| OCR Text |
Show 1882.] REV. O. P. CAMBRIDGE ON NEW ARANFIDEA. 431 The labium is short, not half the length of the maxillae, about as broad as long, and rounded at the apex. The sternum is long, and of a triangular form. The abdomen is large and of a quadrate form, being blunt-angular in front, behind, and on each side; the posterior extremity projects beyond the spinners, which (looked at in profile) form another somewhat angular prominence ; the anterior portion projects greatly over the cephalothorax. The colour of the abdomen is yellow, generally appearing to fade to a somewhat clayey colour; on the upperside is a broad, more or less broken, longitudinal central white band, with some lateral blotches or patches of the same colour. The lateral and posterior angles are boldly tipped with black, and five brownish or black marks along the middle indicate the normal impressed spots. The male is smaller than the female, and the abdomen is of a narrower form, the lateral angles being scarcely noticeable ; but in colours and markings the sexes are similar. The palpi are short, the radial and cubital joints particularly so ; the digital joint is large, and has its extremities on the inner side considerably produced in a pointed form and somewhat bent; the convex sides of the digital joints (as is not unusual in some allied genera) are directed inwards towards each other. The palpal organs are tolerably compact but complex, and, though less developed, not much unlike those of C. albomaculata. Numerous examples of this pretty Spider, but nearly all females, were contained in collections sent to me some years ago by Mr. G. H. K. Thwaites, from Ceylon. The genus is evidently nearly allied to Euryopis, Menge. Genus THWAITESIA, Cambr. T H W A I T E S I A AFFINIS, sp. n. (Plate X X X I . fig. 8 A.) Adult female, length 2| lines. This Spider is very like Thwaitesia margaritif era, Cambr. (the type of the genus, found in Ceylon). The abdomen is of a similar dull lu-teous- yellowish hue, ornamented with numerous brilliantly shining white, pearly, silvery scale-like blotches; and it also has its posterior extremity produced upwards in a conical form, so that looked at sideways the abdomen is as nearly as possible an equilateral triangle. In the type (from Ceylon) the abdomen is much more produced. The legs are also rather stronger and shorter than in the type, and are armed with fewer distinct spines, while the hairs are stronger and of a more spine-like bristly nature. The colour of the legs is a dull orange, suffused with deep orange-brown at the far extremities of the tibiae and metatarsi, a small portion of the base of the latter being also similarly suffused. The ocular area (or rather the space within the eyes) is raised in a more convex form ; and the genital aperture is smaller and of a totally different form. Each tarsus (in both species) ends with a strongish, black, curved pectinated claw. A single example in Mr. Traill's Amazon collection. |
