212 AMERICAN SPIDEKS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



are glossy brownish black, the pubescence gray bristles, without spines. The abdomen 

 ditfers from that of G. maura in that the six thornlike spines are much more pointed, and 

 are a bright rosy, reddish brown color, though the tips are blackish, and entirely covered 

 with bristles, rising out of strong black bases. The anterior thorns are directed somewhat 

 forward ; the posterior are larger, and decidedly directed backward ; two similar cones project 

 from the apical part. The abdomen is yellow, reticulated, and covered sparsely with soft, 

 short, grayish bristles, the dimpled pits surrounded by black patches, in some cases blended 

 together. There are ten of these dimples upon tlie basal row and nine upon the posterior 

 row. The latter are arranged in three groups, the two larger at the base of the posterior 

 side thorn, the posterior one of these two forming, with the posterior two of the central 

 quadrilateral, a row whose curvature is backward. The marginal row has five smaller 

 dimples between the bases of the posterior thorns, and slightly curving backward. In the 

 basal row the two dimples near the bases of the anterior spines are larger than the others. 

 The sides and venter are black, mottled with yellow spots, covered with soft yellowish 

 gray bristles. The spinnerets are black, and the epigynum is a strong projecting cone, 

 which is tipped with reddish brown. The epigynum (Fig. 9a) has a long subtriangular 

 atriolum, whose edge is deei)ly indented on either side of the base of a short scapus, 

 which is little more than a rounded and roughened hump. 



Distribution : I have collected this species in Texas, have specimens from Xoi'th 

 Carolina, and a number from the islands of the Caribbean Sea, collected by Mr. C. H. 

 Townsend. Dr. Marx locates tlie species in Florida, Alabama, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, 

 and California. It is therefore distributed along the entire Gulf Coast of the United States, 

 and thence across the continent to the Pacific Coast, where it abounds, at least in the 

 southern portion thereof. 



Genus ACROSOMA, Perty, 1834. 



In Acrosoma the cephalothorax is a rather lengthened oval, truncated behind, but 

 low in front. The fosse is not deep, the cephalic suture distinct, the head arched and 

 somewhat erect, quadrate and wide in front ; the skill hard, glossy, and comparatively 

 smooth. The stenium is longer than wide, marked )jy decided sternal cones. The 

 labium, and maxillse are as in Epeira. The fourth pair of legs the longest, the order 

 being 4, 1, 2, 3; well clothed with pubescence, bristles, and short, stubby, bristlelike spines, 

 but lacking the ordinary spinous armature. The eyes are substantially as in Epeira. The 

 abdomen is an elongated rectangular ovate, upon a dorsum the skin of which is hard, 

 glossy, covered with dimples, and marked along the margin by conical tubercles, more or 

 less pointed. The venter is conical, the spinnerets placed at the apex, nearly underneath 

 the middle of the abdomen. The characteristics of this genus are so distinct that it is 

 difficult to mistake the identity, at least of the known American species. 



No. 67. Acrosoma gracile (Walckexaer). Plate XXI, Figs, l, 4. 



1837. Pleclana prrtcifo, Walckenaer . . Ins. Apt., ii., p. 193; Abbot, G. S., No. — . 



1845. Acrosoma matroiiale, Kocii, C. .' . Die Arach., xi., p. 08, Fig. 887. 



1850. Epeira riigom, Hentz J. B., vi., p. 21; Sp. U. S., p. 124, xiv., 10. 



1884. Acrosoma rtigosa, Ejieeton . . . N. E. Ep., p. 326, xxxviii., 10. 



1888. Acrosoma gracilis, McCooK . . . Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., p. 5. 



1889. Acrosoma gracile, Makx Catalogue, p, 539. 



Female: Total length, 10 mm.; abdomen, 7 mm. long (not including the posterior 

 spines), 4.5 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 3.5 mm. long, 2.5 mm. wide. The colors vary in 

 different species, but the fore part of the body is generally a dark orange or reddish 

 brown, while the abdomen is yellow, with brown or red thornlike spines. 



Cephalothorax: Corselet irregular oval, truncated behind; rather flat on the edges, 

 elevated in the centre; fos.se a low circular depression; skin glossy, hard, slightly covered 



