brown hue, with the exception of the digital joint, which has a red-brown tin t ; the radial is
rather larger than the cubital joint, and is provided with some long hairs; the digital joint is
short, oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which
are moderately developed, complicated in structure, with a curved, black spine at their
extremity, directed upwards, a projecting process near their base, towards the inner side, and
are of a dark red-brown colour. The abdomen is oviform, sparingly clothed with hairs,
somewhat depressed, and projects over the base of the eephalo-thorax; on the upper part
there is a large, oval figure of a brownish-gray colour, having black, sinuous margins, and
comprising a row of small, black, slightly indented spots on each side of the medial line; its
anterior part, and a series of curved, transverse lines, diminishing in length as they approach
the spinners, have a silver-gray hue, and an oval, brown spot occurs on' each side of its
antenor extremity; a narrow, silver-gray band follows the undulations o f the black margins,
and the sides and under part are of a brownish colour tinged with yellow, both being marked
with minute, blackish spots | a broad, black band extends along the middle of the under part,
on each side of which there is a yellow stripe; and the colour of (be branchial opercula is
yellow.
The sexes resemble each other in the design formed by the distribution of their colours;
but the female is larger than the male, measuring one fourth of an inch in length. Its sexual
organs are prominent, of a brownish-black hue, and have a broad septum in the middle.
In the summer of 1843, Miss Gertrude Buller Elphinstone captured an adult male
E p e im timilis at East Lodge, Enfield, Middlesex, which she obligingly forwarded to Oakland;
and in the autumn of the same year Miss Margaret B. Lewis, of Cichle, Anglesey, took an
immature male at Ellesmere, in Shropshire, which, as the digital joints of its palpi were very
tumid, had to undergo its final change of integument before it arrived at maturity. Subsequently,
specimens of adult males and females'of this species have been obtained from
Hampshire, Northamptonshire and Yorkshire.
Epeira Emilia and EpiZm calopfytta are very closely allied; but the males may be
distinguished from each other without difficulty by differences in the structure of their palpi
and palpal organs.
Epjeira calophylla, PI. XXY, fig. 245.
Epeira calophylla, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 70.
jjp Latr., Gen. Crust, et Insect., tom. i, p. 108.
— — Sund., Yet. Acad. Handl., 1832, p. 252.
—r Blackw., A n n a ls an d M ag . o f N a t. H is t., second series, vol. x,
p. 183.
Zilla — Koch, Die Arachn., Band vi, p. 148, tab. 216, figs. 538, 539.
Eucharia atrica, Koch, Die Arachn., Band xii, p. 103, tab. 419, figs. 1030, 1031.
Trtulus 10, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. de Aran., p. 47, tab. 1, fig. 10.
Length of the female, ^ths of an inch; length of the eephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^th ;
breadth of the abdomen, Jth; length of an anterior leg, è ; length of a leg of the third
pair, ,th.
The legs are provided with hairs and black spines, and are of a yellowish-brown colour,
with black annuli; each tarsus is terminated by three claws of the.usual structure, and
below them there are several smaller ones. The palpi resemble the legs in colour, and have
a curved, pectinated claw at their extremity. The eephalo-thorax is convex, glossy, compressed
before, rounded on the sides, and has a large indentation in the medial line; it is of
a yellowish-brown hue, with black lateral margins, and a blackish band, which is broadest at
its anterior extremity, extending along the middle. The four intermediate eyes form a square,
the two anterior ones, which are seated on a small protuberance, being the largest of the
eigh t; the eyes of each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a tubercle, but, though near
together, are not in contact. The falces are powerful, conical, vertical, convex in front, near
the base, armed with teeth on the inner surface, and of a reddish-brown hue, the frontal
convexity being the darkest. The maxillae are short, strong, and very broad at the extremity,
which is rounded; and the lip is semicircular, but somewhat pointed. These organs are of a
reddish-brown colour, with yellowish-brown extremities, the base of the lip being much the
darkest. The sternum is heart-shaped, and has small eminences on the sides, opposite to the
le g s ; it has a black tint, with a yellowish-brown band in the middle, which diminishes in
breadth to its posterior extremity. The abdomen is oviform, thinly clothed with hairs,
somewhat depressed, and projects greatly over the base of the eephalo-thorax; on the upper
part there is a large, oval figure of a gray colour, having black, sinuous margins, and a row
of small, black, slightly indented spots on each side of the medial line; its anterior part, and
a series of curved, transverse lines, diminishing in length as they approach the spinners, have
a silver-gray hue, and an oval black spot occurs on each side of its anterior extremity; a
narrow, silver-gray band follows the undulations of the black margins, and the sides and
under part are óf a brownish colour tinged with yellow, both being marked with minute,
blackish spots; a broad, black band extends along the middle of the under part, on each side
of which there is a yellow stripe; and the colour of the branchial opercula is yellow. The
sides of immature individuals have frequently a bright bay tin t; and the young on quitting
the cocoon have the upper part of the abdomen of a brownish-black hue, with a yellow mark,
which is bifid at its posterior extremity, in the medial line of the anterior part.
The male is much smaller and less distinctly marked than the female. Its palpi are
long, provided with numerous long hairs, and of a red-brown hue, with a black annulus at
the base of the cubital and radial joints; the cubital joint, which is curved downwards,
increases in bulk to its extremity, and the radial joint is long, and has a minute, bifid
apophysis at its extremity, on the outer s id e ; the digital joint is short, oval, convex and
hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are neither highly
developed nor very complicated in structure; they have a curved, black spine at their
extremity, directed upwards, a prominent, bifid process at their base, on the inner side, and
are of a reddish-brown colour.
This common spider, which is widely distributed in Great Britain and Ireland, frequents
shrubs, buildings, and crevices in rocks and walls. It pairs in autumn, and the female constructs
a subglobose cocoon of soft, pale-brown silk of a loose texture, measuring half an inch