The male resembles the female in colour. The humeral joint of its palpi is long ; the
cubital joint is rather long, clavate, slightly curved downwards, and has a row of hairs,
directed forwards, extending along its upper part ; the radial joint, which is short and strong,
has an obtuse apophysis underneath, and a long one in front, towards the inner side, curved
upwards and outwards at its extremity, which is somewhat enlarged and rounded ; the digital
joint is oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs ; they
are moderately developed, with several curved processes at the extremity, and are of a brown-
black colour.
This is an aëronautic spider, and is very common among the grass of meadows and
pastures in North Wales and in Lancashire.
N er ie n e d e n ta ta . PI. XYIII, fig. 174.
Theridion dentatum, Wider, Museum Senckenb., Band i, p. 229, taf. 15, fig. 8. .
Argus dentatus, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 354.
Length of the male, Tgth of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^ th ;
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of an anterior leg, jth ; length of a leg of the third
pair, T'5th.
The four intermediate eyes form a trapezoid whose anterior side is the shortest, and those
of each lateral pair are seated obliquely on a small tubercle, and are almost contiguous; the
lateral eyes are the largest, and the two anterior ones of the trapezoid are the smallest and
darkest of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is oval, glossy, convex, particularly in the cephalic
region, where it is supplied with some long, hoary hairs directed forwards, and has a slight
indentation in the medial lin e ; the falces are conical, armed with teeth on the inner surface,
and a prominent, pointed process in front, near the middle, towards the inner side; they
have numerous, minute, pointed protuberances in front and on the outer side, and are slightly
inclined towards the sternum, which is broad and heart-shaped; the maxillae are enlarged
where the palpi are inserted, and inclined towards the lip, which is semicircular and prominent
at the apex. These parts have a dark-brown colour, the falces and maxillae, which
are the palest, being tinged with red. The legs have a pale, brownish-yellow tin t; they are
provided with hairs and a few fine spines, and the anterior and posterior pairs are equal in
len g th ; the two superior tarsal claws are curved and pectinated, and the inferior one is
inflected near its base. The palpi resemble the legs in colour; the cubital joint is strong
and clavate, and projects a short, conical apophysis from its extremity on the outer sid e;
the radial joint is somewhat produced at its extremity on the inner side, and has a long,
curved apophysis on the outer side, which terminates in a point in front of the digital jo in t;
this last joint is oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal
organs, which are highly developed, very prominent, and complicated in structure, having a
large, scale-like process on the outer side, extending beyond the end of the joint, and a filiform,
curved, black spine on the inner side, which passes under the radial apophysis and along the
margin of the scale-like process to its point; the colour of these organs is reddish and
yellowish-brown intermixed. The abdomen is oviform, hairy, convex above, projecting over
the base of the cephalo-thorax, and has a brownish-black h u e ; that of the branchial opercula
being dull-yellow.
According to M. Wider, the female is without the prominent, pointed process near the
middle of each fab:, in front; it may also be distinguished from the male by the sexual
organs and the structure of the palpi.
Early in May, 1854, adult males of this species, which has all the characteristics of a
Neriene, were taken by the Rev. Hamlet Clark in Norfolk.
N e r ie n e a f f in i s . PI. XVIII, fig. 175.
Neriene affinis, Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. xvi,
p. 121.
Length of the male, jth of an in ch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, nth, breadth, nth ;
breadth of the abdomen, ^th ; length of a posterior leg, ijths; length of a leg of the third
pair, ^ths.
The legs are provided with hairs, and have a bright, yellowish-red tint; the fourth pair
is the longest, then the first, and the third pair is the shortest; 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 long, and resemble the legs in colour, but are somewhat paler,
the humeral joint is slightly curved towards the cephalo-thorax, and the cubital and radial
joints are clavate, the former having a conical, pointed process projecting at right angles
from its extremity on the under side, and the latter a very minute, bifid, black apophysis at
its extremity in front; the digital joint is small, oval, convex and hairy externally, concave
within, comprising the palpal organs, which are moderately developed, not very complicated
in structure, and of a pale, red-brown colour. The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, glossy,
with slight furrows on the sides, converging towards an indentation in the medial line ; the
falces are powerful, subconical, vertical, convex at the base in front, divergent at the
extremity, armed with teeth on the inner surface, and have a conical, tooth-like process near
the middle, towards the inner side, and numerous minute, pointed prominences in front; the
maxillse are convex at the base, enlarged where the palpi are inserted, and at the extremity,
which has a pointed process on the outer side, and incline towards the lip, which is semicircular
and prominent at the apex; and the sternum is broad, glossy, and heart-shaped. These
parts have a reddish-brown colour, the lip and anterior part of the cephalo-thorax being much
the darkest. The four intermediate eyes form a trapezoid, the two anterior ones, which
constitute its shortest side, being the smallest and darkest of the eight, and those of each