94 PECKHAM. [Vol. 3. 



eyes, nearly the whole thoracic part being overlapped by the 

 abdomen, this latter characteristic being entirelj' lacking in 

 Messua. 



MESSUA DESIDIOSA, SP. NOV. 



Plate VI, figs. 9-9a, and Plate VII, figs. 5-5a. 



9 . Length, 5. Length of cephalothorax, 2 ; width of 

 cephalothorax, 1.7. 

 Legs, 1423 ; first pair much the stoutest and darkest in 

 color, but not much longer than the fourth. 



The clypeus is only about one-fifth as high as the middle 

 eyes of the first row. The falces are vertical and are rather 

 long and stout for the size of the spider. 



Our only specimen has had most of the hairs rubbed 

 away. The cephalothorax is bronze-brown and shows patches 

 of white hairs. The 'first legs and the falces are dark brown, 

 the other legs and the palpi are yellow. Under alcohol the 

 abdomen is white, encircled by a line of brown, and having a 

 longitudinal brown band on each side of the middle. When 

 dry the white parts outside the brown bands are seen to be cov- 

 ered with white hairs, while the central white region has 

 patches of silvery iridescent scales. 



We have a single female from Panama, sent to us by 

 Count Keyserling. 



AKELA, GEN. NOV. 



Small spiders with thickened and elongated first legs, and 

 long cephalic part. 



The cephalothorax is rather high and is not much longer 

 than wide. The sides widen out in a curved line from the 

 second row of eyes. The thoracic part is plainly wider than 

 the cephalic, the widest point being behind the dorsal ej'es. 

 The cephalic part is convex but not inclined. The thoracic 

 rounds off from the dorsal eyes, falling a little more steeply 

 after the first third. The sides are vertical in the anterior 



