XXIV. SOME INDIAN SPIDERS OF THE SUB-FAMILY TETR AGNATHIN AE. By F. H. Gravely, D.Sc, F.A.S.B., Superintendent, Government Museum, Madras. Spiders of the subfamily Tetiagnathinae must be familiar to all field naturalists in India especially the curiously elongate species which comprise the large and widely di'^tributed genus Tetragnatha, and the handsome silvery species which are among the commonest representatives of the genus Lencauge {^Argyroepeira). Both are moisture-loving genera, most abundant in the rains, and often frequenters of vegetation bordering streams and tanks, among which Xhty spin their circular and generally more or less horizontal webs. Leucauge is usually diurnal and sits in its web all day ; but Tetragnatha is more nocturnal and commonly rests by day with its legs stretched straight out in front of and behind it on a twig, leaf or blade of grass near its web — or sometimes (e.g. T. gracilis) on a twig which passes through the centre of the web. Eleven other genera of the subfamily are recorded from the Oriental Region in Simon's " Historie Naturelle des Araignees," namely Atelidea, Atiniiosa, Dolichognatha, Dyschiriognatha, Eucta, Metfi, Mitoscelis, Orsinome, Pachvgnatta, Timonoe and Tylorida, and of these all except Mitoscelis and Tylorida are already known from India, Burma or Ceylon. Only two of them, however, namely Eucta and Orsinome, can be dealt with in the present paper as the others are not sufficiently represented in the collection before me. This collection belongs to the Zoological Survey of India, except for a few specimens belonging to the Madras Museum and a few belonging to Mr. Srinivasa Rao.' Eucta closely resembles Tetragnatha in form and lives in similar places, often in company with it. i It is distinguished from Tetrag-natha by having the posterior end of the abdomen produced beyond the spinnerettes into a sort of tail. Orsinome closely resembles Leucauge, but is less strikingly marked with silver than are the commoner species of that genus, and can be distinguished from all by the absence of Lcucauge's characteristic line of hair on the outer side of the femur of the fourth leg. It spins its webs among rocks in the beds of mountain streams, and lets itself down into the torrent below when disturbed, clinging to anj-rock against which it may be washed and hiding there an inch or two below the surface of the water till it feels safe to return to its native element. ' The types of all new species described are in the collection of the Zoolog-ical Survey of India, Indian Museum, Calcutta
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