century after century, have hidden themselves long enough from our
inquisitive admiration, and the time has now come for us to seek them
out and learn their ways.
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTIONS OF TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS,
BY
THE REV O. PICKARD-CAMBRIDGE.
Genus Cteniza, Latr.
Cteniza Moggridgii, sp. n., Plate XX., fig. A, p. 254.
_Cteniza fodiens_ (Camb.)? ♀ in _Harvesting Ants and Trap-door
Spiders_, J. T. Moggridge, 1873, p. 89, Plate VII., excluding
synonyms there quoted.
Adult male length 5-1/2 lines, length of cephalothorax 3 lines,
breadth 2-1/2.
The cephalothorax is of a short, broad-oval form, its length being
only half a line greater than its breadth; it is flattened-convex
above, and depressed near the margins, the _caput_ (when looked
at in profile) scarcely rising above the level of the thorax.
At the junction of the caput and thoracic segments is a deep,
circularly-curved indentation, or fovea, the curve of which is
directed backwards; the extremities of this indentation are continued
obliquely forwards on either side, forming the normal ones which
indicate the junction of the caput and thorax. Rather more than
one-third of the distance between the above curved indentation and
the fore margin of the caput is a very perceptible and deep but
narrow, slightly curved, transverse indentation which divides the
caput into two distinct parts; the curve of this indentation is
directed forwards. The normal thoracic indentations are well marked,
but not very strong; the surface of the thorax, though shining,
appeared under a lens to be covered with fine rugulosities. Its
colour is yellow-brown; a large triangular patch on either side
of the caput being tinged with orange, and the rest suffused with
dark brown. The caput is of a dark reddish yellow-brown, showing
(in spirit of wine) two longitudinal bars, or strong lines, of a
clearer orange yellow-brown colour; its surface is glossy, though,
under a lens, the sides of the fore part are very finely striated or
rugulose. These lines begin behind the extremities of the hinder row
of eyes, and gradually converge to a point at the thoracic junction;
the ocular region and central longitudinal line of the fore-segment
of the caput have some long and very prominent black bristles.
When alive, the cephalothorax appears to have been suffused with a
purplish hue, corresponding to that of the abdomen and other parts.
[Illustration: _Plate XX._]
The _eyes_ form a rectangular figure, whose fore side is a little
shorter than the hinder one, and whose transverse, or longest,
diameter is as nearly as possible double the length of its shortest
one; the eyes of the central or fore-central pair are small, and
separated by a diameter's distance from each other. The hind laterals
are the smallest of the eight, and each is almost contiguous to the
hind-central nearest to it, this latter being of a sub-triangular
form, and separated from the fore-central on its side by an interval
equal to that which divides the two fore-centrals, but less than
that which separates each fore-central from the fore-lateral on its
side. Looked at as in two transverse rows of four each, those of
the foremost row are darkish coloured, while those of the hinder
row are pearly white. Omitting the eyes of the hind-central pair,
the remaining three on either side form as nearly as possible an
equilateral triangle.
The _legs_ are long, moderately strong, their relative length being
4, 1, 2, 3. They are of a dark brown colour, generally paler on the
under sides, furnished with hairs, fine bristles, and spines; the
latter are numerous and strong beneath the metatarsi and tibiæ of
the first and second pairs; on those of the third pair they are less
strong and more uniformly disposed; on those of the fourth pair they
are fewest and least conspicuous. The genual joints of the third
pair have some strongish spines on the outer side; the right leg has
eight, the left nine. The toothing of the superior tarsal claws does
not appear to be uniform on the different legs of the same example;
on those of the fourth pair there were five teeth; on those of the
first pair eight or nine, with two others, quite rudimentary, towards
the point of the claw; and even on one of the fourth pair of legs one
of the claws had six, the other five teeth. The tarsal claws of the
second pair are toothed throughout nearly their whole length with
from eight to ten teeth; on _one_ of the third pair the teeth were
but five or six, while on the other there were on one claw but three
ordinary teeth and a much stronger one a little way off in front of
them, on the second claw only a single strong tooth about the middle,
and a smaller one close to its base.
