undescribed Genera and Species of Araneiclfle. 441 



sexual organs, which are semicircular, are of a dark reddish brown colour 

 approaching to black. Plates of the spiracles large and yellow. 



Length, from the anterior part of the cephalothorax to the extremity 

 of the abdomen, ?ths of an inch; length of the cephalothorax £ ; breadth 

 ,V; breadth of the abdomen, i ; length of a posterior leg 4 ' D ; length of a 

 leg of the third pair -fa 



I found specimens of this spider, which does not appear to belong to 

 any of the sections into which . M. Walckenaer has subdivided the genus 

 Drassus, in the woods at Oakland, in July 1833; at which season of the 

 year the female constructs a lenticular cocoon of white silk, of a fine, 

 compact texture, about -r, y ths of an inch in diameter, which she places in 

 a semicircular cavity formed in the ground beneath stones and lined with 

 silk, depositing in it between one and two hundred whitish eggs of a 

 spherical form, not agglutinated together. She is greatly attached to her 

 cocoon and is separated from it with difficulty. Hitherto the male of this 

 species has escaped my observation. 



Tribe, Territel/e, Latreille. 

 Genus, Mygale, Walckenaer. 



Myi 



ale elegans. 



The male of this fine species is unknown to me. The cephalothorax of 

 the female is large, somewhat oval, notched behind, broadly rounded be- 

 fore, and convex above, with an indentation in the medial line, of the 

 posterior region ; its colour is very dark brown with reddish margins. The 

 eyes, which in dead specimens have red irides,are grouped on a small, frontal 

 eminence; three en each side, of an oval shape, form an irregular triangle 

 whose apex is directed forwards, and the other two, which are the largest 

 of the eight, and circular, are situated on a transverse line between the 

 preceding groups; the intermediate eyes of the four constituting the bases 

 of the triangles are much smaller than the rest. Mandibles very powerful, 

 articulated horizontally, prominent, and greatly curved ; they are provided 

 with three longitudinal bands of short, fine hair or down on the upper 

 side, the intervals, where the surface is exposed, being black and glabrous; 

 the superior band is of a brown colour; it is interspersed with numerous 

 long, black hairs, and is much broader than the two exterior bands, which 

 are brown tinged with pale red. Each mandible is terminated by a large 

 curved, acute, black nail bent underneath; a longitudinal row of teeth, 

 and a dense fringe of long, red hair occupying its under side. Lip small 

 and quadrate. Maxillae strong, divergent, and densely fringed with long, 

 red hairs on the inner margin, which is elongated into a pointed protuber- 

 ance before. These organs are of a dark red-brown colour, the apex of 

 the lip being the palest. Pectus quadrilateral, longer than broad, and of 

 a dark brown colour approaching to black. Legs long, robust, tapering to 

 the extremity of the tarsi, which are furnished with a dense brush on the 

 under side, and are terminated by two claws toothed at the base ; first pair 

 the longest, then the fourth, the third pair being the shortest ; their general 

 colour is very dark brown, some narrow longitudinal spaces devoid of 

 hair giving them a striped appearance on the upper side, when closely in- 

 spected ; the anterior part of the coxa?, and the trochanters, are clad with 

 pale red hair above; the joints are reddish beneath, and the tibiae and tarsi 

 are armed with black sessile spines. The palpi, which are long and pedi- 

 form, are inserted at the anterior extremity of the maxillae; their terminal 

 joint has a plain claw at its extremity, and a dense brush underneath ; they 

 resemble the legs in colour, and are provided with sessile spines. Abdomen 

 oval, dark brown above, intersected by six or seven curved bands of a pale 

 ThirdSerics. Vol. 3. No. 18. Dec. 1833. 3 L 



