334 Mr. J. Blackwall on neiv species 0/ Araneidea. 



lute length of its legs, as compared with those of its congeners, 

 it is closely allied to the spiders of the genus Pholcus, and to 

 Pholcus pallidus in particular. 



Tribe Senoculina. 



Family Dysderid.e. 



Genus Dysdera, Latr. 



Dysdera obscura. 



Length of the female ^rd of an inch ; length of the cephalo- 

 thorax ^ ; breadth y'^ ; breadth of the abdomen ^ : length of an 

 anterior leg -^^ ; length of a leg of the third pair y^^. 



The eyes are round, pale amber-coloured, and are grouped in 

 pairs on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax, those of each 

 pair being almost in contact ; the lateral pairs are seated obliquely 

 on a small tubercle, and the eyes of the intermediate pair^ which 

 are rather the smallest of the six, are in a line with the posterior 

 eye of each lateral pair, but are separated from them by rather 

 wide intervals. The cephalo-thorax is long, compressed before, 

 slightly rounded on the sides, truncated in front, convex, glossy, 

 with a small indentation in the medial line : the falces are short, 

 conical, rather prominent, and armed with a short, slightly curved 

 fang at the extremity, but without teeth on the inner surface. 

 These parts are of a dark reddish-brown colour, the falces being 

 much the darkest. The maxillae are straight, greatly dilated at 

 the base, where the palpi are inserted, and somewhat enlarged 

 at the extremity : the lip is long, and truncated at the apex : the 

 sternum, which has an oblong-oval form, is broader at its pos- 

 terior than at its anterior extremity, and has small prominences 

 on the sides, opposite to the legs. These parts have a red-brown 

 hue, the base of the lip being the darkest, and the extremity of 

 the maxillae whitish. The legs are robust, provided with hairs 

 and sessile spines, two ])arallel rows of the latter occvu'ring on 

 the inferior surface of the tibise and metatarsi of the first and 

 second pairs ; the first and second pairs have a red-brown hue, 

 and there is a small black spot at the extremity of their meta- 

 tarsi, on the upper side ; the colour of the third and fourth pairs 

 is dull yellow faintly tinged with red, and the small spot at the 

 extremity of their metatarsi has a red-brown hue ; the first pair 

 is the longest, the second slightly surpasses the fourth, and the 

 third pair is the shortest; each tarsus is terminated l)y three 

 claws ; the two superior ones are curved and pectinated, and the 

 inferior one is inflected near its base. The palpi are short, 

 strong, of a red-brown hue, the radial and digital joints being 



