The cephalo-thorax is short, oval, convex, glossy, with slight furrows on the sides converging
towards an indentation in the medial lin e ; the falces are conical and vertical; the
maxillae are greatly inclined towards the lip, which is triangular; and the sternum is heart-
shaped. These parts are of a dark-brown colour; the falces and the inner surface of the
maxillae are the palest, and the former have an obscure, dark, longitudinal streak in front,
and another on the outer side, near the base. The legs are moderately long and slender,
provided with hairs and erect spines, and of a pale, yellowish-brown colour, with dark-brown
annuli; the first pair is much the longest, the fourth pair is rather longer than the second,
and the third pair is the shortest; each tarsus is terminated by three claws; the two superior
ones are curved and pectinated, and the inferior one is inflected near its base. The palpi
resemble the legs in colour, and have a curved, pectinated claw at their extremity. The
four intermediate eyes form a square, the two anterior ones, which are the darkest and rather
the largest of the eight, being seated on a protuberance; those constituting each lateral pair
are placed obliquely on a small tubercle and are contiguous. The abdomen is subglobose,,
thinly covered with hairs, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; the upper part
is of a dull-brown colour, with a strongly dentated band of a yellowish-white hue, sometimes
intermixed with reddish-brown, extending along the middle; this band has a narrow border,
of a brownish-black tint, from which rows of spots of the same hue pass obliquely on the
sides, which are of a pale-brown colour, thickly spotted with yellowish-white; the under part
has a brownish-black tint, a spot near the spinners and a smaller one on the outer side of
each branchial operculum being yellowish; the spinners have a pale-brown hue, and the
colour of the branchial opercula is dull, yellowish-brown. Lighter and darker coloured
varieties of this species are not uncommon.
The male is smaller than the female, and its abdomen, which is darker coloured, has a
prominent, transverse fold near the middle of the under part. The colour of its palpi is
yellowish-brown, with the exception of the digital joint, which has a dark-brown tin t; the
cubital and radial joints are short, the latter being produced at the extremity, on the outer
sid e; the digital joint is oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the
palpal organs, which are moderately developed, not very complex in structure, and of a
reddish-brown colour. The convex sides of the digital joints are directed towards each other.
Branches of trees and shrubs trained against buildings, and crevices in rocks and walls,
are the situations usually occupied by this species. The female, in the month of June or July,
attaches to objects near her retreat a globular cocoon of greenish-brown silk, of a very loose
texture, measuring one ninth of an inch in diameter, in which she deposits from thirty to sixty
spherical eggs, of a brown colour, not agglutinated together. t
Theridion simile. PL XIV, fig. 119.
Theridion simile,'Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 314.
Theridium — Koch, Die Arachn., Baud iii, p. 62, tab. 94, fig. 215.
__ — Koch, Die Arachn., Band viii, p. 79, tab. 275, fig. 649.
Length of the female, àth of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, à>th, breadth, i th ;
breadth of the abdomen, fi,th ; length of an anterior leg, 1th ; length of a leg of the third
pair, rèth.
The cephalo-thorax is small, oval, convex, glossy, with furrows on the sides converging
towards an indentation in the medial line ; the falces are conical and vertical ; the maxillae are
obliquely truncated at the extremity, on the. outer side, and inclined towards the lip, which is
semicircular, but somewhat pointed at the apex; and the sternum is heart-shaped, with small
eminences on the sides, opposite to the legs. These parts are of a red-brown colour, the
middle and margins of the cephalo-thorax, the sides of : the sternum, and the lip, being much
the darkest. The eyes are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse
rows ; the four intermediate ones -form a square, those of the anterior pair, which are
seated on a protuberance, being the largest and darkest of the eight ; the eyes of each lateral
pair/are placed obliquely on a small tubercle, and are contiguous. The legs are moderately
long, slender, provided with hairs, and of a brownish-yellow hue, with red-brown annuli,
particularly at the articulation of the joints ; the first pair is the longest, then the fourth, and
the third pair is the shortest; each tarsus is terminated by three claws; the two superior
ones are curved and pectinated, and the inferior onehis inflected near its base. The palpi
resemble the legs in colour, but are without red-brown annuli, with the exception of one faint
annulus at the extremity of the radial joint, and the digital joint has a small, curved, pectinated
claw at its termination, which has. a brown hue. The abdomen is subglobular, somewhat
pointed at the spinners, thinly clothed with hairs, and projects over the base of the cephalo-
thorax ; it is of a yellowish-white colour, minutely freckled with brown; a whitish, dentated
band, bounded on each side by a dark-brown band, whose anterior extremity is the broadest,
extends along the middle of the upper part, and is enlarged in the anterior region in a
triangular form ; this band comprises a narrow, longitudinal, brown band, whose continuity
is usually interrupted by the base of the triangle ; a greatly curved line, of a dark-brown
colour, extends from the exterior margin of each brancial operculum to a patch of the same
hue immediately below the spinners ; the orifice of the sexual organs, which is nearly circular,
has a reddish-brown colour, and that of the branchial opercula is red-brown.
The male bears a strong resemblance to the female, but it is smaller, and darker coloured.
Its palpi are short ; the radial is smaller than the cubital joint, and is somewhat produced at
the extremity, on the under side ; the digital joint has a brownish hue ; it is oval, convex
and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are moderately
developed, not very complex in structure, with a black process enveloped in membrane at
their extremity, which is slightly curved outwards, and extends beyond the end of the joint ;