the cephalothorax is slightly humped or gibbous, and the caput depressed; its colour is a clear yellow-brown, with the margins, a series of irregular patches just above them, and a median longitudinal line of brown-black ; the clypeus is prominent. The eyes are placed in two transverse parallel rows of equal length, or in four pairs; those of the two central pairs form very nearly a square ; those of the fore central pair are very small and the smallest of the eight, and are a little further apart than those of the hind central pair, but nearer to each other than each is to the lateral one on its side; those of the lateral pairs are seated respectively on the outer side of a strong and somewhat geminated tubercle, and, as well as those of the hind central pair, have bright pink-red margins; the lateral eyes appeared to be the largest of the eight. Legs longish and slender, those of the third pair very much the shortest, all with unusually short tarsi; they are of a yellowish colour, tinged with brown, marked and faintly banded with darker brown ; the legs generally are very thinly furnished with hairs, perhaps rubbed off; but the tarsi, especially those of the hind pairs, have a distinct row of bristles bearing somewhat of a " calamistrum" appearance. * Subfam. Scytodina includes the genera Scytodes (Latr.), Omosita i Walck.), and Moneta (Cambr.). |
