new and rare British Spiders. 191 



to the present time (Aug. 7, 1879), is 519 ; and, of these, 364 

 have been met with in the county of Dorset. 



On one of the spiders now described a new genus is founded. 

 This little spider {Theridiosoma argenteolum) is of great 

 interest as well as beauty, and forms a link between Theridion 

 and Epeira. The snare, however, of a very closely allied 

 species* is (as described by Dr. Ludwig Koch) decidedly of 

 the type belonging to the Theridiides, in which family the 

 present spider must therefore be included. 



Order Aeaneidea. 



Fam. Drassides. 



Genus Gnaphosa, Latr. 



Gnaphosa suspecta, sp. n. 



Length of an immature female 2 lines. 



This spider is of a rather flatter form than Gnaphosa anglica, 

 Cambr. The legs are stronger, and the cephalothorax is devoid 

 of the strong, dark, V-shaped marking characteristic of that 

 species. The colour of the cephalothorax is pale yellow-brown, 

 thickly mottled and suffused with a deeper hue, and edged with 

 a brown-black marginal line. The legs are pale yellow-brown, 

 more or less suffused with a darker colour. There are no 

 spines, apparently, on those of the first two pairs, excepting 

 two of a strong bristly nature on the upperside of the femora. 

 All the tibiae, tarsi, and metatarsi are furnished above with a 

 few long, erect, slender hairs. 



Relative length of the legs 4, 1, 2, 3 ; but the difference 

 between those of the first and fourth pairs is slight. 



The palpi, falces, and maxillae are similar in colour to the 

 legs, while the colour of the sternum is like that of the cephalo- 

 thorax. 



The eyes, though very similar in general size and position 

 to those of G. anglica, are more closely grouped and form a 

 more rectangular area, whose transverse diameter is also 

 shorter in proportion to the longitudinal. 



The abdomen is rather broad, and of an oblong-oval form 

 truncate before ; it is of a dull brown colour, the slightly 

 reddish-yellow adpressed pubescence being mixed with longer, 

 stronger, prominent, black bristly hairs. 



The example above described was found under a stone near 

 Sherborne, in the spring of 1878, by my nephew, Frederick 

 Octavius Pickard-Cambridge. Although, owing to its not 



* Theridion gemmosttm, L. Koch, Nuremberg, L878. 



14* 



