the colour of the branchial opercula is pale-yellow; a large, very prominent, curved process,
of a dark red-brown hue, is connected with the sexual organs; it is abruptly contracted in the
curvature, and is recurved at its extremity, which is enlarged and deeply notched.
The male, which resembles the female in colour, has some longish black bristles, directed
forwards, on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax, which is prominent. The cubital and
radial joints of its palpi are short; the latter is the stronger, and a long, slender bristle
projects from the extremity of the former, in front; the digital joint is somewhat oval, but is
gibbous on the outer margin, and has a large process at its base, which is curved outwards
and notched at its extremity; it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising
the palpal organs; these organs are highly developed, complicated in structure, provided with
several curved, corneous processes, and are of a red-brown colour. The convex sides of the
digital joints are directed towards each other.
On obtaining a copy of the first volume of the ‘Museum Senckenbergianum,’ and comparing
the description of M. Wider’s Linyphia longidens with that of L inyphia tardipes, it was
immediately perceived that they are specifically the same.
This spider is found in Denbighshire, Yorkshire, and Lancashire, under stones and
detached pieces of rock, and in December 1848, an adult female was received from Mr. J.
Hardy, who took it in Berwickshire. It pairs in August and September, and the female
fabricates several cocoons of white silk of a fine but compact texture, which she attaches to
the inferior surface of stones by a small web; they are flat on the side in contact with the
stones, and convex, with a depressed margin, on the opposite side. The largest of these
cocoons measures one-fourth of an inch in diameter, and contains about forty spherical eggs
of a pale-yellow colour, not agglutinated together, but enveloped in delicately soft silk. The
snare of this species consists of a small, compact, horizontal sheet of web constructed in
cavities beneath stones, on the under side of which it takes its station in an . inverted position.
In the disposition and relative size of its eyes an approximation to the Theridia may be
traced.
Linyphia frenata. PI. XVI, fig. 151. ■»
IAnyphia frenata, Wider, Museum Senckenb., Baud i, p. 269, taf. 18, fig. 4.
; . — Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 279.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. ix, p. 18.
pallida, Blackw., Linn. Trans., vol. xix, p. 126.
Theridium pallidum, Koch, Die Arachn., Band iii, p. 64, tab. 94, fig. 216.
Length of the female, ^ths of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^th ;
breadth of the abdomen, ^th ; length of an anterior leg, 5§ths ; length of a leg of the third
pair, 1th.
The legs are long, slender provided with hairs and erect spines, and of a pale yellowislibrown
hue, with a faint tinge of green, particularly on the thighs, and an obscure, blackish
annulus at the extremity of each principal joint; the first pair is the longest, then the
second, and the third pair is the shortest; the tarsi are terminated by three claws; the two
superior ones are curved and pectinated, and the inferior one is inflected near its base. The
palpi are of a pale yellowish-brown colour, and have a slightly curved claw at their extremity.
The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, glossy, with furrows on the sides converging towards a
large indentation in the medial line; it is of a pale yellowish-brown colour, with a longitudinal,
black band immediately above each lateral margin. The falces have a reddish-brown hue;
they are long, powerful, conical, armed with teeth on the inner surface, and inclined towards
the sternum, which is heart-shaped, and of a brownish-black tint. The maxillae are powerful,
straight, somewhat quadrate, and of a pale reddish-brown colour, with a blackish spot on
the inner angle, at the extremity. The lip is semicircular, prominent at its apex, and
resembles the sternum in colour. The eyes are seated on black spots, those of each lateral
pair being placed on a small tubercle and nearly contiguous; the anterior eyes of the
trapezoid are not smaller than the rest. The abdomen is remarkably gibbous above, projecting
over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is thinly clothed with hairs, glossy, and of a
pale reddish-brown colour; the anterior half of the upper part is thickly spotted with white,
and a series of black spots occurs on each side of the medial line of the posterior half, those
near the spinners uniting and forming short, transverse bars; the sides are marked with
irregular black streaks ; the hue of the branchial opercula is yellow, and the space between
them has a brownish-black tin t; a depressed process, directed backwards, is connected with
the anterior margin of the sexual organs, and their colour is reddish-brown.
The male resembles the female in colour, but its legs are longer than hers, an anterior
one measuring seven-tenths of an inch. The anterior part of its cephalo-thorax, where the
eyes are seated, is greatly elevated, rounded at the summit, and provided with numerous
curved, black hairs. The falces are long and divergent at the extremity. The humeral
joint of the palpi is robust; the cubital and radial joints are short, the latter being the
stronger; both have a few long bristles at their extremity, in front, which are directed
forwards; the digital joint is broader at the extremity than at the base, which is rather protuberant;
it is of a light reddish-brown colour, is slightly convex and hairy externally,
concave within, and comprises the palpal organs; they are highly developed, very complicated
in structure, with a prominent spine underneath, which is enveloped in membrane, abruptly
curved near its base, and directed downwards; a large, convex, glossy process occurs at their
extremity, on the outer side, and near it, towards the inner side, there is a short, strong,
curved, pointed spine; the colour of these organs is very dark and light reddish-brown
intermixed. The convex sides of the digital joints are directed towards each other.
Not perceiving that the Theridium pallidum of M. Koch is identical with the Linyphia
fren a ta of M. Wider, M. Walckenaer has included it among the synonyma. of Theridion
sisyphum (‘ Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt.,’ tom. ii, p. 299).
In autumn this rare species spins among grass growing in the grounds about Oakland
an extensive horizontal sheet of web supported by fine lines united to its superior surface and
to each other at various angles, and attached by their upper extremities to objects situated
above it. Like its congeners, it takes its station on the under side of the web in an inverted
position, and there watches for its prey. An adult male L inyphia fren a ta was received in
1851 from Mr. R. H. Meade, who captured it in Yorkshire.