The _palpi_ are long and rather slender, measuring rather over
six lines in length; they are similar in colour to the legs, and
excepting a few--from twelve to fourteen--short strong spines on
the upper side of the extremity of the digital joint, furnished with
hairs only. The cubital joint is more than half the length of the
radial; this latter is equal in length to the humeral joint, and
nearly as long as the femora of the first pair of legs. The digital
joint is short, of an oblong oval form, broadest at its extremity.
The palpal organs consist of a nearly spherical corneous lobe,
prolonged at its fore extremity into a long, slender, tapering,
beak-like spine, curving upwards (_i.e._, with its point near to the
radial joint), and inwards.
A broad, conspicuous, shining, corneous band, of a deeper red-brown
than the rest, runs round the middle (or equatorial line) of the
spherical portion of these organs, covering the greater part of their
surface.
The _falces_ are of moderate length and strength, and of ordinary
form. They are similar in colour to the legs, and furnished in front,
chiefly on their inner edges, with hairs, and at their extremities
on the inner sides, with a few, but not very strong nor conspicuous,
short spines; their under side (along which the fang lies) is toothed
on the inner edge only; the fang is strong and curved, but presents
nothing remarkable in form, nor could I detect either denticulation
or serration.
The _maxillæ_ are strong, straight, divergent, with a small prominent
point at the inner extremity of each; they are as strong, but not so
long, as the basal (coxal) joints of the legs of the first pair, of a
yellow-brown colour, furnished with hairs, but with no spines of any
sort or size.
The _labium_ is similar in colour to the maxillæ, and somewhat
quadrate in shape, rounded at the apex; it is furnished with hairs
only.
The _sternum_ is of a sub-pentagonal form, much broader behind than
in front; its colour is dull yellowish-brown, and it is furnished
with hairs, leaving two largish, bare, round, slightly impressed
patches, not far from each other, in a transverse line near the
middle.
The _abdomen_ is short-oval in form, and very convex above; it
projects a little over the base of the cephalothorax, and its upper
side is of a purplish grey-brown hue, mottled with a pale dull
whitish-yellow, and furnished sparingly with hairs. The sides and
under side are of a uniform dull whitish-yellow. The _spinners_ (four
in number) are, as usual, of very unequal size, those of the superior
pair longish, strong, three-jointed, and up-turned, the inferior
pair short but stout, consisting of one joint only and pretty close
together.
The _female_ (as it is conjectured to be) of this species was
described, in the work to which the present publication is
supplementary, from examples found at Mentone. There is little doubt
now but that it is not _Ct. fodiens_, Walck., but whether or not
identical with the male above described is not absolutely certain.
I think myself (with Mr. Moggridge, see p. 195) that it is so, in
spite of some differences in the relative size of the eyes, the
toothing of the under side of the falces, and the denticulation
of the tarsal claws. With regard to the eyes and falces, I am not
inclined to lay special stress upon these differences. It is found
that in other groups of spiders whose cephalothorax varies very
markedly in development in the two sexes, differences of this nature
occur. In the present genus, the male has an almost flat caput,
while the female has a strongly elevated one; and with respect to
the variation in the tarsal claws, no special weight can be attached
to it in the present instance, since these claws are not uniformly
denticulated in the different feet of the same individual. Another
difference is the absence in the male of sundry small but distinct
tooth-like spines at the apex of the labium and the inner corner of
the base of the maxillæ; the female is also wanting in regard to the
very characteristic transverse indentation which divides the caput
of the male into two parts. I can, however, trace in the female the
slightest possible corresponding depression, scarcely amounting to an
indentation, and placed rather nearer to the junctional thoracic pit.
With regard to the differences between this species and _Ct.
Sauvagii_, Latr. (_Ct. fodiens_, Walck.), size alone would suffice to
distinguish them; two females of the latter now before me measuring
13 lines in length; while the male (_Aran. nouv. ou peu connus du
Midi de l'Europe_, par Eugène Simon, Mém., Liège, 1873) measures 8
lines (17 mm.) and the female rather over 14 lines (30 mm.), the
fore-central eyes in the female of _Ct. Sauvagii_ appeared to be
smaller than those in _Ct. Moggridgii_ and placed rather farther
forwards, but the eyes in both are otherwise remarkably similar
both in size and position. The males, however, cannot be confounded
inasmuch as, according to M. Simon, no trace of any transverse
indentation on the caput exists in _Ct. Sauvagii_.
