Theridion guttatum. PI. XIV, fig. 131.
Theridion guttatum, Wider, Museum Senckenb., Band i, p. 241, taf. 16, fig. 7.
— — Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 318.
Theridium — Koch, Die Arachn., Band viii, p. 81, tab. 275, figs. 651, 652.
Length of the female, ^th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, 35th, breadth, ^ th ;
breadth o f the abdomen, ^th; length of an anterior leg, 5th; length of a leg of the third
pair, ^th.
The abdomen is subglobular, somewhat pointed at the spinners, glossy, thinly clothed
with hairs, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of a brown-black colour,
with a row of five pale-yellow spots in the medial line of the upper part, a row of three spots
of the same hue on each side, and the colour of the branchial opercula and spinners is brown.
The cephalo-thorax, sternum, and abdomen, are thickly marked with conspicuous punctures.
The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, glossy, and somewhat prominent in the cephalic region;
the falces are short, conical, and vertical; the maxillae are pointed at the extremity, and
greatly inclined towards the lip, which is semicircular; and the sternum is broad, convex,
and heart-shaped. These parts are of a very dark-brown colour. The eyes are disposed on
the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse rows; the four intermediate ones
nearly form a square, those of the posterior pair being rather wider apart than those of the
anterior pair, which are seated on a protuberance, and are the darkest of the eight; the eyes
of each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a small tubercle, are rather the largest of the
eight, and are contiguous. The legs are slender, provided with hairs, and of a yellowish-red
colour, with dark-brown annuli, the annulus at the extremity of the tibia being the broadest
and darkest; 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 one is inflected near its base. The palpi resemble the legs in colour, and
have a small, curved, slightly pectinated claw at their extremity.
The sexes are similar in colour, hut the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax of the male
is more prominent, its legs are proportionally longer, and its abdomen is smaller, than those
of the female. The cubital, radial, and digital joints of its palpi have a brown hue; the
cubital joint is enlarged at its extremity; the radial joint is produced towards the outer side,
and overlaps the base of the digital joint, which is oval, convex and hairy externally, concave
within, comprising the palpal organs; these organs are highly developed, complex in structure,
with a prominent, obtuse, light-coloured process near their extremity, on the inner side, at
the base of which, towards the outer side, there are two minute, curved, black spines, and
their colour is reddish-brown.
The Rev. O. P. Cambridge found adult and immature specimens of Theridion guttatum
at Hursley, near Winchester, and at Bloxworth, in the summer of 1860.
Theridion flavo-maculatum. PI. XIV, fig. 132.
T h e r id im flavo^mu^aHm .'BiiA-«., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second senes,
' vol. xi, p. 118.
Micryphantes flavo-maculatus, Koch, Die Arachn., Band in, p. 67, tab. 95, fig. 220.
Length o f the male, |tli of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, i?th, breadth, ^ th ;
breadth of the abdomen, j^th; length of a posterior leg, jth; length of a leg of the third
pair, 5th.
The legs are short, moderately hairy, and of a light, reddish-brown colour, with the
exception' of the tarsi, which have a dark-brown t in t; the fourth pair is the longest, the first
pair slightly surpasses the second, and the third pair is rather the shortest; the two superior
tarsal claws are curved and pectinated, and the inferior one is inflected near its base. The
cephalo-thorax has a short oval form; it is convex, glossy, prominent in front, and has an
indentation in the medial lin e ; the falces are small, conical, and vertical; the maxillae are
gibbous at the base, and greatly inclined towards the lip, which is short and semicircular;
the sternum is heart-shaped and glossy. These parts are of a reddish-brown colour, the
margins of the cephalo-thorax and sternum being blackish. The four intermediate eyes form
a square nearly, the two anterior ones, which are rather wider apart than the posterior ones,
and the largest of the eight, being seated on a brownish-black protuberance; the eyes con-1
stituting each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a small tubercle, and are almost contiguous.
The palpi have a browner tint than the legs, and the colour of the radial and digital joints is
dark-brown; the radial joint is short, broad, and projects upwards from its base, on the
outer side, a pointed process which is in close contact with the extremity of the cubital
joint; the digital joint is somewhat oval, but slightly curved and pointed at the end; it is
convex and hairy externally, concave within, and comprises the palpal organs, which are highly
developed, with three short processes at their extremity, and are of a dark, reddish-brown
colour. The abdomen is oviform, glossy, sparingly supplied with hairs, convex above, and
projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of a brownish-black hue, marked with pale,
reddish-brown spots and streaks on the upper part, those in the medial line, and on each side
of it, being the most conspicuous ; the colour of the branchial opercula is brownish-yellow,
and a line of the same hue extends from them nearly to the spinners.
An adult male Theridion Jlavo-maculatum, which hitherto appears to have escaped the
observation of arachnologists, was found running on a foot-path in a wood near Oakland, in
May, 1852, and from it the foregoing description was made. The female of this species,
previously described and figured by M. Koch under the name of M icryphantes Jlavo-maculatus,
judging from the smallness of its size, was probably an immature individual; its colours,
though not so intense, bear a close resemblance to those of the male in their distribution.
A minute examination of the essential characters of this-spider has led to its removal from
the genus Micryphantes to that of Theridion.
In confirmation of the opinion that the female Theridion jlavo-maculatum described by