No. XVIII.— THE ARANE^E, OPILIONES AND PSEUDOSCORPIONES. 



By S. Hirst. 



(Published by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.) 



(Communicated by Prof. J. Stanley Gardiner, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S.) 



(11 Text-figures.) 



Read 2nd February, 1911. 



I. NOTES ON DISTRIBUTION. 



The total number of species of spiders in the collection is forty-nine; forty-five 

 of which occur in the Seychelles group. Thirteen of them had not been recorded 

 previously from these islands, but four of these cannot be determined with certainty, 

 owing to the immaturity of the specimens collected ; they belong, however, to genera 

 hitherto unrecorded from these localities. Five others are new species. The total number 

 of spiders now known from the Seychelles is seventy-one, more than half of which are 

 believed to be peculiar to them, and seven of the latter (Sason seycfiellanum Sim., Crypto- 

 thele alluaudi Sim., Drassodes inaudax Sim., Steiiphopus lacertosus Sim., Clubiona 

 nigromaculosa Blackw., Tetragnatha nigrigularis Sim., and T. modesta, n. sp. (and also 

 Conothele sp. which is only represented by immature specimens)), are of especial interest 

 in that they are closely allied to species which occur in the Oriental region or in 

 Australasia. Two others (Argiope anasuja Thor., and Gasteracantha brevispina Dol.) 

 are also known to inhabit the Oriental region. Two species (Nephila madagascariensis 

 Vins., and Oxyopes dumonti Vins.), are found also in Mauritius, Madagascar and East 

 Africa. Nearly all the remaining species have a wide range and none of them are of 

 especial interest. 



Six out of the eight species of spiders which were collected in the Farquhar islands, 

 have a wide distribution. Another species (Rhitymna valida Blackw.), occurs besides 

 in the Amirantes and Seychelles, and the remaining species (Lathrodectris menavodi 

 Vins.) was only known from Madagascar. An immature example of a species of 

 Platyoides, a genus which has representatives in S. Africa and Madagascar, was also 

 collected in Farquhar. 



From the islands of the Chagos group, nine species of spiders were obtained. Five 

 of them belong to species which have a wide range in the tropics. Another species 

 (Scytodes velutina Lowe) is known to occur in the Canary islands, in many parts of 

 Africa, in Madagascar and in the Seychelles. Two of the others (Carrhotus viduus Thor., 

 and Gasteracantha brevispina Dol.) have a wide distribution in the Oriental region ; the 

 former has been recorded from the Laccadives (Minikoi) and the latter from both the 



