Linyphia alticeps. PL XVI, fig. 149.
Linyphia alticeps, Sund., Vet.'Acad. Handl., 1832, p. 261.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. ix, p. 17.
' luteola, Blackw., Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag., third series, vol. iii, p. 192.
— — Blackw., Research, in Zool., p. 390.
Length of the female, 3th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, -^th;
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of an anterior leg, fths; length of a leg of the third
pair, ,th.
The cephalo-thorax is convex, glossy, compressed, prominent, and somewhat pointed
before, rounded on the sides, and has an indentation in the medial line; the falces are
conical, vertical, and armed with teeth on the inner surface; the maxillae are straight, and
nearly quadrate; the lip is semicircular and prominent at the apex; the sternum is heart-
shaped ; the legs are long, slender, and provided with fine, erect spines ; 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 are rather short, and have a slightly pectinated,
curved claw at their extremity. These parts are of a pale yellowish-brown colour, with the
exception of the lateral margins of the cephalo-thorax, and a fine line extending along its
middle, which are black. 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 tubercle, and are contiguous; the two posterior eyes of the trapezoid are the
largest, and. the anterior ones the smallest of the eight. _The abdomen is oviform, glossy,
compressed, very convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of a
pale-yellow colour, with minute, white spots on the upper part; the sides are obscurely
marked with oblique lines of a blackish hue, and above the spinners there are several angular
ones of a similar tint; the colour of the branchial opercula is yellow. The black lines on the
abdomen of some individuals are almost obliterated.
The male is smaller and slenderer than the female, but its cephalo-thorax is longer, very
prominent and pointed before, and provided with numerous strong, black bristles, particularly
at the apex. Its maxillae also are remarkably convex externally. The humeral joint of its
palpi is robust; the cubital and radial joints are short, a strong bristle, rough with projecting
points on the under side, depending from a protuberance at the extremity of the former, in
front; the digital joint is oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the
palpal organs, which are complicated in structure, with a curved, pointed process at their
base, and are of a red-brown colour.
The conclusion arrived at by Professor Sundevall, that L inyphia alticeps and L inyphia
luteola are the same species^ is perfectly correct; but M. Walckenaer is certainly mistaken in
regarding it as identical with his Argus cornutus (‘ Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt./ tom. ii, p. 368),
from which it differs remarkably in structure, colour, habits and economy.
Specimens of this interesting Linyphia have been procured in Lancashire and Denbighshire
; Mr. R. H. Meade has taken it in Yorkshire, and Mr. J . Hardy in Berwickshire. The
male has the palpal organs fully developed in autumn, at which season both sexes are
plentiful in the plantations about Crumpsall Hall, near Manchester, constructing snares of
moderate extent among coarse grass beneath the trees. Like other species of the genus, they
are usually seen on the under side of the horizontal sheet of web in an inverted position.
Linyphia longidens. PI. XVI, fig. 150.
Linyphia longidens, Wider, Museum Senckenb., Band 1, p. 270, taf. 18, fig. 5.
__ Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 264.
_ — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. ix, p. 17.
— tardipes, Blackw., Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag., third series, vol. viii, p. 488.
Length of the female, ^th of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^th ;
breadth of the' abdomen, ^th ; length of an anterior leg, èths ; length of a leg of the third
pair, Jth.
The eyes are seated on black spots; the four intermediate ones form a square nearly,'
and the two anterior ones are the largest of the eigh t; those of each lateral pair are placed
obliquely on a small tubercle and are contiguous. The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex,
glossy, depressed and somewhat rounded before, with an indentation in the medial line; it is
of a reddish-brown colour, with a broad, brownish-black band extending along, each side.
The falces are powerful, conical, divergent at the extremity, armed with a long fang, slightly
curved at its point, and with two rows of teeth on the inner surface, those of the anterior row
being remarkably long and fine; they are inclined towards the sternum, which is heart-shaped
and finely pointed at its posterior extremity; the maxillae are strong, straight, and somewhat
quadrate, and the lip is semicircular and prominent at the apex. These parts have a reddish-
brown tint, the sternum and lip being rather the darkest. The legs are mbderately robust,
provided with hairs and a few erect spines, and are of a reddish-brown colour, with obscure,
brownish-black annuli; the first pair is the longest, the second and fourth pairs are nearly
equal in length, and the third pair is the shortest; each tarsus is terminated by three claws;
the two superior ones are curved, and the inferior one is inflected near its base. The palpi,
which are o£ a reddish-brown hue, and are fufnished with spines, have a' slightly curved,
slender claw at tfceir extremity. The abdomen is oviform, rather broader at the posterior
than at the anterior extremity, convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax;
it is thinly clothed with hairs, glossy,'and of a reddish-brown colour on the upper part, with
a few minute, whitish spots interspersed, and a series of large, brownish-black blotches
extending along each side of the medial lin e ; these blotches unite as they approach the
spinners, and form transverse, curved bars; the sides are of a hrownish-black hue minutely
freckled with reddish-brown; the under part has a dark-brown, or brownish-black tin t; and