218 ME. H. B. HOGa ON [Juue 4^ 



6. On Australian and New Zealand Spiders of the Suborder 

 Mygalomorph^ \ By H. R. Hogg, M.A.., F.Z.S. 



[Eeceived May 21, 1901.] 



(Test-figures 21-41.) 



The suborder now dealt with is synouymous with M. Eugene 

 Simon's family Aviculariidse ^ Mr. E. I. Pocock, in arranging 

 the Indian genera of the same '\ raised the family to a suborder, 

 and its subfamilies to families, which, as remanets of an older 

 era, is without doubt their proper position relatively to most of 

 the other families of the Aranese. 



1 will, however, in the present paper, for the sake of conveni- 

 ence of reference, retain M. Simon's nomenclature. 



Owing to the imperfect state and small number of any fossil 

 remains, the line of descent of our various families of Arachnida 

 has as yet been by no means clearly established. 



With the single exception of the genus Liphistius Schiodte, a 

 curious remanet in South-eastern Asia, the Mygalomorphte are 

 believed to contain the oldest forms of all known Spiders, 



The representatives of the suborder in Australasia are especially 

 interesting from the fact that, being of a simple form, they are 

 probably indicative, like much of the rest of the fauna of the 

 continent, of early types. 



Of the seven subfamihes into which M. Simon divides the 

 Aviculariidse of the world, six are represented, the absentee 

 Paratropidinse comprising two species only, from the Upper 

 Amazon in S. America and the Island of St. Vincent respectively. 



Those we have to deal with may be roughly distinguished as 

 follows : — 



A. No projecting claw-tufts. Three tarsal claws. 



a. A rastellum, or digging apparatus, consisting of hard 



teeth on the frontal portion of the upper mandibular 



joint* (falx). 



a. The cephalic part of the cephalothorax rising abruptly 



from the thoracic part and very highly arched. 



The eyes spread out across nearly the whole frontal 



region. The mandibles projecting horizontally from 



the front of and as large as the whole cephalic 



region AcTinopodin.E. 



^ I have not included Tasmanian species because, many as are the gaps to be 

 filled in ouv knowledge of what I am now describing, we jjnow still less of the 

 Tasmanian region, and I am unhappily not in a position to supplement that 

 knowledge. As we find to be the case in other orders, Tasmania will no doubt 

 contain some forms which have disappeared on the mainland. Its northern 

 and western ranges have been scarcely investigated at all. 



2 Histoire Naturelle des Araignees, 1892, vol. i, p. 65. 



3 Fauna of British India — Arachnida, 1900, p. 157. 



■* These teeth, though of somewhat the same nature, must not be confounded 

 with those on the margin of the fsh.-shcath underneath, used for preventing 

 the escape of prey. 



