E. B. Bryant.
A New Genus and Species of Theridiidæ from Eastern Texas (Araneæ).
Psyche 56:66-68, 1949.

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A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES OF THERIDIIDB
FROM EASTERN TEXAS (ARANEB)'
Museum of Comparative Zoology
Among some material sent me several years ago, by Miss Sarah E. Jones collected by her at Dallas, Texas, was a small male spider which particularly attracted my attention. Tentatively I placed it in the little known genus Umfila Keyserling, (Theridiidse), based on a single species from Brazil. Recently, I had the pleasure of showing it to Dr. Alexander Petrunkevitch of Yale Uni- versity. He kindly called my attention to characters which certainly preclude it from that genus and sug- gested that a new genus be erected for it. Genus Mufila gen. nov.
Ceptzalothorax about as wide as long, anterior margin broadly convex, longer than the posterior margin, cephal- ic portion rather high, thoracic groove long, in a depres- sion; eyes closely grouped, differing little in size, ante- rior row slightly recurved, a.m.e. largest of the eight, posterior row almost straight, lateral eyes touching; guadrangle wider in front and not as high as wide; clypeus very high, about three times the height of the quadrangle; mouth parts weak; sternum oval, three- quarters as wide as long, anterior margin rounded, pos- terior margin pointed and extending between the fourth coxse; abdomen narrow, pointed above the spinnerets, with a corneous ridge at the base which connects with a large epigastric scutum; legs, 4-1-2-3, with no spines, a tarsal comb of 6 to 7 curved bristles on the fourth metatarsus ; palpus large, patella short and much rounded on the dorsal side, tibia small. Female not known. 1 Published with a grant from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College.
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Pmhe 56:66-69 (1949). hup Wpsycht rinclub org/S(i/56-066 html



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19491 Bryant-Theridiidae 67
Genotype : Mufila texana spec. nov.
The genus Mufila probably belongs with the Asageni- ma, as a remnant of a stridulating organ remains on the base of the abdomen. It differs from the other genera in that sub-family by the very broad cephalothorax, the . high clypeus and the closely grouped eyes that vary lit- tle in size. It differs from the genus Umfila Keys. by the cephalothorax which is as wide as long, the very high clypeus, the pointed sternum, and the lack of a dorsal scutuni on the abdomen.
Mufila texana spec. nov.
Figure 1
Male. Length, 2.5 mm., ceph. 1.2 mm. long, 1.2 mm. wide, abd. 1.4 mm. long, 0.7 mm. wide.
Cephalothorax golden brown, shining, with a few short hairs below the a.m.e., almost circular, anterior margin strongly convex, and wider than the posterior margin, sides rounded, almost flat, cephalic portion highest, thoracic groove long and deep, in a depressed area; eyes closely grouped, area slightly elevated, each eye heavily ringed with black, and not varying much in size, anterior row slightly recurved, a.m.e. largest of the eight, sepa- rated by about a diameter and from the a.l.e. by a little less, posterior row the same length as the anterior row, almost straight, eyes equidistant and subequal, p.m.e. separated by little more than a diameter, lateral eyes touching; quadrangle wider in front and not as high as wide; clypeus below a.m.e. almost equals three times the ocular area, with a stripe of short dark hairs directed up- ward, from the margin to the a.m.e.; mandibles dark, small and vertical, weak, fang short; labium very narrow, more than twice as wide as long, suture between the labium and sternum very indistinct; maxillae, yellow, shaded with gray, more than twice as long as the labium and strongly inclined; sternum bright yellow, darker about the margins, slightly convex, three-quarters as wide as long, anterior margin rounded, posterior margin pointed, first pair of cox* widely separated, fourth pair



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68 Psyche [June
of cox% separated by more than a diameter and the ster- num carried between; abdomen oval, pointed above the spinnerets, two-thirds as wide as long, brown with five white spots, at the base a corneous line which may be the remnant of a sound organ, but no cross ridges on the cephalothorax remain, many long scattered hairs from corneous pits, venter pale, with a strongly marked epi- gastric scutum that covers the basal third and connects Figure 1. Mufila texana spec. nov. $. A, Dorsal view. B, Left palpus, lateral view.
with the corneous ridge on the dorsum, a broad dark ring surrounds the spinnerets which may be chitinized, spin- nerets small, posterior spiracle probably opens directly anterior to the spinnerets, two small chitinized ovals about the middle of the venter, may be muscle spots; 1 2 3 4 *
legs' 2.0 1.8 2.0 2.6
, rather short, pale yellow, with the
* The leg formula used was suggested by Mrs. Harriet Frizzell and modi- fied by Dr. Alex. Petrunkevitch in ' ' A Study in Amber Spiders, " Trans. Conn. Acad., 1942, 34, p. 137. The lower figure represents the length of the leg divided by the length of the carapace.



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distal joints darker, femora with a dark anterior lateral line, much fainter on the posterior pairs, all joints with rows of small hairs, no spines, tarsal comb of 6 or 7 curved bristles on the fourth metatarsus; palpus, large for the size of the spider, shorter than the cephalothorax, femur pale and bent, other joints dark, patella short and much swollen on the dorsal side, tibia very small and pressed close to the cymbium, palpal organ short, barrel- shaped, embolus probably a short black spine at the tip. Holotype: 3 Texas; Dallas, on the outside of a house, 9 July 1936, (Jones) ; in MCZ.
A COERECTION.-I~ Pysche,Vol. 56, No. 1, 1 published a synonymic list involving some species in Pseudomyrma and other genera of ants (pp. 41-49). On page 43 occur two errors, the first of which was made at the printing office after the page proof had been read by both author and editor. Page 43, line 5, should read "Pseudomyrma spinicola subsp. imf ernalis", not " subsp. sclerosa." Line 9 on the same page mistakenly omits an "e" from ' subsp. scelerosa", the latter being 'Wheeler's original spelling. Enzmann 's transcription of the name was "sclerosa".-W. L. BROWN, JR., Biological Laboratories, Harvard University.




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