XXIV. SOME INDIAN SPIDERS OF THE 

 SUB-FAMILY TETR AGNATHIN AE. 



By F. H. Gravely, D.Sc, F.A.S.B., Superintendent, Government 



Museum, Madras. 



Spiders of the subfamily Tetiagnathinae must be familiar to 

 all field naturalists in India especially the curiously elongate species 

 which comprise the large and widely di'^tributed genus Tetragnatha, 

 and the handsome silvery species which are among the commonest 

 representatives of the genus Lencauge {^Argyroepeira). Both are 

 moisture-loving genera, most abundant in the rains, and often 

 frequenters of vegetation bordering streams and tanks, among 

 which Xhty spin their circular and generally more or less horizontal 

 webs. Leucauge is usually diurnal and sits in its web all day ; but 

 Tetragnatha is more nocturnal and commonly rests by day with its 

 legs stretched straight out in front of and behind it on a twig, 

 leaf or blade of grass near its web — or sometimes (e.g. T. gracilis) 

 on a twig which passes through the centre of the web. 



Eleven other genera of the subfamily are recorded from the 

 Oriental Region in Simon's " Historie Naturelle des Araignees," 

 namely Atelidea, Atiniiosa, Dolichognatha, Dyschiriognatha, Eucta, 

 Metfi, Mitoscelis, Orsinome, Pachvgnatta, Timonoe and Tylorida, and 

 of these all except Mitoscelis and Tylorida are already known from 

 India, Burma or Ceylon. Only two of them, however, namely 

 Eucta and Orsinome, can be dealt with in the present paper as the 

 others are not sufficiently represented in the collection before me. 

 This collection belongs to the Zoological Survey of India, except 

 for a few specimens belonging to the Madras Museum and a few 

 belonging to Mr. Srinivasa Rao.' 



Eucta closely resembles Tetragnatha in form and lives in similar 

 places, often in company with it. i It is distinguished from Tetrag- 

 natha by having the posterior end of the abdomen produced beyond 

 the spinnerettes into a sort of tail. Orsinome closely resembles 

 Leucauge, but is less strikingly marked with silver than are the 

 commoner species of that genus, and can be distinguished from 

 all by the absence of Lcucauge's characteristic line of hair on the 

 outer side of the femur of the fourth leg. It spins its webs among 

 rocks in the beds of mountain streams, and lets itself down into the 

 torrent below when disturbed, clinging to anj- rock against which 

 it may be washed and hiding there an inch or two below the surface 

 of the water till it feels safe to return to its native element. 



' The types of all new species described are in the collection of the Zoolog- 

 ical Survey of India, Indian Museum, Calcutta 



