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Show 38 REV. O. P. CAMBRIDGE ON N E W ARANEIDEA. [Feb. 5, Collett from near Meiktela, Upper Burmah, through the kindness of Mr. George King (of the Botanic Gardens at Calcutta). They are closely allied to Idiops crassus, Sim. (also a Burmese spider,); but differ in being of a much paler hue, as well as (apparently) in the relative disposition of the eyes and armature of the legs ; these in Idiops crassus are said to be armed with spines as in Idiops syriacus, Cambr., in which the smaller denticulate spines are almost wholly absent. From Idiops syriacus the present species also differs in being larger and of a duller hue ; also the denticulce on the maxillse are confined to their inner side, and there are only two in a transverse line at the apex of the labium. The eyes also of the hind central pair in I. syriacus are separated by a comparatively wider interval than in I. colletti, being double as far apart as each is from the lateral eye on its side. Nests of these spiders accompanied them. They are of the cork-lid type, and present some interesting features. I cannot perhaps do better than append the very graphic account of them given by General Collett:- "These spiders are apparently more or less gregarious in their habitations ; where one is found five or six more will perhaps be found within the radius of a yard ; but a solitary nest is not at all unusual. "The soil they inhabit is a stiff argillaceous (?)sand, quite free of stones, very hard at this time of year, though probably soft and easy for the spiders to burrow in during the rainy season. "The surface of the ground in which the burrows are found is usually thinly covered with a scanty growth of grass, now dry and withered. Where the grass is thick the burrows are not so common, but this is possibly due to the increased difficulty of detecting them. " All the burrows that I have seen (a hundred or more) are situated in an open grassy plain, now cleared, but recently covered with a low scrub jungle, and having a gentle slope. None have been found on banks or on steeply sloping ground. "The upper surface of the burrow door is flush with the level of the ground, except occasionally where the superficial soil appears to have been washed away by the rain since the nest was made. It is of precisely the same appearance and colour as the adjacent ground, and the burrows are therefore extremely difficult of detection. " I have never observed any accumulation of earth near the mouths of the burrows, though a considerable quantity must have been excavated in the construction of a hole more than half an inch in diameter and seven inches deep. Nor have I succeeded in findin» any burrows in course of construction, though empty and disused burrows with displaced doors are not uncommon. It is possible that the spiders excavate only during the rainy season, when the soil is soft. At the present time no rain has fallen for three months past. " The door, or rather lid, of the burrow is composed of grains of sand firmly agglutinated together, perhaps with some secretions from the insect; its upper surface is exactly similar in general appearance to the adjacent ground, and is often covered with the dry, black |