232 ABRANEIDEA. 
- 8. Cyrene pratensis. (Tab. XIX. figg. 4, 4a-e, ¢; 5, 5a-d, 2.) 
Hyllus pratensis, Peckh. Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Wisc. 1885, p. 70, t. 2. fig. 6 (¢) (Dec.)’. 
Cytea (?) concinna, Peckh. loc. cit. p. 74, t. 2. figg. 8, 8a (2) ”. 
Type, 3, H. pratensis, and 9, C. concinna, in coll. Peckham. Total length, ¢ 10, 2 8 millim. 
Dried example, ¢. Carapace deep red-brown or black, having a central narrow band of white scales 
extending from between the posterior lateral eyes almost to the posterior margin ; posterior two-thirds of 
the lateral margins with a narrow band of white scales; posterior margin devoid of scales. Cephalic 
area clothed with dull greyish-green scales ; anterior central eyes set in yellowish-pink hairs. Abdomen 
bright rust-red dorsally, with a broad dark brown or black margin, and a broad central longitudinal band 
of white scales, pure white anteriorly, tinged with yellow and somewhat narrowed in the centre, 
becoming dilate again at the spinners; sides broadly clothed with grey or white hairs, which are not 
continued, however, in front; ventral area brown. 
Mandibles deep red-brown, transversely rugulose. Palpi red-brown, the femora above clothed with white 
scales. Legs i. and ii. red-brown, iii. and iv. paler; tarsi pale yellow, clothed with brown hairs; the 
segments of iii. and iv. suffused with dusky brown at their apex. 
Inner upper angle of mandible, which bears the usual two teeth, prominent. Palpal bulb deeply bilobate at 
. its base, the outer lobe narrowed and prolonged ; the apical spine slender, elongate, and slightly curving, 
its point directed outward; tibial spur slender (often stouter), elongate, and deeply bifid at its apex, 
forming a little fork, sometimes deeply cleft like the tongue of a snake. 
‘9. Carapace yellow; cephalic area brown or black, with brown hairs interspersed with rich red-brown ones, 
especially just above the anterior central eyes ; all the eyes are encircled with yellow hairs; a conspicuous 
/N\-shaped yellow mark, its branches converging in front but not actually meeting, lies on the anterior 
part of the cephalic area; and a yellow band, pointed in front, terminating behind in the middle of the 
thoracic area, starts from between the dorsal eyes. The carapace is also bordered with a band of whitish 
hairs on the sides, and besides numerous whitish hairs there are inconspicuous obliquely curving bands of 
these hairs on the sides just behind the cephalic area. Abdomen black in the centre, rich red-brown in 
front and at the sides of the dorsal area ; with a central yellow arrow-head directed forwards, followed by a 
transverse-oval yellow spot centred with red-brown, behind which to the spinners is a band of rich red- 
brown, flanked on each side, touching it, by three small pure white spots; the front and lateral margins 
are yellow, the latter with a long sinuous dark line, more or less broken up, running towards the spinners : 
-ventral area clothed with grey-white hairs. Mandibles, clypeus, palpi, and legs uniform yellow, clothed 
with grey-white hairs. In some examples the ventral area is dusky black, and the transverse-oval dorsal 
spot has oblique lateral branches. 
Vulva consisting of a transverse sinuous rim in front, its centre projecting forwards and curving forwards at 
the sides, with a central longitudinal furrow, having a raised central carina; the posterior margin is 
sinuously emarginate and the sides are convex, with the oviducts showing dark beneath the surface. 
Hab. Mexico, Teapa (H. H. Smith); Guatemara!? (Sarg). 
Since the above was written, Mr. Peckham’s paper ! has come to hand, and it enables 
me to identify the male and female described as his Hyllus pratensis and Cytwa concinna 
respectively. The coloration of the male, as is often the case, appears, at first sight, 
to be quite different from that of the female, and one would not suppose that they 
belonged to the same species. We have, however, luckily, an immature male which 
represents a conclusive transitional stage between the two sexes; it has the whole 
of the dorsal area of the abdomen red, and the spots, so conspicuous in the female, 
quite distinct, but very faint (in the adult male only the slightest traces of them 
remain). In the immature male also the \-shaped or oblique pale lines on the 
cephalic area are quite distinct. 
