| OCR Text |
Show 328 REV. O. P. CAMBRIDGE ON SPIDERS [Apr. 20, tridenticnlate on their outer sides, and a lateral, elongate, somewhat triangular silvery patch near the upper part on each side, the apex of the abdomen also being of a silvery colour. This variety is the one'figured (Plate XXVIII. figs. 2 a', b'), and is a very striking and beautiful one: in most varieties the two ordinary silver spots underneath, in a transverse line in front of the spinners, are visible; but none were apparent in the variety figured. In this variety also the legs are nearly black, softening to a dark brown towards their extremities, the metatarsi being pale yellow-brown. Other varieties, in which the silvery hues of the abdomen prevail, have the legs of a more or less dark yellow-brown, the fore extremities of the tibiae of the first pair being black-brown, and the tarsi and metatarsi light yellowish brown. The legs are slender, furnished with fine hairs only; their length is moderate, those of the first pair, as usual, considerably the longest, and those of the third pair very short-1, 2, 4, 3. The colour of the cephalothorax appears to vary with the general colouring of the legs and abdomen, the lighter-coloured examples having a more or less dark yellow-brown cephalothorax, while that of the dark examples is a deep black-brown. Examples of this species were contained in the collection of Spiders sent to me from the Amazons by Professor Traill. ARGYRODES ABSCISSA, sp. n. (Plate XXIX. fig. 7.) Adult male, length to the spinners 1| line, and to the apex of the abdomen 2|. In the form of the fore part of the caput this Spider is not unlike Argyrodes epeirce, Sim., with the lower prominence or lobe cut off near its base. This lobe has therefore a truncated appearance, and is much shorter and less robust than the upper one ; its extremity is furnished thickly with strong prominent hairs forming a tuft; those of the upper lobe are less numerous, and, as usual, directed forwards; this latter lobe forms a strong subconical eminence rounded at its apex and protruding upwards from between the four central eyes, its base occupying the whole of the quadrate area comprised within them. Looked at in profile, the caput rises gradually from the thorax, and there is a slight dip or depression between the eyes of the hind central pair. The thorax is more than usually gibbous just behind the thoracic indentation. The colour of the cephalothorax is dark yellowish brown. The legs are dull brownish yellow, the genual joints and a small portion at the fore extremity of the tibiae and metatarsi of those of the third and fourth pairs being of a darker hue, giving those legs a slightly annulate appearance ; they are long and slender, but not inordinately so, and are furnished with short fine hairs only. The palpi are rather long and strong. The radial and cubital joints are of about equal length ; both are strong, the latter bent and clavate, the former broad and dilated at the anterior extremity. The digital joint is rather large, strongly bifid at its extremity, and |
