lected in Turkistan and the Khanate of Khokand, with the addition of
some species received by Fedchenko from the neighbouring localities—
Orenburg, Semirechia, and Kuldja. The total number of species
amounted to 180, of which 146 appeared to be recognizable ; of that
number 101 were already known, and 45 were new.
As all the species already described, which were found in Turkistan,
are related to the forms distributed over Central Europe and the
countries surrounding the Mediterranean, and as among the new
species there is not one tropical form, the list of spiders here given
has quite a European character. It is, however, necessary to remark
that, judging from the data in our possession concerning the fauna of
Central and Southern Europe, this list, in all probability, does not represent
more than one-third of the species to be met with in Turkistan.
The labours of faunistic naturalists of late years have disclosed, particularly
in Southern Europe, an unexpected wealth of forms, and there
is. no reason to suppose that Turkistan is poorer in this respect than
the western countries. As regards North-Western and Central Europe
—Westring (1862) enumerated 308 species in Sweden; Blackwall
(1863) 304 in Britain, not reckoning those afterwards described by
Cambridge ; * in Central Europe, Menge (1866) took at least 350 species
in East Prussia alone; Italy has, according to Canestrini and Pavesi
(“ Catalogo sistem.,” 1870), 485 species, t
Quite as rich, apparently, are the southern and eastern shores of the
Mediterranean. In dry and stony Syria and Palestine, Cambridge succeeded
in collecting, in the course of two months, not less than 300
speqies, half of which appeared to be new. This large percentage,
and the constant increase in the number of species in European lists,
show that the figures quoted above are very far from representing the
whole of this portion of the fauna of the said localities. Doubtless,
therefore, in time, the list of Turkistan spiders will be materially
increased, and it is also very probable that in the southern portion,
in Balkh, Kunduz, etc., certain forms will be found of a tropical
character, similar to those found by Cambridge in Syria, though in a
very small number, notwithstanding that their distribution towards the
north does not, in this country, meet with such important natural
obstacles as, in Southern Turkistan, are presented by the Hindu
Kush and the mountains on the Persian frontier.
Of the 16 families to which, according to Thorell (“ On European
Spiders,” p. 42), the European spiders belong, all except two groups
( Urocteoidae and Filistatoidae), very limited in number, have their
representatives in Turkistan. The 146 species known there (including
one undescribed Cyrtauchenius) belong to 55 genera, which constitute
approximately one half of the total of European genera (according to
Thorell, 120). Among them are not found many of those semi-tropical
genera, such, for example, as Argyrodes, Scytodes, Heteropoda, Ctenus,
etc., which belong also to the Mediterranean fauna, not to speak of
purely tropical forms. The species are distributed in such a way that
after deducting 45 new ones, of the remaining 101 species 15 were
* [ I n 1 8 8 0 , t h e R e v . O . P i c k a r d C a m b r i d g e ( w h o h a s b e e n g o o d e n o u g h t o l o o k
o v e r t h i s a r t i c l e f o r m e ) w a s a c q u a i n t e d w i t h 5 1 8 B r i t i s h s p i d e r s . — H. / . . ]
t A s f a r a s r e g a r d s E u r o p e a n R u s s i a , t h e c o u n t r y n e a r e s t t h e r e g i o n i n w h i c h
w e a r e i n t e r e s t e d , w e h a v e o n l y t h e i n c o m p l e t e l i s t s o f N o r d m a n n f o r F i n l a n d ,
G r u b e f o r t h e B a l t i c g o v e r n m e n t s , a n d S i m a s h k o f o r t h e e n v i r o n s o f S t . P e t e r s b
u r g . B u t j u d g i n g f r o m w h a t N o r d m a n n s a y s , a n d f r o m m a t e r i a l s i n m y
p o s s e s s i o n , n o t l e s s t h a n 4 0 0 s p e c i e s o f s p i d e r s a r e m e t w i t h i n E u r o p e a n R u s s i a .
X - - - - - - - ' X - , w e L U C 1 U O . U U . C / C l l l l d . 1 E / U I U L _
belong also to the Mediterranean fauna, and 30 to the latter alone.
The following are common to Turkistan and Central Europe '
1 . L i n y p h i a n e b u l o s a , S u n d .
9-
X y s t i c u s b i f a s c i a t u s , K o c h .
2 . E r i g o n e b i c u s p i d a t a . M e n g e .
1 0 .
