464 Mr. J. Black wall on neio Species of Spiders 



of which^ of a somewhat smaller size, have been received from 

 India. 



The numerous instances of the distribution of spiders of the 

 same species over extensive and widely distant regions of the 

 globe may be explained by their having been conveyed across 

 intervening oceans in ships and by the action of currents of air^ 

 especially of those known as the trade-winds and monsoons^ on 

 the silken filaments emitted from their spinners. 



Genus Argyopes, Savigny. 

 Argyopes gracilis, n. sp.? 



Length of an immature female f of an inch ; length of the 

 cephalothorax ^, breadth ^ ; breadth of the abdomen j ; length 

 •of an anterior leg ^ ; length of a leg of the third pair f . 



The abdomen is of an elongated slender figure; its anterior 

 extremity, which has the appearance of having been cut directly 

 across, has a minute tubercle on each side, and projects over the 

 base of the cephalothorax ; the posterior extremity, which almost 

 tapers to a point, extends greatly beyond the spinners, and has 

 a small protuberance on each side; the upper part is of a yel- 

 lowish-white colour, with a dark-brown crescent-shaped mark at 

 its anterior extremity, whose convexity is directed upwards, and 

 spots and irregular streaks of the same hue on each side of the 

 medial line, the latter being most conspicuous on its posterior 

 half; three strong, conical, yellowish-white prominences, marked 

 in front with a curved, oblique, dark-brown line that passes over 

 their summit, project from each side, and below them there are 

 numerous irregular longitudinal lines of the same hue; from 

 each minute anterior tubercle a dark-brown line passes below 

 the first lateral prominence ; the under part, which is irregularly 

 bordered with white, is of a brownish-black colour, and com- 

 prises some small white spots, three of which are disposed in a 

 triangle near the spinners ; these latter organs, with the branchial 

 opercula, have a red-brown hue, and the inferior surface of the 

 elongated tail-like extremity is densely freckled with black spots. 

 The eyes are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalothorax 

 in two transverse rows ; the four intermediate ones are placed 

 on a protuberance, and nearly form a square ; and the eyes of 

 each lateral pair are seated obliquely on a tubercle, and are near 

 to each other, but not in contact, the anterior one being much 

 the smallest of the eight. The cephalothorax is compressed be- 

 fore, rounded in front and on the sides, slightly convex, with a 

 shallow, brown indentation in the medial line of the posterior 

 region ; it is of a pale dull-yellow hue, with a broad brown band 

 extending from each side of the cephalic region to the base, 