The denticulation of the tarsal claws in the females of both species
is similar, but M. Simon does not mention this portion of the
structure of the male he describes of _Ct. Sauvagii_.
The adult male of _Ct. Moggridgii_ above described, was found behind
the stones of an old wall at Mentone, but not in any kind of nest.
Nest-making, and excavating for that purpose, is, probably, no part
of the work of the adult males in this and other allied genera, and
hence we can see a reason for differences in the development of the
caput, and the denticulation of the falces. The usual habitat of the
females and their nests is in damp and shady spots, whereas _Ct.
Sauvagii_ constructs its nests in dry exposed banks.
_Habitat._ Mentone and San Remo.
Cteniza Californica, sp. n., Plate XV., fig. B, p. 198.
Adult female; length very nearly 14 lines; length of the
cephalothorax, 5-1/2; greatest breadth of ditto, 5; breadth of fore
part of caput, 4 lines; length of caput rather over 3 lines.
The _cephalothorax_ of this spider is rather broader in proportion to
its length than that of _Ct. Sauvagii_, Walck., Sim. = _Ct. fodiens_,
Walck. The convexity, or elevation, of the caput is also less, but
that of the thorax is greater, so that (when looked at in profile)
the profile line of the two forms a tolerably even and continuous
slope, interrupted only by the thoracic fovea; the profile, however,
of the occiput is curved.
The thoracic fovea, or junctional indentation, is strong, deep, and
semilunar in form, the horns of the crescent pointing forwards; the
other normal indentations are well marked, but those which divide
the caput from the first thoracic segment do not unite with the
extremities of the junctional fovea, being in this respect unlike
_Ct. Moggridgii_, but more like _Ct. Sauvagii_. The _clypeus_,
although transversely impressed, yet slopes forward more gradually
than in either of those species, its breadth is about equal to that
of the ocular area, or amounts to half that of the facial space. The
colour of the cephalothorax, taken from the specimen preserved in
spirit of wine, is a deep reddish-yellow brown, gradually getting
paler towards the margins. When alive, I understand that the general
colour of the whole spider was a dark blackish chocolate brown, the
legs and cephalothorax being darker than the abdomen; there are a few
prominent bristly hairs in the medial line both before and behind the
ocular area.
The _eyes_ form a narrow transverse oblong figure, its length being
about two and a half times its width, and its fore side is a little
the shortest; the fore-lateral eyes are large and oval, and by far
the largest of the eight; the rest do not differ much in size, though
perhaps the hind laterals, which are also oval, are a little the
largest; the longest diameter of these, however, is less than half
the longest diameter of the fore laterals. The interval between the
fore and hind laterals is small, only equal to the shortest diameter
of the hind lateral; and this interval is nearly double that which
separates each hind lateral and the hind central nearest to it. The
hind laterals and hind centrals form an almost perfectly straight
line, the former being very slightly indeed within the straight line
of the former; the intervals which separate the fore centrals from
each other, and each of them from the fore lateral on its side, are
as nearly as possible equal, though very slightly, if at all, less
than that which separates each of them from the hind central on its
side: the interval which separates the fore laterals is double the
length of the longest diameter of one of them.
The _legs_ are short and very strong; they are like the cephalothorax
in colour, but paler underneath the femora; this joint in the third
pair is proportionally much stronger than in the other legs; all are
furnished with hairs, bristles, and spines, a group of erect bristles
among the rest occupies the fore part of the upper side of the
metatarsi of the first and second pairs; strong spines of different
lengths are thickly placed beneath and on the lower part of the sides
of the tibiæ tarsi and metatarsi of the first and second pairs. On
the tarsi and metatarsi of the third and fourth pairs similar spines
are distributed more uniformly over the whole surface of the joints,
and on the genual joint of the 3rd pair there is one short strong
spine near its extremity on the outer side, those on the tibiæ both
of the third and fourth pairs being confined to a few on the outer
side, and towards the lower side only. Each tarsus terminates with
three claws, of which the two superior ones have a single strong
tooth towards the base on the lower side.
