— 131 — 



NOTES on the Fauna of Round Island with special reference 

 to the prepared case sent to His Excellency Sir Henry 

 Barkly, K. C. B., by Col. N. Pike. 



Nos. 1 and 2 are, I think, of the same species through dif- 

 fering in colour. I took the 4 specimens in various parts of 

 the Island, and was at first inclined to believe them different, 

 from the bodies of No. 2 being more flattened and almost 

 black. They belong tc the family of the Arachnids genus 

 Ph-ynus, noted for the excessive tenuity of the anterior feet, 

 flattened bodies, and palpi resembling feet, terminating in 

 claws, and bearing a resemblance to scorpions deprived of 

 their tails. This genus is, I believe, principally known in 

 America, Seychelles and the East Indies. There is nothing 

 that I know of like it in Mauritius. In the " Dictionnaire des 

 Sciences Naturelles " at page 56, is figured, Phrynus renifor- 

 mus resembling to Round Island spiders except in the termi- 

 nation of palpi. The latter ends in two long forked spines 

 and three short simple ones exclusive of the sharply pointed 

 claw, and the palpi are of a uniform thickness, and covered 

 with short bristly spines, whereas the P. reniformus have the 

 palpi small at the base, but increasing in bulk to the claw and 

 edged with a fringe of long spines. 



I can find nothing else resembling them though I have care- 

 fully examined all the books procurable on the subject. 

 Vinson who has written a large work on the Arachnids of 

 Mauritius, Bourbon and Madagascar, does not even mention 

 the genus. 



No. 3 is of the genus Olia that is a quite common in all 

 the Mascareigne Islands and at Seychelles. It is a predatory 

 spider and frequents houses and gardens. This particular 

 species I have noticed here, but it very much resembles Olia 

 Zenrosus : being dried up and holding its large egg bag close 

 under body, it is difficult to determine. 



No. 4 is I think an Epeira, and the silver bands give it 

 somewhat the appearance of the male Epeira MoMritia (Vinson) 

 but being so shrivelled I should not like to speak positively 

 about it 



