DRASSUS. 
119 
An adult male of this minute Brassus was found in Dorsetshire by the Rev. O. P. Cam¬ 
bridge, in the autumn of 1857. 
Drassus nitens. PI. VI, fig. 73. 
v 
Drassus nitens, Blackw., Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag., third series, vol. iii, p. 439. 
— — Blackw., Research, in Zool., p. 328. 
Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii, p. 42. 
— formosus, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 488. 
Macaria formosa, Koch, Die Arachn., Band vi, p. 97, tab. 203, fig. 501. 
Length of the female, |th of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, £th, breadth, j,th j 
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of a posterior leg, ith; length of a leg of the third 
pair, yth. 
The eyes are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse, 
curved, concentric rows, having their convexity directed backwards; the interval between the 
intermediate eyes of the posterior row is greater than the space which separates them from 
the lateral eyes of the same row, and the intermediate eyes of the anterior row are the 
smallest of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, somewhat rounded in front, and 
thinly covered with short, hoary hairs, which are most abundant on the anterior part; it is of 
a brownish-black colour, with three faint white lines on each side converging from the lateral 
margins towards the middle. The falces are strong, conical, vertical, and armed with a few 
very minute teeth on the inner surface; the maxillae are powerful, enlarged where the palpi 
are inserted, gibbous at the base, compressed near the middle, slightly enlarged and rounded 
at the extremity, and inclined towards the lip, which is longer than broad and round at the 
apex; the sternum is of an oblong-oval form, pointed at its posterior extremity. These parts 
are of a brown-black colour, tbe sternum being the darkest. The legs are moderately long, and 
the thighs of the anterior pair are robust; th,ey are of a brown colour, faintly tinged with red, 
except the coxae, exinguinal joints, and thighs of the first pair, and the exinguinal joints and 
thighs of the second pair, which are of a dark, brownish-black hue ; the fourth pair is the 
longest, and the third pair is the shortest; each tarsus has hair-like papillae on its under side, 
and is terminated by two plain, curved claws, below which there is a small scopula. The 
palpi are filiform; the axillary and humeral joints have a dark, brownish-black tint, and the 
cubital, radial, and digital joints are of a brown colour, tinged with red. The abdomen is of 
an oblong-oviform figure, and projects a little over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is 
covered with short hairs, and is of a deep-black hue, but reflects rich tints of purple, green, 
and copper-red when seen in a strong light; on the upper part, in front, there is a small, trans¬ 
verse, slightly curved, white line, whose convexity is directed forwards; and at a considerable 
distance behind it there is a long, transverse, white line, which is abruptly curved in the 
middle in a direction opposed to that of the preceding one; a detached white spot' occurs on 
each side, nearly opposite to the extremities of the longer line, and a short, white streak 
