344 CRUSTACEA AND ARACHNIDA 



ARACHNIDA 

 Order SCORPIONID^ 



Family BUTHIDJE 

 Isometrus thorellii. Australian Scorpion 



Mr W. W. Smith has obtained specimens of this Australian scor- 

 pion among imported hardwood timber at New Plymouth. It may 

 have been introduced at other ports also, but, fortunately it does 

 not appear, so far, to have succeeded in establishing itself anywhere 

 in New Zealand. 



Order 



Family PHOLCID^; 

 Pholcus phalangioides, Fuesslin 



This cosmopolitan spider was collected by Comte de Dalmas in 

 the interior both of the North and South Islands. Mr Miller records 

 it from Nelson and Wanganui. 



Family THERIDIID^ 



Theridion tepidariorum, Koch. House Spider 

 This species was taken in the collections made by the 'Novara' 

 Expedition in Auckland in 1859, but whether in houses or in the 

 open is not stated. Comte de Dalmas says : 



This ubiquitous species is found commonly in the open air, despite the 

 very temperate climate, and has also been collected in the Chatham Islands, 

 while in Europe it is not found outside (buildings) even in Central France. 



Theridion rufipes, Lucas 



This species was recorded by Mons. E. Simon, in 1899, from 

 D'Urville Island. It is also a species of very wide distribution. 



Family ARGIOPIDJE 



Diplocephalus cristatus, Blackwall (Walckencera cristata) 

 Mr A. T. Urquhart reported in 1891 that specimens of this 

 European spider were taken at Nelson by Mr A. S. Atkinson and 

 were identified by the Rev. O. P. Cambridge. It has not been reported 

 by any other collectors since that date 1 . 



1 In 1879 the Rev. O. P. Cambridge described a spider from an imperfect male 

 example in Mr A. S. Atkinson's collection, probably from Nelson, as Linyphia 

 melanopygia. In 1886 Mr Urquhart described the female from specimens taken 

 at Te Karaka, Auckland. Le Comte de Dalmas makes the following interesting 

 remark on this species, under the genus Ostearius, belong to the Argiopidas : 



"The genus Ostearius was proposed by Hull (in 1910) for the form found in 

 England and described by O. P. Cambridge (in 1907) under the name of Tmeticus 

 nigricauda, the diagnosis and figures of which resemble so closely those given twenty- 



