A new Distinction between the Species of Phrynus. 313 



XXXV. — Respecting a new Distinction between the Species 

 of the Genus Phrynus of Authors. By ARTHUR G. 

 Butler, F.L.S. &c. 



In the second part of the 'Archiv fur Naturgeschichte ' for 

 this year I find a paper by Dr. F. Karsch (an assistant in the 

 Hoyal Zoological Museum at Berlin) entitled " Ueber eine 

 neue Eintheilung der Tarantuliden," in which the author 

 splits up the species of Phrynus into four genera by the 

 number of the tibial joints of the fourth pair of legs. He 

 says (pp. 196, 197), "We have now before us a series of 

 steps without break in the increase of the tibial joints of 

 the legs of the hindmost pair, which may easily be over- 

 looked." He then proceeds to characterize the genera founded 

 upon this character as follows : — 



" 1. All six true legs formed alike — that is to say, the fourth pair of 

 legs without posterior tibial joint. Phrynichus, nob. 

 Spec. typ. Phryn. reniformis (Linn.). 1763. 

 Syn. Phalangium lunatum, Pallas (1772). 



" 2. The legs of the fourth pair each with one posterior tibial joint : 

 Damon (C. L. Koch), 1850. 



Spec. typ. Damon medius (Ilerbst), 1797. 

 Syn. Phrynus rariegatus, Perty (1830-34). 



"3. The legs of the fourth pair each with two posterior tibial joints, 

 of which the anterior one is shorter. Tarantula, Fabr. 1793. 

 Spec. typ. Tar. pumilio (C. L. Koch), 1841. 

 Syn. Phalangium' reni for me, Pallas (1772). 



"4. The legs of the fourth pair each with three posterior tibial joints. 

 Charon, nob. 



Spec. typ. Charon Grayi (Gerv.), 1842. 

 Syn. Phrynus medius, Iloeven (1842). 



" The genus Phrynichus, as it appears, has the most species of all to 

 show, then Tarantula ; to the Austral-Asiatic genus Charon two species 

 belong — Grayi (Gerv.) and australianus (L. Koch, 1867, Verhandl. 

 zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, xvii. pp. 231, 232), from Upolu ; and the genus 

 Damon appears only to consist of one species, the medius (Herbst)." 



After reading the above I carefully examined the sixty- 

 eight dried examples of Phrynus in the collection of the 

 British Museum ([ would not look at our spirit-specimens, 

 because unless these animals are quite dry it is almost impos- 

 sible to detect the joints in the posterior or fourth pair of legs) ; 

 and having noted down the number of tibial joints in each 

 species, and compared them with the published figures, I was 

 forced to the conclusion either that the figures do not accu- 



