The abdomen of the male is nearly cylindrical, and is less distinctly marked than that of
the female. The falces are very long, widely divergent at the extremity, which is armed
with a long, slightly curved fang, and have a small, obtuse prominence close to the base, in
front; they, with the cephalo-thorax, legs, maxillae, sternum, and abdomen, have a reddish-
brown tint, the abdomen being the darkest. The cubital and radial joints of the palpi are
short, the latter being rather the stronger; the digital joint is oval, convex and hairy
externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are moderately developed,
complicated in structure, with a fine spine at their extremity, curved in a spiral form, and
enveloped in membrane; they are of a reddish-brown colour. The convex sides of the
digital joints are directed towards each other.
This very common spider is frequently mistaken for IAnyphia triangularis, but may
readily be distinguished from that species by its figure, by the relative size and disposition
of its eyes, and by the design formed by the colours of its cephalo-thorax and abdomen; it
constructs in hedges, bushes, and rank herbage, an extensive horizontal sheet of web of a
fine texture, on the inferior surface of which it takes its station in an inverted position and
watches for its prey. Connected with the web and with objects situated above and below it,
are numerous fine lines intersecting one another at various angles; those on the upper side
are the most extensive, and not only serve to support the web, but also to precipitate such
insects as strike against them with their wings upon the horizontal sheet, where they arc
quickly seized by the vigilant and active occupant.
Inhabits Scotland and Ireland.
Linyphia triangularis. PI. XV, fig. 139.
IAnyphia triangularis, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 240.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii,
p. 449.
marginata, Wider, Museum Senckenb., Band i, p. 253, taf. 17, fig. 5.
—i . — Koch, Die Arachn., Band xii, p. 118, tab. 423, figs. 1041, 1042.
Length of the female, jth of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^th ;
breadth of the abdomen, ^ th ; length of an anterior leg, §; length of a leg of the third
pair, ^ths.
The cephalo-thorax is moderately convex, glossy, elevated and slightly compressed
before, rounded on the sides, which have raised margins, and has an indentation in the
medial lin e ; its colour is brown, the lateral margins having a yellowish-white hue. The
falces are conical, vertical, armed with a few teeth on the inner suface, and have a brown
tint, which is darkest in front. The maxillae are straight, and the exterior angle, at their
extremity, is curvilinear; the lip is semicircular and prominent at the apex; and the sternum
is heart-shaped. These parts are black. The eyes are seated on black spots; the four
intermediate ones describe a trapezoid whose anterior side is the shortest, and those of each
lateral pair are placed obliquely on a small tubercle, and are contiguous; the two posterior
eyes of the trapezoid are the largest of the eight, and the two anterior ones, which are seated
on a slight protuberance, are the smallest and darkest. The legs are long, slender, provided
with hairs and a few spines, and of a yellowish-brown colour, the thighs having a tinge of
green; each tarsus is terminated by three claws; the two superior ones are curved and
slightly pectinated, and the inferior one is inflected near its base. The palpi resemble the
legs in colour, and have a slightly curved claw at their extremity. The abdomen is oviform,
moderately convex above, thinly clothed with hairs, and projects a little over the base of the
cephalo-thorax; the posterior is broader than the anterior part and curves abruptly to the
spinners; along the middle of the upper part there extends a broad, black, slightly festooned
band, which comprises, in its anterior part, a row of yellowish-white spots on each side of
the medial line; this band is bounded laterally by an irregular one of a yellowish-white tint,
from which two or three streaks of the same hue pass downwards on the sides of the posterior
part, and a slightly curved, yellowish-white streak occurs on each side, near its anterior
extremity; the black medial band is almost intersected near the summit of the posterior
declivity by two transverse, oblong, yellowish-white spots which nearly meet, and between
them and the spinners there are two parallel spots of the same hue; the under part is black,
with a longitudinal row of yellowish-white spots on each sid e; the superior margin of the
sexual organs, which are very prominent, is curvilinear, and a small, obtuse process, connected
with their inferior margin, is directed backwards; the colour of the branchial opercula
is pale yellowish-brown.
The male is slenderer, darker coloured, and less distinctly marked than the female; its
legs have a yellowish-brown hue, without any tinge of green, and the digital joint of its palpi,
and the palpal organs, which are highly developed and complicated in structure, are of a
brownish-black colour.
IAnyphia triangularis occurs in the south-eastern counties of England, but does not
appear to have been met with in the northern counties, nor in Wales.
Linyphia marginata. PI. XV, fig. 140.
IAnyphia marginata, Blackw., Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag., third series, vol. I l l ,
p. 346.
__ — Blackw., Research, in Zool., p. 394.
__ __ Blackw., Annals and Mag. o f Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii,
p. 449.
montana, Sund., Vet. Acad. Handl., 1829, p, 217.
resupina, "Wider, Museum Senckenb., Band i, p. 252, taf. 17, fig. 4.
_ _ Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 242.
__ Koch, Die Arachn., Band xii, p. 109, tab. 421, figs. 1035, 1036.
Titulus 19, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran., p. 64, tab. 1, fig. 19.
Length of the female, ith of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^,th, breadth, ^th;