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Show 1896.] SPIDERS F R O M T H E LOAVER A M A Z O N S . 725 with a double series of from 6-7 small cusps, on either side, beneath; tarsus ii. without any spines, but furnished with numerous spiniform hairs; tarsi iii. and iv. without spines, but armed with spiniform hairs. Protarsus i. furnished with numerous stout cusps beneath ; protarsus ii. with a few apical and a few other spines on the underside; protarsi iii. and iv. furnished with numerous spines. Tibiae i. and ii. armed beneath with numerous bacilliform spines. Tibiae iii. and iv. armed with numerous spines beneath. Tarsi i. and ii. three-clawed, superiors with single sub-median denticle ; tarsi hi. and iv. two-clawed, superiors with single submedian denticle, inferior claws obliterated. Spinners four : posterior pair less than one-third the length of abdomen; basal joints equal; apical joint double the length of basal: anterior pair very short, equal to basal joint, half a diameter apart. Fang-groove furnished on both sides with a row of stiff rufous hairs, those on the outer margin coarser. Floor of groove studded with a double series of conical teeth, on tbe inner margin 14, on the outer margin 10, tbe latter being the longest. Tooth no. 9 on outer margin is inserted opposite tooth no. 14 on the inner margin. Comparative measurements In millimetres.- § . Carap. 5-5 long., 5-5 lat. Abd. 7 long., 5 lat. Ceph. area 4 long. Stern. 2*75 long., 3 lat. Coxa of pedipalp 2-5 long., 1 lat. Pedes, long. i. 18 -ii. 14-5-iii. 14-iv. 20. Artl. i. 2 - 5 - 1 - 4 - 5 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 3 - 2. Artl. iv. 2 - 2 5 - 1 - 5 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 4 - 2 . Postr. m a m . 2 long.; artl. •5--5-1. Antr. m a m . -5 long., -25 separ. Mandib. 2-5 long. In both sexes there are present on each of the last three joints of all four pairs of legs, on median line of tarsi, at base of protarsi, and at base of tibiae on both sides, several small round tubercles, from whose summit there issues a single, long, fine " sensory hair." The male and female described above were taken together beneath a damp decayed log of wood iu the low-lying part of the forest south of Santarem, on the Lower Amazons. The female was partially buried in the soil beneath the log, the whole body being apparently bedewed with fine drops of moisture. She remained perfectly motionless, and appeared as though dead and in process of decomposition through what appeared to be a minute fungus. The supposed fungus, however, proved to be only the papilliform hairs, each with several drops of moisture on its surface. There appeared to be no tube or nest of any kind, and one is led to suppose that the hairs are used for perceiving the passage of an insect over the spider as it lies buried in the mud. Whether this is so or not one cannot, of course, pronounce with certainty; but the encrustation of the spider with grains of grit, rendering it almost invisible when half buried in the earth, would seem to point to some such habit. The male, which was lying with its legs gathered together, close to the female, is, however, not so encrusted with grit, though the plumose papilliform hairs are very noticeable. |