the thighs of the first and second pairs of legs have no longitudinal black line on their upper
and under surfaces. The cubital and radial joints of its palpi are very small, and the
brownish-green digital joint, which is vaulted, comprises the prominent palpal organs; these
organs are provided with small spines, and are of a dark red-brown colour.
Seven females of this species were received from Mr. R. H. Meade, who took them from
their webs, which were constructed among the twigs of gorse and other bushes growing in
Buckinghamshire, in the last week of June, 1856.
Epeira cucurbitina. PL XXV, fig. 247.
Epeira cucurbitina, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 76.
-— — Latr., Gen. Crust, et Insect., tom. i, p. 107.
—■ Sund., Vet. Acad. Handl., 1832, p. 245.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. x,
p. 185.
Miranda — Koch, Die Arachn., Band v, p. 53, tab. 159, figs. 371, 372.
Titulus 5, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran., p. 34, tab. 1. fig. 5.
Length of the female, *th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, |th, breadth, ^th;
breadth of the abdomen, |t h ; length of an anterior leg, |rd ; length of a leg of the third
pair, 5*ths.
The four intermediate eyes form a square, and those of each lateral pair are placed
obliquely on a minute tubercle, and are almost in contact. The cephalo-thorax is convex,
particularly in the cephalic region, glossy, sparingly clothed with hairs, compressed before,
truncated in front, rounded on the sides, and has a large indentation in the medial line ; the
falces are strong, conical, vertical, convex at the base, in front, and armed with teeth on the
inner surface; the maxillae are short, powerful, and rounded at the extremity; the lip is semicircular,
but somewhat pointed; the sternum is heart-shaped, with small prominences on the
sides, opposite to the le g s ; the legs are robust, and provided with hairs and erect, black
spines; each tarsus is terminated by three claws of the usual structure, and below them there
are several smaller ones. These parts are of a pale, reddish-brown hue, the bases of the
maxillae and lip having a deeper shade, and their extremities a yellow tint. 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, projecting greatly over the base
of the cephalo-thorax; the upper part is of a yellowish-green colour, with a series of minute,
black spots extending in a gentle curve on each side of the medial line, and a conspicuous red
spot at its extremity, immediately above the spinners; the sides and under part are of a dark-
green hue, the latter being marked with a few yellow spots and an obscure, yellow line on
each sid e ; the sexual organs are very prominent, of a dark-brown colour, with a curved,
wrinkled, membraneous process of a lighter hue, which is directed backwards, in connexion
with their anterior margin ; and the branchial opercula have a yellowish-brown tint.
The male, which is smaller than the female, has a conical protuberance bn the outer
side of its maxillae, a longitudinal, black band cm each side of its cephalo-thorax, black annuli
at the joints of its legs, and the extremity of the thighs of the first, second, and fourth pairs
has a red hue; with these exceptions, it greatly resembles the female in colour. The
humeral joint of the palpi has a small protuberance at its base, on the under sid e , the
cubital joint is short, and prominent at its extremity, whence project two long, curved
bristles, and a third depends from its base, in front ; the radial is much stronger than the
cubital joint, and very prominent on the outer sid e ; the digital joint is somewhat oval, with
a curved process at its base directed outwards and terminating in a black, glossy knob,
which nearly extends to the extremity of the cubital joint ; it is convex and hairy externally,
concave within, and comprises the palpal organs; these organs are very highly developed,
complicated in structure, convex and glossy at the base, provided with curved, black, pointed
processes near the extremity, and are of a dark-brown colour. The convex sides of the
digital joints are directed towards each other.
The young, when extricated from the egg, have the cephalo-thorax and legs of a pale
yellowish-white colour, that of the abdomen being reddish-brown; but after their first change
of integument they acquire an olive or brownish-green tint, the upper part of the abdomen
being marked with whitish spots, and each side with a longitudinal stripe of the same hue,
parallel with which, on the upper side, there is a series of minute, black spots.
In well-wooded districts in Great Britain and Ireland, this species is not uncommon.
The sexes pair in June, and the female attaches to the stems or leaves of shrubs, in the
vicinity of her snare, a subglobose cocoon of bright-yellow silk of a loose texture, measuring
two thirds of an inch in diameter, which usually contains 150 or 160 spherical eggs of a yellow
colour, cemented together in a subglobose mass, and enveloped in fine, soft, yellow silk.
Araehnologists affirm that the small net spun by Epeira cucurbitina is always placed
horizontally; but this is a mistake, as it may frequently be seen in an inclined position.
Epëira bella. PI. XXV, fig. 248.
Epeira bella, Meade, Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., third series, vól. vii, p. 20.
Length of the female, |th of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, rêth, breadth, ^th ;
breadth of the abdomen, -^th ; length of a posterior leg, ?th ; length of a leg of the third
pair, gth.
The legs are short, provided with hairs and fine spines, and are of a brownish-yellow
hue, with red-brown annuli, those on the extremity of the femora of the first and second pairs
being much the broadest ; the fourth pair is the longest, then the first, and the third pair is
the shortest ; each tarsus is terminated by claws of the usual number and structure. The
palpi resemble the legs in colour, but are without annulîU ’ The cephalo-thorax is compressed
before, rounded on the sides, abruptly sloped at the base, convex, glossy, slightly marked
with punctures, and has an indentation in the medial line; the falces are powerful, conical,
45