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, pointed at the spinners, very
convex-above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax'; it is thinly clothed with
hairs, and o f-a yellowish-brown colour, freckled with numerous, minute, whitish spots;
along the middle of the upper part there extends a series of angular lines of a
brownish-black hue, whose vertices' are directed forwards, and whose greatly enlarged
extremities form a row of very conspicuous, irregular spots on each side of the medial line ;
several of the anterior angles are bisected by a fine, brownish-black line ; two longitudinal,
irregular, brownish-black bands occur on each of the sides, the upper one being connected
with the enlarged extremities of the angular lines by small, confluent spots of the same hue;
a large, brownish-black band, whose anterior extremity is the broadest, occupies the middle
of the under part, and com prises •‘a yellowish-brown, medial line; the Sexual organs are
prominent, and have a brownish-black tint; with the exception of the extremity, which is
flesh-coloured; and the colour of the branchial opercula is pale-yellow.
The male, though smaller than the female, resembles her in the design formed by the
distribution of its colours. - The cubital and radial joints of its palpi are short, the former,
which is the larger, having several long, curved bristles projecting from its extremity, in
front; the radial joint is gibbous underneath, and has three short apophyses before, the
middle one, which is the largest and darkest coloured, being transversely striated in front;
the digital joint is somewhat oval, with a slightly curved, conical process at its base, in
front; it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which
are highly developed, prominent;- complicated iti -structure, with a slightly curved, pointed
spine,, and a finer one .enveloped in a-semitranspareAt membrane, at their extremity; they
are . of a red-brown colour. The convex sides of the digital joints are directed towards
each other.
Both sexes of this spider, which bears a striking resembIance_to L inypU a cauta, were
discovered in the greenhouse and melcta-pits belonging to Mrs. Darbishire, of Green Heys,
near Manchester, in September, 1836.
In the account of LinypU a vivax given in the eighteenth volume of the ‘ Transactions of
the Linnean Society,’ a doubt is implied as to its being distinct from the Linyphia ylohosa of
M. Wider (• Museum Senck'enbergianum,’ B. I, p. 259, taf. 17, fig. 9); however, an attentive
perusal of the description and an inspection o f the figure of the latter have induced the
conviction that they are different species. •
Linyphia socialis. PI. XVI, fig. 147.
Linyphia socialis, Sund., Vet. Acad. Handl., 1832, p. 160.
, “ . Blackw., Annals and Mag. Of Nat. Hist., second series, voL ix,
p. 16.
annulipes, Blackw., Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag., third series, vol. iii, p. 348.
“ “ , Blackw., Research, in Zool., p. 398.
The cephalo-thorax is oval, slightly compressed before, convex, glossy, with an indentat
io n in the medial lin e ; it is of a pale yellowish-brown colour, with black lateral margins,
immediately above which there is a longitudinal row of triangular, black spots, and a band
of the same hue, bifid before, extends along the middle. The falces are long, conical,
divergent at the extremity, provided with several slender spines in front, armed with teeth on
the inner surface, and inclined towards the sternum, which is heart-shaped ; the maxillae are
straight, somewhat quadrate, having the exterior angle, at the extremity, curvilinear; and
the lip is semicircular and prominent at the apex. These parts have a yellowish-brown tint,
the maxillae and sternum being the palest. The legs are long, slender, provided with a few
erect spines, and of a pale yellowish-brown colour, with brownish-black annuli; each tarsus
is terminated by three claws; the two superior ones are curved and pectinated, and the
inferior one is inflected near its base, where there are one or two very minute teeth. The
palpi have numerous long spines on their radial and digital joints, and a slightly curved claw,
minutely dentated about a third of its length, at their extremity; their colour is similar to
that of the legs. The eyes are seated on black spots ; the four intermediate ones form 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 anterior eyes of the trapezoid are the
smallest of the eight and very near to each other. The abdomen is oviform, convex above,
projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax ; the upper part is of a greenish-white colour,
reticulated with fine, yellowish-green, or greenish-brown lines, and has a series of greenish-
brown, angular lines, whose vertices are directed forwards, extending along the middle; at
its anterior extremity there is a curved, black band, comprising four white spots disposed
transversely, which extends rather more than half of its length along the sides; from each
extremity of this band a black line passes, obliquely upwards and forwards, forming with it
an acute angle, and between the angular point and the spinners there are two oblique, black
streaks united near the middle; below the band and streaks numerous yellowish-white spots
occur; the under part has a reddish-brown tint, with a few mmute, yellowish-white spots,
and a black streak passes above the exterior margin of the branchial opercula, which have a
pale yellowish-white h u e ; a long, depressed process of a red-brown colour, directed backwards,
is connected with the sexual organs.
The colours of the sexes and the design formed by their distribution are similar, but the
male is smaller than the female. The cubital and radial joints of its palpi are short, the
latter, which is the stronger, being very convex on the outer sid e; the digital joint is somewhat
oval, with a pointed process at its base, curved outwards, and a prominent lobe on its
outer side ; it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs ;
these organs are highly developed, complex, with corneous processes, the largest, which is
obtuse, curving above the base of the joint, and are of a red-brown colour.
As the opinion entertained by Professor Sundevall, that Linyphia socialis and L inyphia
annulipes are identical, appears to be correct, the former name, imposed upon this species
by the Professor, must take precedence of the latter.