. Family LYCOSIDiE.
Remarkable differences in size occur among the spiders of this family, which are widely
distributed over the earth’s surface. They have the falces articulated vertically, and are
provided with three pairs of spinners and two branchial opercula, the tracheal opercula, if
present, being inconspicuous. The legs taper to the extremity of the tarsi, which are
terminated by three claws, and are, for the most part, destitute of hair-like papillae; a few
species have only two claws at the extremity of the tarsi, and a climbing apparatus, in the
form of a small scopula, is situated immediately below them.
The Lycosida pursue or take by surprise the insects that they prey upon among herbage
and low bushes, and retire for concealment under stones, fragments of rock, fallen leaves, and
into moss and crevices of the earth; they are strongly attached to their offspring, and the
females of the species belonging to the genus Lycosa connect the cocoon containing their eggs
with the spinners by means of short lines of silk; when disengaged from their silken envelope,
the young attach themselves to the body of their parent, and so accompany her in all her
movements.
Several of the semi-aquatic species belonging to the genera Jycosa and Dolomedes run
fearlessly on the surface of water, and even descend spontaneously beneath it, the time during
which they can respire when immersed depending upon the supply of air confined by the
circumambient liquid among the hairs with which they are clothed.
Genus LYCOS A (.Latreille).
Eyes unequal in size; four, much smaller than the rest, form a transverse row in
front of the cephalo-thorax ; the other four, situated in front and'on the sides of its antérior
part, describe a quadrilateral figure, the anterior ones of which are the largest.
Maæïlloe nearly straight, enlarged, and rounded at their extremity externally.
L ip somewhat quadrate, being rather broader at the base than at the extremity.
Legs robust; the fourth pair is the longest, then the first, and the third pair is the
shortest.
Lycosa agretyca. PI. I, fig. 2.
Lycosa agretyca, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. i, p. 308.
. — Blackw., Linn. Trans., vol. xix, p. 118.
__ , ; Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vii, 257.
* rwricola, Latr., Gen. Crust, et Insect., tom. i, p. 120.
— Sund., Yet. Acad. Handl., 1832, p. 192.
Trochosa trabalis, Koch, Die Arachn. (Fortsetzung des Hahn ’schen Werkes), Baud xiv,
p. 141, tab. 492, figs. 1371-1374.
Length of, the female, ,Bths of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, 5th, breadth, jth ;
breadth of the abdomen, gth; length of a posterior leg, ^ths ; length of a leg of the third
pair, sgths.
The cephalo-thorax is compressed before, depressed and rounded on the sides, hairy, with
a narrow indentation in the medial line of the posterior region ; it is of a dark-brown colour,
a broad, red-brown band extending along the middle, the anterior extremity of which is
enlarged and comprises two parallel, oblong, dark-brown spots, and above each lateral margin
there is a narrow, longitudinal, red-brown band, several obscure lines of the same hue converging
from these bands towards the middle. The falces are powerful, conical, and armed
with teeth on the inner surface; the maxillae are strong, and obliquely truncated at the
extremity, on the inner sid e; the lip is nearly quadrate; and the sternum is of a short, oval
form. These parts are of a red-brown colour, the falces and lip being the darkest. The
lateral eyes of the four constituting the anterior row are somewhat smaller than the intermediate
ones. The legs are robust, provided with hairs and black spines, and of a reddish-
brown colour, the thighs, which are the palest, being obscurely marked with annuli of a darker
hue. Like the other species of the genus, this spider has the superior tarsal claws curved and
pectinated, and the inferior one inflected near its base. The palpi have a reddish-brown tin t;
the digital joint is the darkest, and, in common with the fehiale Lycosa, is terminated by a
curved, pectinated claw. The abdomen is oviform, densely covered with hairs, rather broader
at the posterior than at the anterior extremity, convex above, projecting over the base of the
cephalo-thorax; it is of a yellowish-brown colour, with a large, brownish-black, angular mark
on the upper part, at the anterior extremity; to this mark succeeds an oblong, dark, yellowish-
brown space, obscurely bordered by a brownish-black line, having an angular projection on
each side near its pointed termination, and between it and the spinners there is a series of
black, angular lines, which have their vertices directed forwards, and are intersected by
transverse, curved lines of a yellowish-brown colour; the lines of both series are enlarged at
their extremities, and these enlargements form two rows of black and yellowish-brown spots,
disposed alternately, which converge to the spinners; brownish-black spots occur on the
sides, and, more sparingly, on the under part; the sexual organs are glossy, of a dark, reddish-
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