The _palpi_ are rather long, strong, and similar in colour to the
legs. They are furnished with hairs, bristles, and spines; of the
latter the radial and digital joints have some short and strong ones,
pretty thickly grouped along both their outer and inner sides; the
digital joint ends with a single untoothed claw.
The _falces_ are strong and massive, more so than in _Ct. Sauvagii_,
but of normal form. They are furnished with hairs and bristles, and
with strong spines near their inner extremities on the upper side;
the fangs are strong, folded along the under side of the falces in a
furrow which is toothed along either edge. The colour of the falces
is a rich deep red-brown.
The _maxillæ_ are strong, straight, divergent, with a prominent point
at the inner extremity, and some very short, strong, tooth-like
spines at their base; their colour is dull yellow-brown, and, with
the labium and sternum, they are thickly clothed with short strong
hairs.
The _labium_ is dark yellow-brown, tipped slightly with black; it is
of a somewhat semilunar form, and has a few very short tooth-like
spines near its apex.
The _sternum_ is of a rough oval form, broadest behind and shorter
and broader in proportion than that of _Ct. Sauvagii_ and _Ct.
Moggridgii_; its colour is dull yellow-brown, and it is destitute of
the two shining bare patches conspicuous in both those species.
The _abdomen_ is large, short-oval, broadest behind and very convex
above; it is of a dull yellowish-brown colour, thickly mottled with
minute dark points seen through a lens to be little rings, from the
centre of each of which springs a bristly hair; the underside is
paler; the spinners and spiracular openings are normal. As observed
above, the colour of the abdomen was rather different in life; it
was then of a deep blackish chocolate brown, with an indistinct
longitudinal line along the middle of its fore part on the upper
side, intersected by a similar line at right angles; but these lines
soon disappeared after death; the specimen had been in spirit of wine
some months before the present description was made.
A single example, with its tubular nest of the cork-lid type, was
received alive from California in 1873, and appears to have been
hitherto undescribed; though no larger than _Ct. Sauvagii_, it is yet
a stouter and more massive spider, and may readily be distinguished
by the large size of its fore-lateral eyes, the narrower ocular area
arising from the far greater proximity to each other of the eyes of
each lateral pair, the less convexity of the caput, and the greater
convexity of the thorax, as well as by its being altogether a darker
coloured spider, and having shorter stouter legs.
_Habitat._ Visalia, 350 miles south of San Francisco, California.
Gen. Nemesia, Savigny.
Nemesia Cæmentaria, Plate XIX., fig. B, p. 229.
_Mygale cæmentaria_ (Latr.) _Hist. Nat. des Crust._ t. vii. p. 164.
--♀--Walck., _Hist. Nat. des Ins. Apt._ 1, p. 235.
---- ---- _Cuvier's Règne Animal_, ed. Paris. 20 vols. 18--? Pl I.,
_A. Dugès del._ ♂ _et_ ♀.
Adult female, length 7 to 9 lines.
_Cephalothorax_ oval, truncated and almost equally broad at each
end; the upper surface is moderately convex, the caput elevated a
little above the rest, and equally rounded on the sides and upper
part; the profile of the whole cephalothorax forms a general sloping
slightly curved line, broken by the thoracic junctional pit or
fovea, which is narrow but strong, and gently but equally curved, the
convexity of the curve directed forwards; the thorax next to this
fovea is rather gibbous, but not over any great extent of surface;
the other normal indentations are tolerably strong; the colour of the
cephalothorax is yellow-brown, darkest on the sides of the caput,
and along the thoracic indentations, palest on the margins, forming
a pale marginal border indistinctly vandyked on the inner edge. The
surface is clothed, but not densely, with yellowish-grey adpressed
hairs; there are a few black bristles in a straight transverse
line, directed forwards from the lower margin of the clypeus; also
a few more bristles curved and of various lengths before and behind
the ocular area, their points meeting over this area, and a row of
strong, nearly erect ones in a longitudinal central line from the
ocular area to the junctional fovea; besides these are a few more,
finer and less conspicuous, along the middle both of the caput and
thorax; the colour on either side and in front of the ocular area is
orange yellow-brown, and joining with this a broad band of the same
runs backwards from the ocular area to the thoracic fovea. The band
begins as wide as this area, it then directly enlarges a little, and
thence tapers slightly and gradually to its termination, forming a
truncate wedge, with the margins rather irregular, but on the whole
a little curved. This band is not immaculate, there being two dark
yellow-brown tapering lines or bars along the greater part of its
length; these bars begin from each outer pair of eyes of the hinder
row, and tapering to a fine line, converge to the thoracic fovea,
but do not quite meet. It is important to note the exact form and
distribution of the central band and these tapering bars, as their
differences from the character of the similar part in another closely
allied species are strongly specific; the above description holds
good in above twenty examples before me.
