ARA0HNIDB9— ARANEIDES— OEBITELARDE. 83 



1. Epeika meekii. 



PI. 11, Figs. 2 ( 9 ), 17 ( ,5 ). 



Cephalotliorax of the male large, the thoracic portion nearly circular, 

 scarcely longer than broad, and distinctly separated from the cephalic por- 

 tion, which is subquadrate, expanding anteriorly, the sides scarcely curved, 

 at the extreme front parallel, the front deeply and angularly incised, the 

 whole about half as large as the thoracic portion. Cephalotliorax of female 

 moderately large, compact, the thoracic portion as in the male, but only a 

 little larger than the square thoracic portion, the latter being equally broad 

 in front and behind, with scarcely convex sides and a slightly excised front, 

 and sparsely furnished, especially along the front, with stiff bristles resem- 

 bling those of the palpi. The ce[)halothorax is marked by a rather broad, 

 dark, median band and two fainter, dark, extreme lateral bands. Abdomen 

 globular, scarcely longer than broad, a little shorter (<?) or a little longer 

 (?) than the cephalothorax, the median portion very broadly marked with 

 brown, deepening toward the middle. Some of the eyes can be seen at the 

 edge of the front in the female, showing simply that they are of the usual 

 size and the two outer separated by their own diameter. The palpi of the 

 female are tolerably stout, stouter than the tai-si, as long as the cephalotho- 

 rax, abruptly terminated, and furnished somewhat abundantly with bristles, 

 considerably longer than the width of the palpi; those of the male have the 

 apical portion large, hemispherical, and liair}-, convexity forward, together 

 nearly as large as the cephalic portion of tlie cephalothorax, and separated 

 from that by a peduncle as long as it: from the inner edge of one projects 

 a gently subfusiform, slender, arcuate riljljon, as long as the width of the 

 terminal joint and directed forward, with the convexity inward. The tibipe 

 are armed above on either side with a row of distant bristles, scai'cely 

 longer than the width of the tibia and farther apart than their length; in 

 the female a few scattered bristles also occur on the femora, especially on 

 the front pair. The fourth pair of legs is shorter than the second in the 

 male, equal to or scarcely longer tlian the second in the female; the third 

 pan- of legs is not perfectly preserved in either of the male specimens, but 

 in the female is half the length of the first. 



Length of body, S 7""", ? 8™™; of cephalothorax, S 2.8""", ? 3.5"™; of 

 abdomen, cf 4.2""", ? 4.5™"' ; width of same, ^ 3"'"', ? 4.2"""' ; length of first 



