38 REV. O. p. CAMBRIDGE ON NEW ARANEIDEA. [Feb. 5, 



Collett from near Meiktela, Upper Burmah, through the kindness 

 of Mr. George King (of the Botanic Gardens at Calcutta). They 

 are closely allied to Idiops crassus, Sim. (also a Burmese spider^ ; 

 but differ in being of a much paler hue, as well as (apparently) in 

 the relative disposition of the eyes and armature of the legs ; these 

 in Idiops crassus are said to be armed with spines as in Idiops 

 syriacus, Cambr., in which the smaller denticulate spines are almost 

 wholly absent. From Idiops syriacus the present species also 

 differs in being larger and of a duller hue ; also the denticulce on the 

 maxillae are confined to their inner side, and there are only two in 

 a transverse line at the apex of the labium. The eyes also of the 

 hind central pair in I. syriacus are separated by a comparatively 

 wider interval than in I. colletii, being double as far apart as each 

 is from the lateral eye on its side. 



Nests of these spiders accompanied them. They are of the cork- 

 lid type, and present some interesting features. I cannot perhaps 

 do better than append the very graphic account of them given by 

 General Collett : — 



" These spiders are apparently more or less gregarious in their 

 habitations ; where one is foiind five or six more will perhajis be 

 found within the radius of a yard ; but a solitary nest is not at all 

 unusual. 



" The soil they inhabit is a stiff argillaceous (?) sand, quite free of 

 stones, very hard at this time of year, though probably soft and 

 easy for the spiders to burrow in during the rainy season. 



"The surface of the ground in which the burrows are found is 

 usually thinly covered with a scanty growth of grass, now dry and 

 withered. Where the grass is thick the burrows are not so common, 

 but this is possibly due to the increased difficulty of detecting them. 

 " All the burrows that I have seen (a hundred or more) are 

 situated in an open grassy plain, now cleared, but recently covered 

 with a low scrub jungle, and having a gentle slope. None have been 

 found on banks or on steeply sloping ground. 



"The upper surface of the burrow door is flush with the level of 

 the ground, except occasionally where the superficial soil appears to 

 have been washed away by the rain since the nest was made. It is 

 of precisely the same appearance and colour as the adjacent ground, 

 and the burrows are therefore extremely difficult of detection. 



" I have never observed any accumulation of earth near the mouths 

 of the burrows, though a considerable quantity must have been 

 excavated in the construction of a hole more than half an inch in 

 diameter and seven inches deep. Nor have I succeeded in finding 

 any burrows in course of construction, though empty and disused 

 burrows with displaced doors are not uncommon. It is possible that 

 the spiders excavate only during the rainy season, when the soil is 

 soft. At the present time no rain has i'allen for three months past. 



" The door, or rather lid, of the burrow is composed of grains of 

 sand firmly agglutinated together, perhaps with some secretions from 

 the insect ; its upper sxuface is exactly similar in general appearance 

 to the adjacent ground, and is often covered with the dry, black 



