THE HARVEST SPIDERS 



3207 



last four segments of the abdomen are free, the anterior coalescing with the carapace, 

 which bears a pair of eyes, situated usually upon a single dorsal tubercle. This 

 suborder is represented by numerous families in the tropical countries of both 

 Eastern and Western Hemispheres. South of the Equator it extends to a consider- 

 able distance, reaching in South America as far as Tierra del Fuego; although in 

 temperate lands to the north of the Equator it is 

 poorly represented, there being only a few species 

 of small size in Europe and the United States. In 

 the tropical parts of Central and South America the 

 group attains its maximum of development, both as 

 regards species and genera, and the abundance and 

 size of individuals. In the families Cosmetidce and 

 Gonyleptidce > for instance specimens sometimes 

 reach an inch in length, and cover with their long 

 slender legs a span of many inches. The suborder 

 also has representatives in South Africa and tropi- 

 cal Asia. 



An aberrant group of the I^aniatores is the 

 family Sironidce containing a few species from South 

 Europe and the Oriental countries. These are all 

 of small size with elongate oval bodies, and rela- 

 tively short and stout legs. The palpi, moreover, 

 are not armed with spines, thus resembling those 

 of the following suborder; and the legs are tipped 

 with a single claw. The two eyes, which are situated at the sides of the carapace, 

 are raised on stalks, and generally there is an additional eye on each side at the 



base of the stalk. 







SUBORDER Palpatores 



These harvest spiders differ from the preceding group in having the anterior 

 sternal areas of the abdomen thrust far forward between the bases of the thoracic 

 limbs, so as to lie just behind the mouth. The claw of the palpi is short and weak, 

 and these appendages are small and unspined, being used merely as organs of touch 

 and not of prehension. The legs, moreover, are furnished with a single claw. This 

 group has a more extensive range than the last, being represented by a number of 

 forms in Central and South Europe, and extending even to the Arctic Circle. The 

 best-known family is the Phalangiidce, which is exceedingly rich in genera and 

 species, and appears to be almost cosmopolitan in distribution. The body is often 

 soft skinned, small, and sometimes almost of the size and shape of a pea, while the 

 legs, on the contrary, are exceedingly long and slender, and even thread-like. 

 Still more curious are the members of the family Trogulidce, in which the integument 

 is hard and thick, while the legs are short and stout, and the front part of the head 

 is produced forward on each side into a distinct plate, meeting its fellow of the 

 opposite side to form a hood, hollowed out below, and concealing the jaws and 

 mouth parts. 



CHILIAN HARVEST SPIDER, 



Gonyleptes chilensis. 

 (Natural size.) 



