6-i Olservailon!} on souie Insects little knoii'iu 



Rhingla tinniens. R. hirsuta, atra, thorace glabr6, abclo- 

 niinis scgmento prlmo albo, ano flavo. 



Lcpechin, in the fiidt part of the Journal of his Travels 

 through difl'crcnt Parts of the Russian Empire*, describes 

 a spider, which, on account of its remarkable characters, 

 deserves a place in our systems, of which it has hitherto 

 been deprived. It has, perhaps, been overlooked, because 

 Lepechin calls it a tarantula j a name very improper, since 

 the spider described by him differs very much from the ta- 

 rantula {aranea tarantula) . At any rale, on account of this 

 difference it ought to be distinguished by the name of the 

 Tartarian tarantula. His description is as follovvs ; 



On account of the saline nature of the districts around 

 L solia, a very dreadful kind of spider is fond of frequenting 

 them. These aiaimals reside in holes under the earth, and 

 the passage which conducts to thcni docs not seem to be 

 above a quarter of an arschine in depth. They extend their 

 webs on the ground before tiieir hole, and devour without 

 mercy the insects which fall into tliem. The exterior part 

 of the body is entirely covered with soft hair, which gives 

 them a horrid appearance. The head has the figure of a 

 "half pyramid, the sharp side of which represents the mid- 

 dle of it, and the bottom the forehead. The breast is co- 

 vered by a roundish siiield, whitish on the edges and fur- 

 nished in the middle with black hair. Small white and 

 almost imperceptible veins, which proceed from the white 

 edge of the shield, meet in the centre. On the top of the head 

 there are eight eyes, the smallest of which, four in num- 

 ber, occupy the lowest place before the mandibles : above 

 these there arc two large eyes, and above these two others 

 of a moderate size. Besides these there are large, bright 

 red eves on the sides above the mandibles. The two 

 mandibles are covered with soft hair, blackish at the 

 ends, armed with small pointed and stiff hooks. The 

 feelers consist of four joints ; three of them are reddish 

 brown ; the other, which is the last, is black, and has a 

 blunt point. On the back there are two rows of whitish 

 points between the black ones. 



The lower part of this spider is black and rough. The 

 first joints otthe legs are reddish brown on the lower side; 

 the next is short, and black all around ; the third is red- 

 dish brown, with a black band at the end ; the fourth and 

 fifth are grayish black, and the last is split in the form of 

 a, claw. The rump is furnished with six papillae, two of 



■* German edition, Altenbourg 1774, p. 200. 



which 



