ARACHNID A. 
213 
description is given by Mr. Cambridge, “ Proceed. Zool. Soc.,” 
March, 1873. 
Argyrodes, Sim. 
A. epeirae, Sim. — A small chocolate-coloured Spider, with silver 
markings on the body, found parasitic in webs of Argiope aurelia. 
Mr. Cambridge says : — “ I have found it common in webs of Fpeira 
opuntia in Palestine, and Mr. Simon has found it very common also 
in similar webs in Spain.” It is very common about the lower land 
at St. Helena, where, in the large webs that cover the prickly-pear 
bushes, it is almost always to be found. 
Fam. Epeiridce. 
Tetragnatha, Latr. 
T. pelusia, Savig. — A long thin-legged, long thin-bodied Spider, 
of a light brown and golden colour, found crawling along the 
sides of streams, &c., in gardens on the high land. I found it 
tolerably abundant at The Hermitage amongst the grass and water- 
cresses. It does not appear to make much web. It preys upon 
other spiders, and has a habit of extending its legs fore and aft, so 
as to resemble a small dry twig, and thus escape notice. It has 
been found in Egypt. 
Meta, C. Koch. 
*M. digna, Cambr. ( Tetragnatha digna and T. indigna, Spiders of 
St. Helena, “Proceed. Zool. Soc.,” 1869, pp. 535-537, pl.xlii. fs.3,4). — 
This appears to be the native spider which has best held its own 
against the invasion of foreign spiders, for it is still one of the 
most abundant garden and outdoor species in the Island. It is 
lound equally on the low, the medium, and the very highest 
lands ; but those inhabiting the mountain top, near Diana s Peak, 
'where there is a cooler atmosphere, are more slender and smaller 
than those found lower down. It is easily recognised, being the 
handsome brown and golden garden spider which spins a large and 
beautiful geometric web, stretching from shrub to shrub, or from 
tree to tree, sometimes without support ior 30 or 40 leet, and some 
10 or 20 feet above the ground. It has always been a puzzle to me 
how this spider manages to construct suspension bridges, so to 
speak, of such magnitude, and across such wide spaces. After 
having built such an enormous web, it seems generally to prefer living 
