from the East of Central Africa. 343 



placed obliquely on a small tubercle, and are near to each other, 

 but not in contact. The legs are long, provided with hairs and 

 spines, and of a red-brown colour, strongly tinged with brown 

 at the extremity of the joints ; the first pair is the longest, then 

 the second, and the third pair is the shortest ; the tarsi are ter- 

 minated by claws of the usual number and structure. The palpi 

 are of a red-brown hue, and have a curved, pectinated claw at 

 their extremity. The abdomen is of a depressed oviform figure, 

 and projects over the base of the cephalothorax ; it is thinly 

 clothed with short pale hairs, and of a dull-yellow colour, with 

 a large oval brown mark on each side of its anterior extremity ; 

 a triangular brown spot, whose vertex extends between the two 

 oval marks, occurs in the medial line of the upper part, and 

 comprises three pairs of short oblique black streaks ; this tri- 

 angular spot, which has a strongly marked streak of the same 

 hue directed obliquely outwards and backwards from each side, 

 is followed by a large, pale-brown, leaf-shaped mark that tapers 

 to the spinners, and has its sinuous margins bordered by a fine 

 black lin« whose continuity is much interrupted ; the middle of 

 this mark is occupied by a longitudinal, taper, yellow band, 

 crossed by lines of the same hue, and comprising some short 

 black streaks in its anterior part, and several fine, long, brown 

 lines in its posterior part; two depressed dark-brown spots, 

 situated on each side of the medial line, nearly form a square, 

 the two posterior ones being larger and rather wider apart than 

 the anterior ones ; the sides are marked transversely with nu- 

 merous fine brown lines, most of which meet at their superior 

 extremities ; the under part has longitudinal brown streaks on 

 its sides, and a large dark-brown mark in the middle, whose 

 contracted extremity extends to the spinners ; it has an obscure 

 yellowish hue in the medial line, and is bordered anteriorly and 

 laterally with yellow, two spots of the same hue occurring on 

 each side of the brown spinners ; the sexual organs, which are 

 not highly developed, have a long process directed backwards 

 from their anterior margin, whose surface is concave and extre- 

 mity rounded; they are of a red-brown colour, that of the 

 branchial opercula being yellowish-brown. 



Three adult females of Epe'ira vigilans were included in the 

 collection. 



Genus Nephila, Leach. 

 NephUa Keyserlingii. 



Length of the female l-j^^ inch; length of the cephalo- 

 thorax -ll, breadth -^ ; breadth of the abdomen -^^ ; length of 

 an anterior leg 2^ ; length of a leg of the third pair 1^. 



The eyes are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo- 



