Superfamily Avicularioidea 



The atypical tarantulas agree with the two preceding sub- 

 families in having the postabdomen situated a considerable 

 distance above the spinnerets; and in that the furrow of the 

 chelicerae is indistinct. They possess three pairs of spinnerets. 



This is a small family, including only two genera of which 

 but one occurs in the New World. 



Genus ATY PUS (At'y-pus) 



The sternum bears four pairs of sigilla, of which the fourth 

 pair is much the larger. The hind spinnerets are four-jointed; 

 and much longer than the others. The labium is joined to 

 the sternum without any trace of a suture. 



Only two species of this genus have been discovered in our 

 fauna. 



The Purse-web spider, Atypus abbotii (A. ab-bot'i-i).— The 

 adult female measures one half inch or more in length. The 

 cephalothorax is brown with a very narrow black margin; and the 

 eye-space is dusky. The legs, pedipalps, and chelicerae are of 

 the same colour as the cephalothorax; but the claws of the chelic- 

 erae are dark. The abdomen is dark brown, with many paler 

 points and small spots. This is the Atypus milberti of Banks' 

 Catalogue. Both specific names were proposed by Walckenaer, 

 but abbotii occurs on the earlier page. 



The rarity and the limited distribution of this spider is to be 

 regretted; for it is one with exceedingly interesting habits. Al- 

 though there are a few records of the collecting of Atypus in the 

 North, I know of its occurrence only in the more southern por- 

 tions of our territory, and have found it common in but one lo- 

 cality. This was near Lake City, Fla., where my attention was 

 called to it by Prof. H. Harold Hume. But Mr. Banks informs 

 me that there is a colony of it at his home near Washington, D. C. 



The name purse-web spider, given to this species by Abbot, 

 who discovered it in Georgia one hundred years ago, is a happy 

 one for the web spun by it is a long silken tube, which resembles 

 in a striking way the silken purses of our grandmothers. 



The purse-web spider lives in a tunnel in the ground, which 

 in those that 1 studied was almost invariably made at the base 

 of a tree; but sometimes they make their nests among herbaceous 

 plants. This tunnel is lined by a silken tube, which is extended 



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