The _eyes_ are in two transverse lines, forming an area whose length
is rather less than 2-1/2 times its width; the foremost line is
curved, and the curve directed backwards, the hinder one is also
curved and in a similar direction, but less strongly, looking
laterally the extreme margin of the four eyes of the hinder row forms
a straight line. Considered as in pairs, those of the fore-central
pair are separated by an interval equal to that which separates
each from the fore-lateral and hind-central nearest to it; the
fore-laterals are divided by about two and a half diameters; they are
the largest of the eight, only slightly however, in some examples,
larger than the hind-laterals. Each of them is separated from the
hind-lateral on its side by not quite half the diameter of the
latter, and each hind-lateral is very nearly but not quite contiguous
to the hind-central on its side; the hind-centrals are roughly
rounded, smallest of the eight, though in some examples equal in size
to the fore-centrals, and are separated from the fore-central nearest
to it by about one diameter, which gives a clue to the absolute
distance between the eyes of the foremost pair. The four lateral eyes
are oval, the fore-centrals round; those of the foremost row are
darkish coloured, while those of the hinder row are pearly white.
Although it is of great importance to observe as accurately as
possible the relative position and size of the eyes, yet we must be
prepared to find exceptions to the rule derived from the most exact
measurements in any individual instance.
In the present species the above conclusions, as to position and
size, are drawn from a consideration and comparison of 20 examples,
and are, it is believed, pretty true, but yet in one example, one
of the hind central eyes was but half the size of the other, and
in another example one of the same eyes was but one-fourth of that
of the other, a mere dot in fact, and the relative size of the
respective lateral eyes of the two rows do not appear to maintain
exactly the same proportions in all individuals. The height of the
clypeus appeared to be as nearly as possible half that of the facial
space.
The _legs_ are strong, moderately long, their relative length 4,
1, 2, 3, though in some examples those of the second and third
pairs are equal in length; in others, those of the third pair are
slightly longer than those of the second; here again, as with the
eyes, although the relative proportion of the legs of spiders is an
important specific point, and in general tolerably reliable, yet
accurate observation and measurements prove that there are small
differences in individual instances. The legs are yellow-brown
in colour, furnished with hairs, bristles, and a few spines. The
outer sides of the genual joints of the third pair are destitute of
spines; in two instances only out of 20, this joint had a single, not
very conspicuous, spine. The superior tarsal claws have 4-5 minute
pectinations underneath near their base.
The _palpi_ are moderately long and strong, and similar in colour
and general armature to the legs; they terminate with a single,
strong, sharply curved untoothed claw.
The _falces_ are of a deep black red-brown colour, strong and
prominent, and flat, but not cut away, on their inner sides; they are
furnished on their upper sides with black bristles and yellowish-grey
hairs, disposed in longitudinal lines; these bristles are strongest
and most numerous on the inner margin of the upper side, increasing
in strength forwards where, near the extremity, are some strong
spines.
On the inner edge of the under side of each falx is a row of teeth,
and each fang is also denticulate or finely serrate, beneath towards
its hinder part.
The _maxillæ_ are strong, cylindrical, and divergent; and each has a
small bluntish angular prominence at the extremity on the inner side;
their inner margin has a thick fringe of pale reddish hairs, the fore
surface being clothed (as ordinarily) with dark bristly hairs, and
there are a few black minute tooth-like spines in a line (sometimes
in a small group) near the inner corner of their base.
The _labium_ is short, broad, its breadth nearly double its length,
and the upper corners rather rounded off; there are some strongish
bristles, mostly towards the apex, but no tooth-like spines nor
denticulations.