Family LINYPÏÏIIDÆ.
The spiders included in this family, though distributed over a large part of the earth’s
surface, appear to be most abundant in temperate climates. Their falces are articulated
vertically or on an inclined plane, and they have three pairs of spinners and two branchial
opercula connected with the abdomen. Different species. exhibit much diversity in the
absolute and relative dimensions of their legs, and the tarsi are terminated by three claws.
The situations most commonly frequented by the L inyphiida are the branches and foliage
of trees and shrubs, rank herbage, crevices in rocks and walls, overhanging banks, the under
side of stones, and the inside of buildings. For the capture of their prey they fabricate a
fine sheet of web, varying greatly in extent, on the inferior surface of. which they take their
station in an inverted position. Connected with adjacent objects by its margin, the web, in
many instances, is further supported by fine lines intersecting one another at various
angles, and having their extremities attached to its surface and to objects situated above and
below it.
Genus LINYPHIA {L atr.).
Byes disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse rows ; the four
intermediate ones describe a trapezoid whose shortest side is before, and those of each lateral
pair are near to each other.
M a xilla straight, or slightly inclined towards the lip, and somewhat quadrate.
L ip semicircular, or nearly triangular.
Legs long and slender; the first pair is the longest, then.the second or fourth, and the
third pair is the shortest.
L lN Y PH IA MONTANA. PI. XV, fig- 138.
Linyphia monlam, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 233, pi. 16, fig. 4.
__ __ Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 10.
__ .__ Koch, Die Arachn., Band xii, p. 113, tab. 422, figs. 1038, 1039.
__ __ Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii,
p. 448.
— . triangularis, Latr., Gen. Crust, et Insect., tom. i, p. 100.
_ _ — Sund., Vet. Acad. Handl., 1829, p. 215.
Length of the female, Jth of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax; £th, breadth, Atli;
breadth of the abdomen, Jth; length of an anterior leg, 1 ; length of a leg of the third
pair, *fths.
The eyes are seated on black spots; the four intermediate ones form a trapezoid whose
anterior side is much the shortest, and those of each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a
small tubercle, and are almost contiguous; the posterior eyes of the trapezoid are much the
largest, and the anterior ones are the smallest of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is oval,
convex, glossy, with a large indentation in the medial lin e ; its colour is yellowish-brown,
with a narrow, brownish-black band, bifid before, extending along the middle, and a brown
one on each side, parallel to the lateral margins. The falces are powerful, conical, rather
divergent at the extremity, armed with teeth on the inner surface, and inclined towards the
sternum, which is heart-shaped, and provided with some long, thinly scattered, black hairs.
The maxilla; are strong, very convex underneath, and somewhat quadrate, having the exterior
angle, at the extremity, curvilinear. The lip is semicircular and prominent at the apex.
The falces and maxillae are of a reddish-brown colour, the former being the redder, and the
sternum and lip are of a very dark-hrown hue, approaching to black. The legs and palpi
are long, slender, provided with hairs and fine, erect-spines, and of a yellowish-brown
colour, with the exception of the thighs, which have a tinge of green. 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 have at their extremity a long, slightly curved claw,
minutely dentated about a third of its length from the base. The abdomen is oviform,
somewhat compressed, very convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it
is thinly covered with hairs, glossy, and has a broad, dentated, dark-brown hand, obscurely
spotted with white, extending along the middle of the upper part, the posterior extremity of
which is the darkest and is crossed, near the spinners, by a whitish, semicircular line, whose
convexity is directed forwards; on each side of the medial band there is an irregular,
longitudinal, white band; the sides have a dark-brown tint, and are marked with two white
lines; the anterior one is horizontal, the posterior one, which is nearly vertical, meeting its
extremity, and forming with it a right angle nearly; the under part is of a very dark-brown
hue; the sexual organs are prominent, and have a small, oval process connected with their
posterior margin; and the colour of the branchial opercula is dark-brown.