223 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. 



INTRODUCTION/ 



Up to the present time there have been formed in the sub-family 

 Lyssomanse, six genera, in the following order of time: 



1844. Lyssomanes Hentz. 



1869. Asamonea Cambridge. 



1872. Jelskia Taczanowski. 



1877. Evenus f Simon, Athamas Cambridge. 



1885. Simonella Peckham. 



Some, time ago M. Eugen Simon, with great generosity, placed a num- 

 ber of his unpubhshed species at our disposal; we have also an undescribed 

 species of Lyssomanes from a collection of Attidae belonging to the Berlin 

 Museum, which was loaned to us through the courtesy of Dr. Ferd. Karsch; 

 these additions to our own collections have enabled us to add seventeen 

 new species to the thirteen already known in this sub-family. 



We wish to express our gratitude to Dr. L. Taczanowski for specimens 

 of all of his species of Jelskia, and to to the Re 7. O. P. Cambridge for a 

 specimen of Athamas whitmeei. 



We have endeavored to sejDarate the species into natural groups and to 

 define the groups as closely as possible. The genus Jelskia we have in- 

 cluded as a sub-genus under Lyssomanes, giving the new sub-generic name 

 Maroussa to the other species of the genus. The sub-divisions of Maroussa 

 and Jelskia are merely for i)ractical convenience. 



It seems probable that many of the spiders of the Lyssomanti group are 

 adorned, in life, with delicate and brilliant colors which disappear in alco- 

 hohc specimens. This we know to be the case with Lyssomanes viridis 

 w^hich is in reality of a tender grass-green color but which appears in collec- 

 tions to be of the light yellowish tint which is common to many related 

 species as known to us. The only way to define spiders of this group satis- 

 factorily is by their anatomical proportions and by their epigynes and palpi, 

 ■which should always be referred to in determining species. 



Our measui-ements have been made in accordance with the following 

 rules: 



To determine the length of the cephalothorax, measure from the anterior 

 edge of the eyes of the second row to the posterior edge of the thorax. 

 To determine the length of the ceplialic part (or of the quadrangle of 



* The plates for this article were contributed by the authors, 

 t Afterwards changed to Epeus Peckham. 



