OCR Text |
Show 1870. REV. O. P. CAMBRIDGE ON NEW ARANEIDEA. 745 also elevated into a similar horn, straight, sharp-pointed, and inclining backwards; the surface of the cephalothorax is black; it reflects green and golden tints in a strong light, and is uniformly granular over the thorax; the caput is strongly and thickly punctured, and has a bright red-brown hue between the eyes; the cly* peus, which is of remarkable size, and wider than the upper part of the caput, is about double as broad as it is long; it is rounded on the lateral, and hollow on the fore margin ; the latter projects considerably over the base of the falces, and is armed along its edge with a row of small spines. The eyes may be described either as in two widely separated groups of four each, or in two nearly concentric long curved rows, the curve directed forwards, and the hinder row the longest. The external eyes of each row are larger than the centrals, and the space between each of the centrals of either row is equal; these four eyes thus form a transverse parallelogram, whose length is more than double its breadth ; the two hind central eyes are the smallest of the eight; the two laterals on either side spring (one before and the other behind) from the base of the two horns above mentioned. Legs black, furnished with a very few small spines, fine bristles, and hairs; those of the first three pairs seemed to have little or no difference in their relative length, those of the fourth pair being considerably the longest; each femoral joint is prolonged on its upperside into a strong bluntish spur; a somewhat bent and long narrow cream-yellow stripe is conspicuous on the uppersides of the metatarsi of the first two pairs of legs, and a smaller one on those of the third pair. The tarsi as well as the fore extremity (on the underside) of the metatarsi are thickly furnished with hairs; and beneath the two terminal claws is a scopula, or brush of close-set hairs. Palpi short, strong, and tapering; they are similar to the legs in colour; the radial and digital joints are closely united and look almost like one joint, the latter are thickly furnished on their undersides with short papillseform hairs. No terminal claw was visible; but possibly a very minute one may be concealed by the hairs with which the extremity is furnished. Falces short, strong, conical, and nearly vertical; they are set back beneath the prominent lower margin of the clypeus; their colour is a brightish yellow, with the extremities dark red-brown ; and their upper surface is furnished with spiny bristles. The maxillae, sternum, and connecting pedicle between the abdomen and cephalothorax are black. The abdomen is short, broad-oval or roundish, and a little pointed behind, moderately convex above, somewhat rugulose, longitudinally on the sides, and transversely below; it is sparingly clothed with short hairs and a few pale bristles, and is of a dull greyish olive-green hue, broadly darker along the median line of the upperside ; on either side of this, and not very far from the centre of the abdomen, is a not very conspicuous circular impressed eye-like marking of a deep brown colour. The spiracular plates form one large deep-black-brown shining coriaceous area enclosing the epigyne, the aperture of |