FAMILY— DYSDERLDES. 



>£^yEIS family, comprising five genera, may be easily die- 

 (fl>? tinguished among our known indigenous British spiders, 

 I&&J as (excepting one other spider, Scytodes tlwraeica Latr., of 

 greatrarity the sole possessors of six eyes; and alsoby the possession 

 of four spiracular openings ; the position of these openings is, how- 

 ever, rather different from that of the last family, in which the two 

 on each side are widely separated from each other, while here they 

 are close together near tho fore extremity of the under side of the 

 abdomen. The falces are articulated either on an inclined plane 

 or vertically, and have a more or less lateral (or from side to 

 side) movement. This lateral movement is indeed, so far as is 

 known, the mode of articulation of the falces all the Aranoidea, 

 excepting some of the present family, and the Theraphosides. 

 The digital joint of the male palpus, and tho palpal organs, 

 strongly resemble, in their general character, those of the Thera- 

 phosides. 



GENUS DYSDEEA, Latr. DYSDEEA, Blackw. (in part). 



This genus comprises but two species as yet known to be British, 

 both of them occurring in this county. They are among our 

 largest spiders, and may be known at once by their dark reddish 

 liver-coloured cephalo-thorax, prominent falces, dull reddish 

 orange-yellow legs, and uniformly dull clay-yellow, somewhat 

 cylindrical, abdomen, almost destitute of hairs. The eyes are six 

 in number, disposed, close to the fore extremity of the caput, in 

 the form of a horse-shoe, whoso open side is in front. Each 

 tarsus ends with two curved claws, 



