AHCIllTEri'UIJE OF AUSTRALIAN AHANEIU.'f: — UAINBOW. 335 



Of tlip two genera known to occur in Australia, the forms 

 included in the genus Anj/jro^jicird are much the brightest. This 

 genus embraces such well-known and widely distributed species 

 as A. (;eleheftiaii.a, AValck., and A. (ivdinih^fn^ Walck., both of 

 whicli are exceedingly common. 



The webs of these spiders are perpendicular, orbicular, and 

 very regular ; the free zone separating the hub from the spirals is 

 rather large. Attached to the framework of the snare there are 

 numerous iiregular lines, and these form an exceedingly com- 

 plicated network. The ova-sac is floccose, yellow, and filled with 

 concolorous eggs ; it is usually attached to a neighbouiing branch. 

 A. c'^h'Ix'siana, and A. (/notula/a are numerous enough in orchards 

 and gardens around Sydney ; they are also common in scrul)-lands, 

 and in parts of the bush that have been cleared. 



S,<l,-f,nmhj NEPHILINvE. 

 (Fig. 53). 



'J'his sub-family is divided into four groups, namel}', Phonog- 

 nathea', Nephilete, Clitietrett', and Herenniea', and of these the 

 two first occur in Australia The Phonognathese group containing 

 three genera, is at present only known from Australia, and the 

 species are few, but 8imon considers that some Malaisian forms 

 described under the generic names of Epeira, Auct., and Milonia, 

 Thor., are ni all probability referrable to tliis group. The genera 

 Phonof/nafJia, occur in " N.-Hollandia et Tasmania," <S'm(/o^y/>?<a, 

 Sim., "N.-Hollandia," and Ddiochns, Simon, " Nova-Hollandia et 

 Tasmania."'^ 



I'hdtKxpiaiha (/nipffri, L. K.,:^Eppira graejf'ei, L. K., and Meia 

 </r(('iffei, Keys.; Siuf/ufypiui melanin, L. l^.,=Epeira me/ania, L. K., 

 and Mffa viplania, Keys.; H. mplanopyyia, L. K., = £'. melanojyijyin, 

 L. K. ; and Bf^/ioehus zflku'ra, Keys., = JA^/r? zeUvira, Keys. All 

 of these spiders are of medium size, and their Avebs and ova-sacs are 

 similar to those of the Mete;t'. 



The Nephilese include, according to Simon's classification, only 

 one genus, nameh', JVpj)Iii/a, Leach. In 1872 L. Koch founded a 

 genus which he named Sfphi/engi/s, ^'' and which Simon afterwards 

 retired into the cool shades of synonomy. But his argument that 

 Xephilnuiys runs into Xephihi would, as pointed out by Hogg,'^" 

 (who later restored it) "equally serve for connecting through this 

 species all the genera fi'om Nephila to certainly Gea, and perhaps 

 Epeira (Araneus, Simon)." 



Nephili'}ig>/x, if it be permitted to stand, as I think it should, 

 would include of course L. Koch's X. srhmclfzii (Philippine Islands) 



1" Simon — Hist. JVat. des Arai<j;nee8. 2nd ed., i., 1892, pp. 748 9. 



^'' Simon — Loc. cif., pp. 750 and 755. 



20 Hogg-Proc. Roy. See. Vict., xi., 1899, pp. 138-9. 