3' „ l u c t u o s u s , B l a c k w .
i i l i v i d a , B l a c k w .
1 1 .
„ a c e r b u s , T h o r .
4 . „ f u s c i p a l p i s , K o c h .
1 2 .
5- 3-A r t a n e s p a l l i d u s , W a l c k .
S i n g a p y g m a e a , S u n d .
!
, , ' p a e c i l u s , T h o r .
6 . D r a s s u s v i l l o s u s , T h o r .
1 4 .
P h i l o d r o m u s e l e g a n s , B l a c k w .
7 . G n a p h o s a v a r i a n a , K o c h .
1 5 . L y c o s a h e r b i g r a d a , B l a c k w .
8 . X y s t i c u s s a b u l o s u s , H a h n .
Of the species of the Mediterranean fauna there are found in Turkistan :
1 . A r g i o p e B r u n n i c h i i , S c o p .
2 . l o b a t a . P a l l .
3 . E p e i r a r e g i a , C . K o c h .
4 . S ; [ V i c t o r i a , T h o r .
5. T h e r i d i u m p u n i c u m , L u c .
6 . L a t r o d e c t u s e r e b u s , S a v . e t A u d .
7- , „ . c o n g l o b a t u s , C . K o c h .
8 . D i c t y n a c o n s e c u t a , C a m b r .
9 . D r a s s u s l u t e s c e n s , C . K o c h .
1 0 . M e l a n o p h o r a c o n s p i c u a . L . K o c h ,
i t . G n a p h o s a e x o r n a t a , C . K o c h .
1 2 . ( ? ) G n a p h o s a r u f u l a , L . K o c h .
1 3 . C h i r a c a n t h i u m i t a l i c u m , C a n e s t r .
1 4 - » S e i d l i t z i i , L . K o c h .
T 5 - M i s u m e n a v i l l o s a , W a l c k .
Of the pew species belonging
16. Xysticus brevitarsis, Sim.
17. Thanatus Albini, Sav. et Aud.
18. (?) Cyrtauchenius Walckenaeri, Lue.
19. Tarentula narbonensis, Latr.
20• _ » albo-fasciata, Brullé.
21. Trochosa singoriensis, Laxm.
22. Oxyopes gentilis, C. Koch.
23. Palpimanus gibbulus, DufL
2 4 . Eresus imperialis, Duf.
25. Ballus rufipes, Sim.
26. (?) Euophrys intenta, Blackw.
27. Philaeus haemorrhoicus, C. Koch.
28. Menemerus indistinctus, Cambr.
29. Heliophanus rufithorax, Sim.
30. Calliethera tricincta, C. Koch.
, . , ~ \ to thè ggceiniceircat udiibstcrriibDuutieeda aailmmoossit
exclusively over the Mediterranean district there are also, Zodarium
bactrtanum, Hersiliolapallida, Cteniza ferghanensis, Eresus tristis.
and Er. arenamus, and, in addition, one Cyrtauchenius. Finally to the
number of forms with Southern European character may be added
Mefa dentipalpis, Theridium tuberculatum, Amaurobius lone:!
palpis, Sparassus sericeus, Xysticus lugubris, and the large species oi
tarantula, Tarentula alticeps, fulviventris, and latifasciata The
remainder have a more uniform character, if we do not reckon the
comparatively large numbers of certain species of the family Dras-
soidae, for example, Drassus, Melanophora, Chiracanthium, as a
special distinguishing feature of the eastern part of the Mediterranean
province.
Thus the Turkistan fauna of spiders, so far as we now know, appears
to be composed of representatives of both divisions of the European
launa, with a slight predominance of South European forms. Althouo-h
the apparent preponderance of the latter, partly the consequence of the
very limited materials, is in itself unimportant, the presence of many
characteristic southern genera, as Argiope, Latrodectus, Zodarium
Hersiliola, Eresus, Palpimanus, together with certain Therabhosoidae
(.Mygahdae), and the large Sparassus and Tarentula, at once clearly
shows the connection between Turkistan and the Mediterranean province.
In any case, our acquaintance with the spiders of the Steppe
fauna is still too incomplete to enable us to say definitely whether it
constitutes a simple continuation of the Mediterranean fauna towards
the east, or a special faunistic province, bearing the same relation to it
as the Central European.*
A c e r t a i n p e c u l i a r i t y o f i t s c h a r a c t e r m a y b e r e c o g n i z e d i n t h e c o m p a r a t i v e
VOL. II. 3 5 < >