DRASSUS. 
Ill 
Drassus sericeus. PI. VI, fig. 67 . 
Drassus sericeus, Sund., Vet. Acad. Handl., 1831, p. 136. 
— — Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. i, p. 619. 
— — Koch, Die Arachn., Band vi, p. 37, tab. 190, figs. 457, 458. 
— — Blackvr., Linn. Trans., vol. xix, p. 113. 
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii, 
p. 40. 
Filistata sericea, Wider, Museum Senckenberg. Band i, p. 204, taf. 14, fig. 3. 
Length of the female, ^ths of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, £th, breadth, |th ; 
breadth of the abdomen, gth; length of a posterior leg, |; length of a leg of the third 
pair, Jfths. 
The eyes are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse, 
nearly parallel rows, the intermediate ones of the anterior row, which is the shorter, being the 
largest of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, pointed before, and covered with 
short, silky hairs of a lightish hue, interspersed with long, upright, black ones. The falces 
are strong, conical, rather prominent, and armed with a few small teeth on the inner surface; 
the maxillae are powerful, convex at the base and on the outer side, depressed on the inner 
side, with an oblique, transverse groove near the extremity; the lip is long, oval, and rounded 
at the apex; the sternum, which is glossy, is of an oblong-oval form, narrower at the anterior 
than at the posterior extremity, and has slight eminences on the sides, opposite to the legs; 
the legs are robust, and are provided with hairs and sessile spines; the posterior pair is the 
longest, and the third pair is the shortest, the first and second pairs being equal in length, or 
very nearly so; each tarsus has hair-like papillae distributed on its inferior surface, and is 
terminated by two curved, deeply pectinated claws; the palpi are strong, and have a curved, 
pectinated claw at their extremity. These parts are of a reddish-brown colour, the falces, 
maxillae, and lip being the darkest. The abdomen is oviform, somewhat depressed, broader 
at the posterior than at the anterior extremity, and is thickly covered with short, silky, black 
hairs; on the upper part there are four small depressions forming a quadrilateral figure, and 
at the anterior extremity, where it touches the cephalo-thorax, there is a tuft of long, black 
hairs; the under part is tinged with brown, and has a fine, indented, longitudinal line on 
each side of the middle; the spinners are nearly cylindrical, prominent, and of a pale-brown 
colour, the intermediate pair being united at the base ; and the branchial opercula have a 
yellow hue. 
The male resembles the female in colour, but it is smaller, and the first pair of legs is 
rather longer than the second pair. The cubital and radial joints of the palpi are short, the 
latter projecting a strong, pointed apophysis from its extremity, on the outer side ; the digital 
joint is of an oblong-oval form, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the 
palpal organs, which are moderately developed, and not very complicated in structure; they 
