122 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol, XIII. 
was struck with an axe ; lastly, the specimens of the three S, Indian species 
recorded below were captured inthe stakes of timber cut in the forests 
for fuel. 
In addition to their great size, a feature in which they are scarcely surpas- 
sed by any spider in any country, the species of Pecilotherta are remarkable for 
their varied colouring. The upperside of the body and limbs is ornamented 
with blotches and stripes of brown and grey ; and since itis now known that 
the spiders live on trees, there can be no doubt that this type of coloration 
subserves the purpose of concealment, since it must harmonize very closely 
with the pattern of a tree-trunk overgrown with patches of grey lichen and 
moss, Bui the colouring of the lower side is startlingly different from that 
of the upper, and is quite unlike anything that is to be met with in the 
spiders allied to Pacilotheria, though coloration of a similar kind is known to 
occur in many species of the families Lycosidw, Heteropodide, &c. This 
ecloration in most species is of a deep chocolate-brown or black tint 
on the lower side of the thorax, abdomen, and coxz, while the legs are nearly 
white or lemon-yellow, beautifully slashed with black bands and tipped with 
hairy pads of iridescent hue. It isat first sight puzzling to account for the 
existence of such colours on the lower surface of a spider, where under 
ordinary circumstances they cannot possibly be seen, But it is known that 
when molested these animals rear themselves on their hind legs and brandish 
the fore pairs and palpi in the air, adopting, in fact,a position in which the 
colours are plainly displayed to.iew. Some of the other spideis mentioned 
_ above belonging, e. g., to the Heteropodide, which, although small as com- 
pared with Pwecilotheriu, are yet of considerable dimensions, are known 
actually to turn on their tacks when molested. Taking these facts int» con- 
sideration, and remembering that black and white or black and yellow stripes 
constitute the badge with which Nature, for purposes of protection, has 
endowed poisonous inedible animals, so that they may be at once recognized 
by their foes and let alone—remembering, too, that these spiders possess 
poison-glands of large size and are armed with irritating bristles, I have no 
hesitation in ascribing the unusual coloration of the under surface to the 
category of warning characters. They also possess a method of self-advertise- 
ment, which no doubt subserves the same end, in the form of a stridulating- 
organ lodged between the mandible and the palp, and consisting of vibratile 
club-shaped rods and of bristles which set them a-sounding. 
During 1898 the British Museum received from Mr. H. R. P. Carter* 
representatives of three new species of Pwcilotheria; and since the British 
Museum has examples of all the known species of this genus, I hasten 
* I gladly take this opportunity of expressing my great obligation to Mr. Carter, 
who, upon Jearning that the National Collection was in wen' of these sp‘ders, kudly | 
wrote to his friends in S. I: dia, and used his influence to such giod purpose that 1 am 
now able to add three fresh s; ecies of this genus to the faunistic lists of India, 
