THE SPIDER GENERA CEROCIDA, HETSCHKIA , 
JVIRADA AND CRASPEDISIA 
(ARANEAE: THERIDIIDAE) * 
By Herbert W. Levi 
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University 
The four genera discussed in this paper are known only from 
tropical America. No species have been found in other parts of the 
world. All are small genera with one or two known species. The 
characters that distinguish the genera have been discussed in a previ- 
ous paper (Levi and Levi, 1962), in which were illustrated the type 
species. For ease of comparison the type species are figured here again 
with some new drawings. Drawings of the expanded palpi are 
omitted. 
A trip to examine the types was supported by a National Science 
Foundation Grant (G-4317) and the research and publication by 
a grant from the National Institutes of Health (E-1944). I wish 
to thank my colleagues who made rare specimens available to me: 
Prof. M. Vachon of the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 
Paris; J. Proszynski of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw; Dr. 
G. Owen Evans, Mr. E. Browning, K. Hyatt and D. Clark of the 
British Museum (Natural History) ; Mrs. D. L. Frizzell (Dr. H. 
Exline) and Dr. E. S. Ross of the California Academy of Sciences, 
San Francisco (CAS) ; Dr. W. J. Gertsch of the American Museum 
of Natural History, New York (AMNH) and Dr. O. Kraus of the 
Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt (SMF). 
Cerocida Simon 
Cerocida Simon, 1894, Histoire Naturelle des Araignees, 1:508. Type species 
by original designation and monotypy: C. strigosa Simon, 1894. 
Cephalothorax with posterior stalk and raised reticulate pattern in 
both sexes (Fig. 6). Legs long, first patella and tibia as long or 
slightly longer than carapace. Abdomen small, higher than long; 
male with sclerotized rings around pedicel and spinnerets (Fig. 1). 
Colulus replaced by two setae, unlike the related Helvibis , which 
lacks setae. 
Cerocida strigosa Simon 
Figures 1-6 
Cerocida strigosa Simon, 1894, Histoire Naturelle des Araignees, 1 : 508, fig. 
510. Female holotype from Venezuela in the Museum National d’Histoire 
Naturelle, Paris, examined. 
* Manuscript received by the editor February 19, 1963. 
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