South Indian Arachnology. 237 



considers that the white ribbons of the stabilimentum conceal 

 the spider's limbs from flies and also from marauding wasps. 

 To my mind they serve only as a background which shows up 

 the spider's limbs. The white may attract flies, but the 

 ribbons are essentially a central support for the body of the 

 spider, which remains on it throughout the day full in the 

 sun's rays. 



Cyrtophora (Sim.), 1864. 

 43. Cyrtophora [Araneus) cicatrosa (Stol.). (PI. IV. fig. 6.) 



Spider found within a wonderfully fine web, which is 

 roughly conical but may have several stages below the dome. 

 This web commonly hangs under bushes of Opuntia or 

 Yucca. Cyrtophora cicatrosa itself is beautifully coloured, 

 dainty, and hangs downwards at the apex of the inverted 

 bowl of the web. The cocoons are suspended vertically 

 above the dome and external to it, all in line. They are 

 whitish, but show up green in spirit. Gravely reports having 

 found these spiders in communities with their webs, but 

 I have got them always quite apart, each spider within its 

 own web. The commensal. Argyrodes argentatus is present 

 occasionally. 



The cocoon is 5 mm. long, bead-shaped, oval in outline 

 with the inner coat very strong. I have found 20 young 

 within the cocoon. The spider keeps adding to the number 

 of cocoons, which therefore varies greatly. In the photo 

 there were at first 3, then 7, and I have seen as many as 12 

 all in line. 



The diameter of the base of the dome is usually about 

 6 inches. Ceylon specimens are much darker in their 

 markings than the Madras ones ; the colour of their cocoon 

 is also deeper in shade. 



Locality. Madras, Ennur, Pallavaram ; Dolosbage, 

 Ceylon ; Kayencolam, Travancore. 



This spider is not reported from Ceylon by Pocock. He 

 classes Cyrtophora with Araneus, considering that no very 

 important or constant character separates the two genera. 

 I agree with Simon (i. p. 773) that being so very different 

 in the form of their webs, which recall those of Linyphia, 

 that it is therefore convenient to keep the two separate. 

 The genus Araneus, in the limited sense, contains already 

 some 800 described species. 



Cyrtophora citricola (Forsk.). 

 This, the type-species, is very widely distributed. It has 

 Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 9, Vol. iv. 18 



