DESCRIPTION OF A NEW TRAP-DOOR SPIDER FROM 
CAPE COLONY. 
By John Hewitt, B.A. (Cantab.). 
Moggridgea crudeni , sp. nov. 
Types : A series of female specimens from Alicedale, collected 
February, 1913, by Mr. F. Cruden, who presented them to the Albany 
and Transvaal Museums. The species is closely related to M. dyeri O.P. 
Cambr., from which it is to be distinguished through the spinulation of 
the third coxa, through the arrangement of the anterior row of eyes, and 
in the form of the fovea. 
Colour : Carapace and upper surfaces of appendages olive-brown with 
pale markings on the anterior half of the carapace, and less conspicuously 
on the legs ; abdomen dull brown ; ventral surfaces pale. 
Carapace longer than broad, its length equal to that of the tibia, 
metatarsus, and half the tarsus of the fourth leg, and considerably exceed- 
ing that of the tibia, metatarsus, and tarsus of the first leg. Fovea 
crescentic with a short backward prolongation in the mid-line posteriorly 
(in M. dyeri this is absent as such, being represented only by a fine 
median groove). Anterior row of eyes with its front margins forming a 
slightly procurved line (in dyeri strongly procurved), the lateral eyes 
comparatively small, their area only about twice that of an anterior 
median ; posterior medians larger than the posterior laterals. Width of 
ocular area exceeding the length of the first metatarsus. 
Legs : Coxae of first, second, and third legs with a large compact 
basal patch of short, stout spinules, that of the third coxa including about 
30 to 40 spinules (in dyeri only about 5 to 10 spinules). 
Labium with about 20 teeth. 
Total length 13*5 mm. 
This is a rock-frequenting species. Mr. Cruden found the nests in 
earth-filled cracks and cavities of the rocks in the poort at Alicedale. The 
nests were often wedged into very narrow spaces, and were difficult to 
remove without injury to the spiders. 
The nests of Moggridgea crudeni are of the usual type for this genus, 
but it may be noted that the lids are regularly oval. The lid is thus very 
different from that of M. mordax Purcell (“ Annals of South African 
Museum,” III, p. 70), and of M. coegensis Purcell, as known to me from 
a specimen collected at Redhouse by Mrs. Paterson, which are very 
pronouncedly D -shaped. 
