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HARVEST SPIDERS. 
■which are often much enlarged; in the male of Phalangium opilio, for example, 
the second segment is produced upwards into a great horn-like process. Fossil 
forms occur in the Carboniferous, one of which has been described as Eophrynus. 
Suborder Laniatores. 
In the harvest spiders of this group the first sternal plates of the abdomen do 
not project forwards to any great distance between the coxae of the cephalothoracic 
limbs; the first being thus separated from the mouth by a long though narrow 
sternal area lying longitudinally between the coxae of the right and left sides. The 
claw of the palpi is usually long, strong, and folded backwards against the tarsus, 
while the other segments are generally furnished with strong spines. Only the 
last four segments of the abdomen are free, the 
anterior coalescing with the carapace, which bears 
a pair of eyes, situated usually upon a single dorsal 
tubercle. This suborder is represented by numerous 
families in the tropical countries of both Eastern 
and Western Hemispheres. South of the Equator 
it extends to a considerable distance, reaching in 
South America as far as Tierra del Fuego; although 
in temperate lands to the north of the Equator 
it is poorly represented, there being only a few 
species of small size in Europe and the United 
States. In the tropical parts of Central and South 
America the group attains its maximum of develop¬ 
ment, both as regards species and genera, and the 
abundance and size of individuals. In the families 
Cosmetidce and Gonyleptidoe, for instance, speci¬ 
mens sometimes reach an inch in length, and cover 
with their long slender legs a span of many 
inches. The suborder also has representatives in South Africa and Tropical Asia. 
An aberrant group of the Laniatores is the family Sironidce containing a few 
species from South Europe and the Oriental countries. These are all of small size 
with elongate oval bodies, and relatively short and stout legs. The palpi, moreover, 
are not armed with spines, thus resembling those of the following suborder; and 
the legs are tipped with a single claw. The two eyes, which are situated at the 
sides of the carapace, are raised on stalks, and generally there is an additional eye 
on each side at the base of the stalk. 
Suborder Palpatores. 
These harvest-spiders differ from the preceding group in having the anterior 
sternal areas of the abdomen thrust far forwards between the bases of the 
thoracic limbs, so as to lie just behind the mouth. The claw of the palpi is short 
and weak, and these appendages are small and unspined, being used merely as 
organs of touch and not of prehension. The legs, moreover, are furnished with a 
CHILIAN HARVEST SPIDER, 
Gonylejotes chilensis (nat. size). 
