145 



GEOPHILID^E. 



<.< opiiiins bipnncticeps, Wood. Two specimens of this distinctly 

 marked species were recently collected by the writer in Jefferson Co. One 

 of these specimens has sixty-five pairs of legs. 



, . Specimens of lulus are abundant in Shawnee Co., 

 but I shall not be able to report upon any of them in the present Contri- 

 bution. 



spii ohoius nncigerns, Wood (?) A specimen of this genus from Topeka 

 I refer to uncigerus, as it agrees better with that species than with any 

 other. It seems to present important differences, however ; and \ will 

 withhold final decision upon it for a later paper. 



POLYDESMIDJE. 



Polydesinns Virginiensis, (Drury) Wood. Two specimens from the Kan- 

 sas Valley woods, Shawnee Co., are both clearly referable to this species, as 

 is shown by the very characteristic genitalia. One of them agrees in full 

 with Wood's description; the other differs considerably in color, but chiefly 

 in its much paler and less distinct color pattern. 



Polydcsmns floridns, Wood. Two specimens, collected near Thompson- 

 ville, Jefferson Co., by the writer. A third from near the same locality is 

 contributed by Miss Daisy McCampbell. I think that I have taken the 

 same species in Shawnee Co., but have none in hand from this county at 

 the present writing. 



First Contribution to a Knowledge of the Arachnida of Kansas, 

 By F. W. CRAGIN, Sc. B. 



This short list is but a precursory fragment of a series of observations 

 which the Survey is making upon the spiders of Kansas. 



The distribution and abundance of the species herein given will be more 

 fully stated in later Contributions. 



Mygale Hentzii, Grd. : TRAP-DOOR SPIDER. Barber Co. (A. J. McCabe); 

 Chautauqua Co. (C. H. Hosford). 



This spider is known in southern Kansas a "Tarantula" and "Bird 

 Spider;" but the name, '-Tarantula," is more properly applied to species 

 ot the genus Lycosa, and the true Bird Spider is a much larger species, 

 M. avicularia, confined to the American tropics. The females of M. Hentzii 

 are probably the largest specimens of genuine " Jayhawker" spiders ex- 

 tant. Both sexes are represented in these specimens. 



Since the above specimens of Hentzi.i were recorded in our list, numer- 

 ous specimens have been seen by the writer, and several collected ; chiefly 

 from Barber Co. and westward. It varies in color from reddish-brown to 

 black. 



