f)0 ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



will compare Keyserling's figures and description with those herein given he will easily detect the 

 differences to which I refer. Individuals of U. congregabilis found in dwellings select da r k recesses 

 for their snares, while those that build in the open are usually found in cool, sheltered situations. 

 ■\Vhether in buildings or in the open, the species is always found dwelling together in large or small 

 communities, making a web in common, consisting of intricate retitelaria.n lines and small orbs. The 

 latter have each a white ribbon of hackled silk, known as the stabilimenlum, running across the centre. 

 Each female who has deposited her ova has her own ova-sac, at the mouth of which she mounts guard. 

 This ova-sac or " cocoon," as it is sometimes termed, is of an irregular bag-like shape, closely woven, 

 contains a large number of eggs, and is always suspended among the irregular or retitelarian lines. 

 The orbs are invariably placed horizontally or obliquely. Simon 3 has described and figured a species 

 of gregarious Uloborus, together with its webs and egg-bags, from Venezuela, whose communal habits 

 arc similar to its congener from Parramatta. To his species Simon gave the name of U. republu anus. 

 It is interesting to note that those individuals inhabiting buildings are much darker than those living 

 in the field. 



Family THERTDIID.E. 



The species hereunder described I associate with Simon's group, Euryopeae, and, for the time 

 being at any rate, with that distinguished author's genus Phylarchus. Two specimens have been 

 presented to me by Master Charles Danvers Power, and two other examples are in his collection. 

 Hereafter it may be necessary to create for this species a new genus. Generally speaking, the legs of 

 the Theridiidae are long, slender and tapering ; but in the species at present under study they are 

 short and sturdy, and, as in the genus Euryopis, Menge, the fourth pair are slightly the longest. The 

 majority of species included in this family are sedentary, and construct a retitelarian web for the capture 

 of prey. Euryopis and Phylarchus, on the other hand, do not do so, but belong to what Simon terms 

 " Theridiides marcheurs." Consequently they are ground -rovers, and are usually found lurking under 

 stones. 



Genus Phylarchus, Simon. 

 Phylarchus splendens, sp. vov. 

 (Fig. 3)- 



Female. Cephalo thorax, 1.7mm. long, 1.4. mm. broad; abdomen. 4.4mm. long, 2.6mm. broad. 



Cephalothorax. —Ovate, dark brown, nearly black. Pars cephalica strongly arched, somewhat 

 obtuse, thoracic groove distinct ; ocular area broader than long ; ciypeus deep, fringed with hairs. 

 Pars thoracica broad, strongly arched, normal grooves and median fovea deep, but somewhat difficult 

 to detect owing to the darkness of the carapace. Marginal band broad. Eyes. — Eight, arranged in 

 two rows of four each ; front row more strongly recurved than the rear ; lateral pairs contiguous ; 

 posterior row bright and glittering, the median pair exceedingly so ; anterior row black ; front median 

 pair separated from each other by a space equal to fully once their individual diameter, and from the 

 rear median pair by a similar space ; the rear median eyes are separated from each other by a space 

 equal to about three-fourths their individual diameter ; lateral eyes, both front and rear, are separated 

 from their median neighbours respectively by a space equal to fully one-and-a-half their individual 

 diameter. Legs. — Concolorous with cephalothorax, strong, rather short, tapering, hairy, and armed 

 with short and moderately strong spines ; relative lengths : 4, 1, 2, 3. Palpi. — Short, similar in colour 

 and armature to legs. Fakes. — Concolorous with palpi, short, acuminate, arched, hairy ; fangs con- 

 colorous also. Maxilla. — Concolorous also, short, convex, inclining inwards, moderately hairy. 

 labium.- Concolorous with foregoing, short, broader than long, apex curved. Sternum. — Concolorous 

 with labium, broadly cordate, arched, moderately hairy, terminating obtusely between posterior coxa?. 

 Abdomen. Large, overhanging base of cephalothorax, ovate, strongly arched, hairy, dark brown 

 (almost black) ; superior surface ornamented in front with a recurved, reticulated bright yellow bar, 

 and a broad, concolorous median design which commences well forward and terminates near the 

 spinnerets ; within this median band there is a delicate scheme of tracery. Epigynum. — A small, 

 strongly arched eminence or tubercle, with two large elliptical pits, one on each side. 



3. Simon — An. de la Soc. Ent. Fr., lx., 1891, p. 12, pis. 3 and 4. 



