inner surface,- the maxillae are straight, short, strong, and rounded at the extremity; the Up
is semicircular, but slightly pointed at the apex ; and the sternum, which is heart-shaped, is
sparingly clothed with hoary hairs, and has small prominences on the sides, opposite to the
legs. These parts have a reddish-brown colour, the falces being much the darkest, and the
extremities of the maxillae and lip much the palest. The legs are long, robust, provided
wrth hairs and spines, and of a reddish-yellow colour, with dark-brown annuli, those at the
anterior extremity of the femora being the broadest; the first pair is the longest, then the
second, and the third pair is the shortest; the tarsi are terminated by the customary number
of daws of the usual structure. The palpi resemble the legs in colour, and have a curved,
pectinated claw at their extremity. The abdomen is oviform, thinly clothed with hairs,
convex above, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; the upper part is of a
brownish-yellow colour, freckled with brownish-black; a large, leaf-like, brownish-black mark,
which tapers to the spinners, and whose sinuous, lateral margins are finely bordered with
yellowish-white, extends along the middle; the anterior part of this mark comprises a black
spot of a triangular form, which is bordered with yellowish-white, and whose vertex is
directed forwards; the posterior part of the mark comprises a brownish-yellow cross, the
longitudinal portion of which tapers towards the spinners, and includes an irregular, longitudinal,
brownish-black lin e ; the transverse portion of the cross is somewhat curved, and its
extremities do not usually break the continuity of the leaf-like mark, whose posterior part is
crossed by a few obscure, brownish-yellow bars; a broad, dark-brown band, mottled with
brownish-yellow, and dentated at its superior margin, extends along each; Side; the under
part has a brown-black hue, with a curved, yellowish line on each side ; the sexual organs
have in connexion with their anterior margin a strong, obtuse process, which is directed
obliquely backwards and downwards; their colour is dark, reddish-brown, and that of the
branchial opercula is red-brown.
The male is smaller, much less_robust, darker coloured, and has longer legs than the
female. Its palpi are short, and of a reddish-yellow colour, with the exception of the digital
joint, which has a brown hue; the cubital joint has at its extremity, in front, two long, curved
bristles, directed forwards ; the radial is larger than the cubital joint, and projects a strong
process from its outer side, which is gibbous near the base, and amply provided with long
hairs; the digital joint is somewhat oval, having a curved process at its base, directed outwards
,- it is convex and hairy externally, concave, within, comprising the 'palpal organs,
which are highly developed and complicated in structure; at their base there is a short,
strong, prominent, bifid process, divided nearly to its base, where there is a large, obtuse
protuberance on the inner side ; both divisions of the bifid process are nearly equal in length,
and curve strongly towards the inner side, the superior one, which is the stronger, having a
pointed projection on its outer sid e ; lower down, a prominent, depressed, brownish-yellow
process occurs, which is somewhat enlarged and rounded at its extremity, and near whose
summit, on the inner side, the obtuse end of a strong process, curved round the extremity
of the organs, terminates; the colour of the palpal organs is dark, reddish-brown, with
reddish-yellow intermixed. The convex sides of the digital joints are directed towards each
other.
Though Epeira patagiata, Epeira sericata, and Epeira apoclisa, are very closely allied
species, and inhabit similar localities, and though their colours and the designs formed by
their distribution are liable to vary, yet they may always be distinguished, when adult,
by permanent, organic characters, and particularly by differences in the structure of
the organs of generation in both sexes of each species, as explained in the foregoing
descriptions.
E p ë ir a sc a la r is. PI. X X IV , fig. 240.
Epeira scalaris, W a lc k ., H is t. N a t. d es In s e c t. A p t., tom . ii, p . 4 6 .
— — H a h n , D ie A ra c h n ., B a n d ii, p . 2 7 , ta b . 4 7 , fig. 114.
— — B la ckw ., L in n . T ra n s ., vol. xix, p . 127.
__ ___ B lackw., A n n a ls an d M ag . o f N a t. H is t., second series, v o l.ix , p .4 7 1 .
pyramidata, S u n d ., V e t. Ac ad . H a n d l., 1 8 32, p . 2 4 2 .
— K o c h , U e b e rs des A r a ch n . S y s t., e rste s H e ft., p . 2.
___ — K o ch , D ie A ra c h n ., B a n d xi, p . 107, ta b . 3 8 4 , fig. 9 1 2 .
L en gth o f th e female, ètihs 0f an inch ; len g th o f the cephalo-thorax, ^ths, breadth, è th s ;
breadth o f the abdomen, &ths ; len g th o f an anterior leg , §ths ; len g th o f a le g o f the third
pair, §ths.
The abdomen is large , oviform, thinly clothed with hairs, convex above, and projects
greatly over the base o f th e cephalo-thorax ; the upper part is o f a pale-yellow colour, with a
small, circular, brownish-black indentation on each side o f the anterior region, from wh ich a
streak o f the same hue passe s obliquely outwards; on the posterior part there is a large,
brownish-black, pyramidal mark, with sinuous lateral margins, whose ap ex extends to the
spinners; the sides and under part have a brownish-black hue ; the former are mottled with
yellowish-brown, and the latter has a curved, yellow mark on each side o f the medial line ;
the sexual organs are prominent, g lo ssy , and o f a reddish-brown colour ; a curved, taper,
wrinkled, membranous process, connected w ith their anterior margin, and directed backwards,
has a yellowish-brown tint, and th a t o f the branchial opercula is yellow. The cephalo-
thorax is glossy, compressed before, truncated in front, rounded on th e sides, moderately
convex, and has a large indentation in the medial line ; it is sparingly clothed with fine, hoary
hairs, and is o f a pale, dull-yellow colour, with a broad, longitudinal, blackish band on each
side, and a narrower one o f the same hue extending along the middle. The four intermediate
eyes, which are seated on a prominence, nearly form a square, the two anterior ones being
rather wider apart than those o f the posterior pair ; th e eyes of each lateral pair are placed
obliquely on a tubercle, and are nearly contiguous. T he falces are powerful, conical, vertical,
armed with teeth on the inner surface, and o f a yellowish-brown colour, with the exception
o f their extremity, which has a brown tint. T he maxillæ are short, strong, and rounded at
th e extremity ; the lip is semicircular, but sligh tly pointed a t th e apex ; and the sternum,
which is heart-shaped, has eminences on the sides, opposite to the legs, lh e s e parts are o f a
brownish-black hue, the extremities o f the maxillæ and lip h avin g a yellowish-brown tint.
The le g s are robust, provided with hairs and numerous erect spines, and o f a pale, yellowish-
brown colour, with dark-brown annuli ; the tarsi are terminated b y three claws o f th e usual