96 PECKHAM. [Vol. 1, 



of a fierj'^ golden color, with black spines upon red bases; the two 

 others are considerably larger, and the abdomen is of a metal- 

 lic silver color, the spines black with red-brown bases and the 

 ocellations black." 



Parapledana thorntoni Blk., referred to by Cambridge, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc, 1879, p. 293. 



"The jet-black ground-color of the abdomen, with its 

 somewhat raised, large and conspicuous bright-yellow mark- 

 ings, and yellow cephalothorax, render it one of the most 

 striking and handsome known spiders of this family." 



0. alba Vinson, loc. cit., p. 240. Milk-white, with the 

 glisten and polish of porcelain. A dorsal stripe of a beautiful 

 black in the middle, dividing the shell into two equal parts. 



G. helva Blk., described by Cambridge. Proc. Zool. Soc, 

 1879, p. 287. Yellow or yellow-brown, with the spines of a 

 deep, rich, shining steel-blue color. 



The Gasteracanthidfe are not all brilliantly colored ; many 

 are of a light ecru tint, with black spots and spines, but even 

 in these the smooth, glistening character of the shell gives them 

 a certain degree of brightness.* 



Cases that may be more justly considered exceptions to the 

 rule that these hard, uneatable spiders are conspicuous are such 

 species as Acrosoma rugosa (fig. 9, see p. 97). One of this species 

 was sent me by Mrs. Treat last suinmer. It lived for several 

 weeks in my window, making no regular web, but hanging 

 among a few irregular strands. It ate nothing, although pro- 

 vided with insects, but drank greedily of water. It might 

 seem that its black and white coloring would make it conspic- 



*Alcoliolic specimens of this group usually lose their bright colors. Thus we 

 have a number of species described by Cambridge (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1879) as "dull 

 yellowish-brown," "blackish-brown," etc., but the author warns his readers that in 

 his opinion alcoholic and more especially dried specimens of Gasteracanthidce lose 

 their original brij?:htness. He says: "We are probably therefore, in nine cases out of 

 ten, totally ignorant of the true colors and markings of the Gasteracanthides. "- 

 P. 280. 



He then goes on to note, in proof of this proposition, the case of an African 

 species which had been described as of a uniform, dull, muddy, brown hue, which, in 

 life, has a shade of "the loveliest and most delicate yellow, scalloped at the edges, 

 where occurs a dainty moulding of I.)lue." 



