brown hue, with a longitudinal septum in the middle ; and the colour of the branchial opercula
is dull yellow. On the anterior part of each side of this species, and of many of its congeners,
there is a minute oblong orifice.
The male is smaller and darker coloured than the female, and the tibise and metatarsi of
its anterior pair of legs are of a very dark-brown colour, but that of the tarsi is red-brown.
The cubital and radial joints of the palpi are short, and the digital joint is of an oblong, oval
form, being convex and hairy externally, and concave within, at the base; this concavity
comprises the palpal organs, which are neither highly developed nor very complicated in
structure, and are of a dark, red-brown colour.
Lycosa agretyca occurs in old pastures and on heaths in various parts of the kingdom.
It pairs early in spring, and in June the female excavates an elliptical cavity in the earth
beneath stones, or selects one suitable for her purpose, into which she retires with her cocoon,
which is globular, composed of fine white silk, of a compact texture, and is encircled by a
narrow zone of a slighter fabric; it measures one fourth of an inch in diameter, and contains
about 110 spherical eggs, of a pale-yellow colour, not agglutinated together. Influenced by
those instinctive impulses which regulate the economy of the Lycosa, the female attaches the
cocoon to her spinners by short lines of silk, and the young, when they quit it, mount upon
her body, and so accompany her in all her movements. This species frequently passes the
winter in a torpid or semi-torpid state, in cavities in the earth, under stones.
An adult female Lycosa agretyca, taken in the spring of 1849, was destitute of the posterior
eye on the right side.
The genus Trochosa, which M. Koch has proposed to found upon this and some other
species of Lycosa, is based on specific characters solely.
Lycosa agretyca has been captured in Scotland by Mr. James Hardy, and in Ireland by
Mr. Robert Templeton.
Lycosa campestris. PI. I, fig. 3.
Lycosa campestris, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. i, p. 309.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vii,
p. 257.
— ruricola, Hahn, Hie Arachn., Band i, p. 103, tab. 26, fig. 77 (misnumbered 76
in the text).
— — Kocb, Uebersicht des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 21.
Trochosa — Kocb, Die Arachn., Band xiv, p. 138, tab. 491, figs. 1369, 1370.
Titulus, 26, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran., p. 78, tab. 1, fig. 26.
Length of the female, &ths of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, |th, breadth, Isths;
breadth of the abdomen, Jth; length of a posterior leg, ^ th s ; length of a leg of the third
pair, £ths.
This species is quite distinct fro,m Lycosa agretyca, with which it is frequently confounded.
The form of its cephalo-thorax is that common to the Lycosa generally, with slight modifications
; it is compressed before, depressed and rounded on the sides, hairy, and has a narrow
indentation in the medial line of the posterior region; its colour is greenish-brown, a broad
yellowish-brown band extending along the middle, the anterior extremity of which is enlarged
and comprises two parallel, oblong, greenish-brown spots, and above each lateral margin there
is a narrow, longitudinal, yellowish-brown band, several obscure lines of the same hue
converging from these bands towards the middle. The falces are powerful, conical, and
armed with a few teeth on the inner surface; their colour is dark-brown, tinged with red.
The maxillae are strong, somewhat curved towards the lip, and of a brown colour, the
extremities, which are obliquely truncated on the inner side, being much the palest. The lip
is nearly quadrate and o f a dark-brown hue; and the colour of the short oval sternum is
yellowish-brown. The intermediate eyes of the anterior row are larger than the lateral ones.
The legs are robust, provided with hairs and black spines, and of a yellowish-brown colour,
slightly tinged with green, except the tarsi, which have a pale-brown h u e ; faint traces of
annuli may sometimes be observed on the thighs. The palpi are of a yellowish-brown hue,
with the exception of the digital joint, which has a reddish-brown tint. 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; the upper part is of
a greenish-brown colour, with a few minute dark spots distributed over its surface; a
yellowish-brown band extends along the middle, nearly half way towards the spinners, where
it terminates in a point, and on each side of the posterior extremity of this band there
commences a series of obscure, yellowish-brown, and dark spots, disposed alternately; both
series converge towards the spinners, where they m ee t; the under part is of a yellow colour,
that of the branchial opercula being rather paler; the sexual organs, which are of a dark,
reddish-brown hue, have a longitudinal septum in the middle.
The male, though smaller than the female, resembles her in the general distribution of its
colours, except that the tibiae, metatarsi, and tarsi of the anterior pair of legs, and the digital
joint of the palpi, are of a dark-brown hue. The fang with which each falx is provided has a
small prominence near its base, on the outer side, but that of the female is plain. The cubital
and radial joints of the palpi are short, the latter being the larger; the digital joint is of an
oblong oval form, and has a plain, curved claw at its extremity; it is convex and hairy externally,
and concave within, at the base; this concavity comprises the palpal organs, which are
neither highly developed nor very complicated in structure, and are of a dark, red-brown
colour.
Meadows and pastures are the favorite haunts of this species, which pairs in May. In
June the female fabricates a globular cocoon of compact white silk, measuring 3th of an inch
in diameter; it is encompassed by a narrow zone of a slighter texture, and usually comprises
about 115 spherical eggs, of a pale-yellow colour, which, like those of the other species of this
genus, are not agglutinated together. The cocoon has the appearance of being embossed, in
consequence of its close application to the eggs. Both sexes sometimes excavate elliptical
cavities in the ground, generally under stones, and remain concealed in them during the
winter months.
In the summer of 1836 an adult female was captured, which had a short but perfectly