390 



ARACHNIDA ARANEAE 



CHAP. 



the scopulae and claw-tufts are well developed. Its nearest allies 

 in the Old World are the Indian genus Poecilotheria, and the 

 West African genus Scodra. The striclulating spider figured on 

 p. 328 belongs to this group, Chilobrachys being a genus from 

 Ceylon. 



(vii.) The DIPLURINAE are a very aberrant group, including 

 some twenty genera of Aviculariidae, usually of medium size, and 



possessed, as a rule, of very long posterior 

 spinnerets. They do not burrow or live 

 in holes or under stones, but weave webs 

 of close texture, much resembling those 

 characteristic of the Agelenidae (see p. 

 415). The tarsal claws are three in 

 number, and there are never any claw- 

 tufts. The rastellus, of course, is absent. 

 Two genera have representatives in 

 Europe, Brachythele inhabiting the East 

 FIG. 2Q2.ischnotheie dumi- Mediterranean region (as well as many 



cote, 9x2. (After Pocock.) ; / 



other parts ol the world), while Macrothele 



is found in Spain as well as in the Malay Peninsula and New 

 Zealand. Ischnothele dumicola is a native of Western India. 

 J>//i//'ra is a South American genus. Trcchona venosa, a large 

 species remarkable for the orange bands which decorate its 

 abdomen, is also a native of South America. The New Zealand 

 genus Hexathele, and the genus Scotinoecus from Chili, possess 

 six spinnerets. Masteria (Ovalan Island) and Accola (Philippines 

 and South America) differ from the rest of the family in having 

 only six eyes. 



Fam. 3. Atypidae. Spiders with anteriorly projecting a tit I 

 vertirtt//// articulating chelicerae, but with no trough on the paturon 

 for the reception of the unguis, which is guarded when cloxn/ 

 hi/ </. single row of teetli. The spinnerets are normally six, and 

 tlir n<il tubercle is above, and well removed from the posterior 

 spinnerets. 



The Atypidae are a small family of six genera, rather closely 

 related to the Aviculariidae, and by some Arachnologists incor- 

 porated with them. They may be regarded as the representatives 

 of that family in sub-tropical and temperate regions. In form 

 they are strongly built, with smooth integuments, and their legs 

 are short and powerful. Of the twenty -four species hitherto 



