1S72.] SPIDERS OF PALESTINE AND SYRIA. 299 



the upper half of the femora of the first and second pairs are wholly, 

 and those of the third and fourth pairs partially of the same colour ; 

 they are furnished with hairs, bristles, and long spines. 



The palpi are of the ordinary epe'iriform character ; the cubital 

 and radial joints have each a long, strong, curved, spiny bristle issu- 

 ing from their upperside; the digital joint is prominent on the 

 outer extremity in a somewhat conical or pointed form ; the palpal 

 organs are highly developed, prominent, and complex, with corneous 

 spines and processes. 



The abdomen of the male is small, oval, and black, with four elon- 

 gate yellow-white spots on the fore part of the upperside in a qua- 

 drate form, the two foremost of the spots being oblique ; and above 

 the spinners is another spot of the same colour ; that of the female 

 is much larger and projects over the base of the cephalothorax ; it is 

 also black, but is marked on the upperside with two longitudinal 

 broken bars wide apart from each other, and each composed of 3-4 

 more or less confluent yellow-white blotches or large spots, the largest 

 being at the fore extremity; in some examples this leaves the inter- 

 mediate space in the form of a broad, central, longitudinal, dentated, 

 black band ; a large yellow-white spot is situated just immediately 

 above the spinners ; and on the underside are two longitudinal, pa- 

 rallel, yellow-white bars ; these are each composed of two (sometimes 

 confluent) elongate patches or spots. The underside of the abdo- 

 men of the male has only a spot of the same colour on either side of 

 the fore part. 



An adult male and several females were found on the plains of the 

 Jordan among low herbage, and an adult female in a similar situation 

 at Tiberias. 



Epeira incongrua, sp. nov. 



This species is very nearly allied to E. conica (Bl.) and E. oculata 

 (Walck.) both in form, structure, colour, and size; but while dif- 

 fering also in the structure of the palpal organs, it may be at once 

 distinguished from these species by the much greater development 

 of the protuberance at the extremity on the upperside of the abdo- 

 men ; this protuberance, while much longer and more distinct in all 

 the examples met with, was in one ( $ ) even enlarged and bent 

 downwards at its extremity. 



Both sexes (adult) were found in geometric snares on low-growing 

 plants at Hebron. 



Epeira cuctjrbitina, Walck. Ins. Apt. ii. 76. 



An immature male of this species was found at Hebron. 



Epeira ltjcina, Savign. Arachn. d'Egypte, pi. 3. fig. 4. 



Adult females of this Spider were found among low-growing plants 

 on the banks of the stream leading from Elisha's Well near Jericho. 

 It was also found in a similar situation in 1864 near Alexandria, 



Egypt- 



