region, with an indentation in the medial line ; the falces are moderately strong, conical,
armed with teeth on the inner surface, and inclined towards the sternum, which is broad,
heart-shaped, convex, and glossy. These parts, with the maxillæ and lip, have a brown-black
tint, the falces and maxillæ being the brownest The legs and palpi are robust, provided
with hairs and a few fine spines, and are of a red-brown colour. The anterior and posterior
pairs of legs, which are the longest, are equal in length, and the third pair is the shortest ;
the two superior tarsal claws are curved and pectinated, and the inferior one is inflected near
its base. The abdomen is oviform, convex above, projecting over the base of the céphalothorax
; it is thinly clothed with hairs, and has a brownish-black hue, that of the branchial
opercula being very dark-brown.
The male is rather darker coloured than the female, and the anterior part of its céphalothorax,
which is prominent and truncated, has numerous short hairs on its summit. On this
summit the eyes are distributed ; one pair, situated on its posterior part, forms with another
on its anterior margin an elongated trapezoid whose anterior side is considerably the shortest,
and the two other pairs are disposed on the lateral margins, the eyes constituting each being
contiguous ; the anterior eyes of the trapezoid are much the smallest of the eight. The
sexes differ also in the relative length of their legs, the posterior pair of the male surpassing
the anterior pair a little in longitudinal extent. The palpi have a dark hue ; the humeral
joint is clavate, and has a small, pointed apophysis at the base, on the inner side ; the cubital
and radial joints are moderately long ; the latter projects a large apophysis from its extremity,
which curves outwards and rather upwards in front of the digital joint ; it is somewhat
enlarged at its termination and has a pointed process on the convex side ; a small, obtuse
apophysis occurs also on the under side of the joint ; the digital joint is oval, convex and
hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are highly developed,
very prominent, complicated in structure, with a strong, curved, black spine at the base, and
a fine, convoluted one on the outer side, near the extremity, contiguous to which, on the
under side, there is a slightly curved, pointed, projecting process ; the colour of these organs
is red-brown.
Several specimens of this spider were found in October, 1836, under slates in the garden
belonging to Thomas Warner, Esq., of Crumpsall Green, near Manchester ; others were
observed afterwards on rails at Crumpsall Hall; and in 1840 Miss Ellen Clayton met with
males and females of this species near Garstang in Lancashire.
Walckenaera vafra.
Walckenaera vafra, Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. xvii,
p. 235.
— — ' Blackw., Ibid., vol. xx, p. 502.
The legs are long, slender, hairy, and have a bright, yellowish-red hue ; 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 resemble the legs in colour, but the radial and digital
joints are tinged with brown ; the cubital joint is clavate ; the radial joint projects two
apophyses from its extremity ; one, on the inner side, is large, pointed, curved outwards in
front of the digital joint, and has near its base a minute process on the convex side, and a
large obtuse one on the opposite side ; the other apophysis, which is smaller and obtuse, is
situated underneath ; the digital joint is somewhat oval, convex and hairy externally, concave
within, comprising the palpal organs ; these organs are highly developed, complicated in
structure, with two long, filiform, contiguous black spines enveloped in membrane, originating
near the middle, and curved in a circular form on the outer side ; a shorter one, also originating
near the middle, and enveloped in membrane, is curved obliquely downwards, and
their prevailing colour is brownish-red. The convex sides of the digital joints are directed
towards each other. The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, glossy, with a strong, vertical
prominence before, which is somewhat compressed on the sides and surmounted by a few
hairs; the falces are small, conical, armed with teeth on the inner surface, and inclined
towards the sternum, whioh is broad, glossy, and heart-shaped ; the maxillæ are powerful,
and curved towards the lip, which is semicircular and prominent at the apex. These parts
are of a brownish-red colour, with the exception of the anterior prominence of the cephalo-
thorax, which has a dark-brown hue, tinged with red. The eyes are seated on the anterior
part of the cephalo-thorax, two on the summit of the vertical prominence, and the other six
at its base, in front, each lateral pair being placed obliquely. The abdomen is oviform,
convex above, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax ; it is sparingly clothed with
hairs, glossy, and of a brownish-black colour, that of the branchial opercula being pale,
yellowish-white.
Adult males of this species were discovered under stones in the woods about Heudre
House, near Llanrwst, in October, 1855.
Walckenaera cristata. PI. XXI, fig. 224.
Walckenaera cristata, Blackw., Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag., third series, vol. iii,
p. 107.
f '■ »s a i l Blackw., Research, in Zool., p. 317, pi. 2, figs. 7— 10.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. ix,
p. 465.
Theridion bicome, Wider, Museum Senckenb., Band i, p. 220, taf. 14, fig. 12.
Micryphantes ccespitum, Koch, Uebers des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 12.
:' ;— Koch, Die Arachn., Band viii, p. 104, tab. 281, figs. 673, 674.
Argus bicornis, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 365.
Length of the female, nth of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^nd;