Superfamily Avicularioidea 



Genus MYRMECIOPHILA (Myr-mec-i-oph'i-la) 



In this and in the following genera of this subfamily the fore 

 tarsi at least are furnished with a scopula, although sometimes 

 in the case of males it is not dense. In this genus and in the 

 following the posterior sigilla are large, near together, and widely 



distant from the margin of the sternum. In this 



genus 



the 



chelicerae are furnished on the inside, at the apex, with a blunt 

 and toothed process. The claws, at least the anterior ones, are 

 furnished with a single tooth at the base. 



Two species have been described from the United States. 



Myrmeciophila fluviatilis (M. flu-vi-at'i-lis). — The body 

 of the female measures two thirds inch in length. The cephalo- 

 thorax is dull olive with a rufous tinge; the abdomen, dull yellow- 

 ish; there is a broad longitudinal 

 dorsal band of delicate brown, 

 from which branch on each side 

 seven bands of the same colour, 

 extending down midway of the 

 abdomen. In living specimens 

 the femora are delicate light 

 olive colour. 



The male of this species has 

 not been described. 1 collected, 

 at Austin, Tex., a male spider 

 that belongs to this genus and 

 which may be the male of this 

 species. It is represented by 

 Fig. 222. In alcohol, the cepha- 

 lothorax and appendages are 

 light yellowish, and clothed 

 with black hairs and spines; the abdomen is dirty white ob- 

 scurely marked by a darker folium from which extend bands, 

 in the female of this species. The metatarsus of the first pair of 

 legs is bent, slender at the base, and enlarged at the tip. 



The original description of this species was published bj 

 Hentz, who collected it in Alabama. Later Atkinson ('86) 

 described it under the specific name foliata, and gave the fullest 

 account yet published of its habits. 



Fig. 222. 



MYRMECIOPHILA FLUVIATI- 

 LIS, MALE 



-2 39 



