Supplement to Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door SpidersMoggridge, John Traherne
Science
Supplement to Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door Spiders
Moggridge, John Traherne
Ants; Trap-door spiders
The _abdomen_ is elongate oval, and of a straw yellow colour. In
the _male_ the fore part of the upper side is irregularly black
brown, followed by an irregular somewhat broken longitudinal central
bar, and some broken oblique lines and portions of chevrons. In
the _female_ the fore part is less densely blackish, the central
longitudinal line is obscure, but the oblique lateral lines are more
distinct and less broken, but none are quite united so as to form
chevrons, though the two or three nearest to the spinners almost do
so.
The upper side is furnished with numerous strong nearly erect black
bristles.
The _labium_ has a row, of bristles only, at its apex.
The markings of the cephalothorax in the female are very nearly like
those of that sex in _N. Manderstjernæ_; the tapering orange yellow
band, however, behind the eyes appears to be rather bolder, as in
that species this band also is faintly traceable quite to the hinder
thoracic margin. The inner corner of the base of the maxillæ, in both
sexes, has several minute tooth-like black spines.
The form of the cephalothorax in the female differs from that of
the male; in the latter sex (male) it is narrower before and rather
rounded behind; in the former sex (female) it is broadest before and
more distinctly hollow-truncate behind; the caput is also rounder and
more elevated. In the female the tarsi and metatarsi of the two first
pairs of legs have close set brush-like hairs beneath; these are
wanting in the two hinder pairs, and also almost entirely wanting on
the two first pairs in the male.
Various other characters, both peculiar and differential, are noted
in regard to this species by M. Simon (l.c.). It is to be regretted
that this painstaking observer did not note more exactly the form and
type of its nest; from his description of it, however, it appears to
be branched, but whether the door is of the wafer or cork type, or
whether it has an inner door or not, is not mentioned.
_Habitat._ Corsica.
Nemesia Congener, sp. n., Plate XVIII., fig. A, p. 225.
Adult female, length 9 lines (19 mm.).
In general appearance, colours, and markings this spider bears
great resemblance to _N. cæmentaria_. The eyes, however, appeared
to be smaller, and the hind-centrals also smaller in proportion to
the rest. The pale margins of the cephalothorax are in the present
species generally confined to some rather indistinct pale patches.
The central orange band from the eyes to the thoracic fovea is,
especially in immature examples, often only a simple tapering line;
in others it is larger, and often composed of three converging narrow
orange bands, which form, in some examples, a broad central tapering
band, marked with two longitudinal dark lines. The thoracic fovea is
curved, but not sharply.
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