SPIDERS. 569 



difficulty, owing to tlie great length of the limbs, and the weight 

 of the prolonged abdomen. 



The length of the body is one inch and a half, of which 

 measurement the abdomen alone occupies two-thirds. The 

 average circumference of the abdomen is five-sixths of an inch ; 

 and, as it varies very little thoughout its entire length, that 

 portion of the body is very solid and heavy. The colour is deep 

 chocolate-brown, curiously marked with circular dots of bright 

 yellow, and further diversified with stripes of the same colour, 

 especially over the fore-part of the abdomen. Two bold yellow 

 bars are also drawn transversely across the under surface of the 

 abdomen. The thorax is deep brown, and clothed with short 

 hairs of greyish yellow, set so densely that the dark colour of 

 the thorax cannot be seen without close inspection. There are, 

 however, three black squared spots on each side, and a black 

 spot occupies the centre. The animal is armed with a formid- 

 able pair of poison-jaws, of a deep shining black, at the ends of 

 which the curved fangs are bent inwards like the venomous 

 teeth of the rattlesnake. On the front of the thorax, and look- 

 ing directly forward, are the eight eyes, the four smallest being 

 arranged closely together in the centre, in the form of a square, 

 and the four largest being set on bold prominences so as to form 

 a large oblong, in the centre of which is the square. 



The limbs are of considerable length. The first pair of legs, 

 which are the longest, measure two inches and a half in length, 

 and the expanded second pair measure four laches and a half. 

 The most remarkable point about the spiders is the peculiarity 

 from which it derives its name. The first, second, and fourth 

 pairs of legs are adorned with dense hairy tufts, the first pair 

 having two tufts each, and the others only one. The third pair 

 of legs are much shorter and smaller than the others, and are 

 destitute of tufts. As the legs themselves are bright yellow- 

 brown and the tufts are deep black, the contrast of colour is very 

 bold and agreeable to the eye. The entomological reader may 

 perhaps remember that social exotic beetles are also decorated 

 with tufts upon their antennae and limbs. Of the curious 

 spherical spider nests, with their black cross-bars, nothing is 

 known except the mere fact of their existence. They are about 

 as large as full-sized black currants. 



