New Arachnida. 33 



parts of the tibia (especially the distal part of the upper surface), and 

 sometimes part of the patella above, paler, yellowish or reddish ; the 

 3 posterior pairs of legs mostly yellowish but often partly infuscated, 

 the femora black distally, the coxae pale yellowish. Abdomen 

 blackened, the upper surface with a very broad band of pale hairs 

 (often creamy or whitish in spirits but yellow when dry), which 

 covers nearly the whole upper surface or is constricted in one or two 

 places. Pulmonary opercula often pale yellowish, with white hairs. 

 Sternum reddish yellow. The sternum, the coxae, trochanters, and 

 paler basal portion of the femora of all the legs with silvery white or 

 pale yellowish hairs, as well as black ones ; so also the patellae (only 

 very sparingly in I), tibiae (except basal part of I), metatarsi (except 

 distal part of IV), and base of the tarsi. Legs I, IV, II, III. Tibia I 

 without interior fringe of long hairs. Pedipalps dark, the tarsus 

 narrow at apex and produced, the palpal organ ending distally in 

 a flattened bidentate process, one of the teeth slender and filiform, 

 the other broader and obtuse. 



Measurements. Total length $ $ 4f-6i, 2 $ 5-8 mm. 



Nests. Mr. Schreiner supplied me with a number of details con- 

 cerning the structure of the nests, and also with several complete 

 nests with the surrounding earth. The accompanying figs. 6 and 7 

 on pi. I., drawn to natural size, have been made from two of these 

 nests, and the descriptions of the nests and habits given in the 

 following are from Mr. Schreiner's notes. * 



* For the purpose of travelling the loose sand in which the nests are built may 

 be held together for a short time by first carefully moistening with water. Another 

 and more permanent method, which I suggested to Mr. Schreiner, was employed by 

 him with great success, and is the following : A quantity of solid paraffin is 

 melted and carefully and gradually poured (by means of a small stick) on to the 

 sandy soil at half an inch or so from the edge of the door. The sand rapidly soaks 

 up the melted paraffin, and on cooling the whole mass may be removed and easily 

 transported without damage. The ground, of course, should be perfectly dry. In 

 order to examine such a nest it is necessary to soften the paraffin of the upper 

 part. This is best done by wrapping the nest in cotton-wool, leaving only the 

 upper surface exposed, and then placing the whole in warm oil of turpentine. If 

 the nest is a large one it may be placed in water up to within a quarter of an inch 

 from the upper surface and warm turpentine then poured upon the water. After 

 a short time the door will be sufficiently flexible to be turned over and examined, 

 and will remain flexible for some time after removal from the turpentine bath, but 

 ultimately the whole will harden as before. 



As showing how great a heat these spiders can endure, Mr. Schreiner sends me 

 the following note: "When, on one occasion, I had poured the melted paraffin 

 and it had soaked into the sand and saturated the ' butterfly ' lid, after a little 

 while the spider (finding it a bit hot, no doubt !) walked out from under the lid, 

 leaving a little arch in it where she had travelled ! No doubt this capacity to stand 

 heat is essential to creatures living in sand which, in the hot summer days, becomes 

 almost too hot for the hand to endure." 



3 



