SCIENTIFIC RESULTS 



THE SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 



ARANEIDEA. 



BY THE REV. O. P. CAMBRIDGE, 1LA., C.M.Z.S., 



Honorary Alember of the t\ev> Zealand Institute, Sfc. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



spiders collected by the late Dr. Stoliczka in the Yarkand expedition can by no 

 means be considered a full, nor perhaps even a fair, representation of the Araneidea 

 of the extensive area over which the expedition passed. 



Mr. A. O. Hume informs me that this area may be subdivided into five well-marked 

 regions, and suggests that the spiders found in each should be distinctly (i.e., I conclude, 

 separately) treated. Now, judging from the contents of the collection, I should have 

 thought that the regions might have been considered as two only, that is, (1) f rom Murree to 

 Cashmere, including the latter as well as the former; and (2) the whole of the rest of the 

 area travelled over by the expedition, and comprising the neighbourhood of Leh, the route 

 from Tantze to Chagra and Pankong valley, and from Yarkand to Bursi, as well as Yarkand 

 and neighbourhood, Kashghar, the hills west of Yarkand, and the Pamir. 



In the first of these regions Murree and Cashmere more than half of the whole 

 number of spiders were collected ; the total number of species is 131 ; the number from this 

 region is 69. The leading character of the spiders of this region is European, with a few 

 more distinctly tropical and subtropical species, such as Idiops designates, Episinus 

 algiricus, Phycus sayittatus, Meta mixta, Chorizoopes stoliczka and C. congener, Cyrtar- 

 achne pallida, Dicea subargentata, Monastes dejectus, Sarotes regius and S. promptus, 

 Sparassus fugax, Ocyale rectifasciata, Philodromus medius, and Oxyopes jubilans and 

 O. prcedicta. The leading character of the second region is also European, but with a 

 decided subalpine feature, and no trace scarcely of anything tropical or even subtropical, 

 excepting perhaps Prosthesima cingara, Sparassus flavidus, and ttcebe benevolo,. Of the 69 

 species found in the Cashmere regions, three only were found in the other regions mentioned '> 

 and one species only, Drassus dispulsus, occurred generally throughout the whole area 

 travelled over, i.e., in all the five regions specified by Mr. Hume. 



A 



