154 Mr. J. Y. Johnson on Lycosa tarentuloides maderiana. 



has been drawn up from living specimens which he kindly pre- 

 sented to me. 



This spider feeds eagerly in captivity on large " blue-bottle " 

 flies. The only web which has been observed was a small cir- 

 cular one fabricated by an individual whilst in captivity. This 

 web was of close texturCj open above at the middle, and less 

 than a shilling in size. It was apparently the foundation of a 

 nest, in which, however, no eggs had been deposited. 



It is remarkable that Madeira, Porto Santo, and the Desertas 

 should each have their own peculiar large species of Lycosa — a 

 fact that goes to confirm the testimony already given by the 

 land-shells and beetles, as to the distinctness of the aboriginal 

 fauna in the different parts of this insular group. 



This new species of Lycosa is dedicated to that able arachno- 

 logist, John Blackwall, Esq., the author of a Monograph of 

 British Spiders, the first part of which has been recently pub- 

 lished by the Ray Society. In the ' Annals and Magazine of 

 Natural History ' for October 1859 will be found descriptions 

 by Mr. Blackwall of a collection of Madeirau Spiders made 

 by me in the preceding year, and in the same publication for 

 May 1862 descriptions of another collection from the same 

 island. 



A remarkably fine female individual of Lycosa tarentuloides 

 maderiana, Walck., having been lately presented to me by the 

 Baron do Castello de Paiva, I will take this opportunity of 

 making a few remarks upon it, chiefly with reference to the co- 

 lours of the living spider. The example, which was found on the 

 uninhabited islet of Ferro, near Porto Santo, had the following 

 dimensions : — 



inch. 



Length 1^ 



Length of cephalothorax y^o 



Breadth „ „ ^ 



Breadth of abdomen (nearly) -j^ 



Height „ „ 1% 



Length of a leg of the 4th pair 1^ 



3rd pair \^ 



The cephalothorax has a dark greyish-brown hue, and there 

 is a yellowish-grey band along each side, and another along the 

 middle, the latter having some small orange dashes at its poste- 

 rior part. The abdomen is of a brownish (or rusty) black colour. 

 On the upperside two obscure dark longitudinal lines enclose 

 an elongated fusiform or lanceolate space. These lines approxi- 

 mate very gently posteriorly, and their termination is behind 

 the middle of the abdomen. At each side of the median line. 



