Urquhart. — On Neiv Species of Araneas. 165 



Art. XXI. — Descriptions of New Species of Araneae. 



By A. T. Urquhart, Corr. Mem. Eoy. Soc. of Tasmania. 



[Read before the Auckland Institute, 17th October, 1892.] 



Fain. DKASSILVE. 



Gen. Drassus, Walck. 



Drassus scitulus, sp. nov. 



Fern. — Ceph.-th., long, 3-6; wide, 2-5. Abd., long, 3'1 ; 

 wide, 2. Legs, 4, 1, 2, 3 = 10-3, 8-5, 7-9, 7-3 mm. 



Cephalotliorax ochraceous or tan-colour ; dorsal aspect 

 mostly covered by a large, brownish, leaf-like mark, whose 

 serrated margins have a somewhat deeper shade ; petiole ex- 

 tends from middle of caput to hind-central eyes ; the broad 

 lateral bands on cephalic part are confluent with the leaf-like 

 figure ; marginal band narrow, fuscous ; thoracic groove red- 

 dish. Very sparingly clothed with fine light hairs. Oval, 

 moderately compressed forwards ; pars cephalica subquadrate, 

 somewhat depressedly convex above ; clypeus less than one- 

 third depth of facial space ; thoracic part slopes somewhat 

 abruptly ; groove w T ell defined ; caput and radial striae fairly 

 well marked ; contour of profile ascends from stalk at an angle 

 of 60° ; caput curved, second half shows a more abrupt 

 incline. 



Eyes do not differ much in size ; posterior row form a 

 slightly procurved line ; median pair on dark, oval spots, sepa- 

 rated from each other by an eye's diameter ; about that 

 interval and a half from laterals ; anterior row recurved, arch 

 about as pronounced as hind-row, length exceeds space occu- 

 pied by three eyes of posterior line, centrals posited on a 

 slight elevation, smallest of eight, placed rather nearer to side- 

 eyes than they are to one another — a space visibly shorter 

 than their own breadth ; laterals posited on low tubercles, 

 divided by an interval fully equalling their own diameter. 



Falces brownish-ochreous ; sparingly haired ; project well 

 beyond plane of clypeus, stout, breadth equal to more than 

 one-half length. 



Maxilla colour of falces ; gradually dilated, round- 

 pointed. 



Labium deeper shade ; oval, half length of niaxillaa. 



Sternum and legs concolorous, clouded round margins ; 

 broad-ovate. 



Legs yellow-ochreous ; femoral joints have four, patellar 

 one, tibial and metatarsal two broken, deep olive-green annula- 

 tions ; sparingly furnished with fine hairs ; spine armature — 



