vertical, and armed with a few teeth on the inner surface. These parts are of a brownish-red
colour, the former having a band extending along each side, and a streak on each side of the
posterior part of the cephalic region, which passes obliquely to the medial indentation, where
the two meet in an angle; these bands and streaks have a brown hue, the indentation being
much the darkest. The maxillae are short, strong, straight, and enlarged and rounded at the
extremity; the lip is semicircular, but somewhat pointed at the apex; and the sternum, which
is heart-shaped, has conspicuous prominences on the sides, opposite to the legs, and is thickly
marked with punctures. These parts are of a very dark-brown colour, faintly tinged with
red, the maxillae being rather the palest. The eyes are seated on black spots on the anterior
part of the cephalo-thorax; the four intermediate ones form a square, the two posterior ones
being the largest, and the two anterior ones, which are placed on a slight prominence, rather
the smallest of the eigh t; those of each lateral pair are seated on a minute tubercle, and are
near to each other, but not in contact. - The abdomen is oviform, marked with numerous
punctures, sparingly clothed with short, pale hairs, convex above, somewhat pointed before,
where there are several short bristles, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is
of a yellow colour on the upper part and sides, and is densely reticulated with dark-brown,
particularly on the latter; the medial line, which is the palest and least reticulated, comprises
in its broader anterior region six circular, dark-brown depressions disposed in pairs, the two
anterior pairs, which are the most conspicuous, forming a square; and between this square
and the spinners there is a series of transverse, slightly sinuous, dark-brown lines; a broad,
dark-brown band occupies the middle of the under part, and is bordered laterally with yellow;
the sexual organs are rather prominent, and present a dark-brown, glossy convexity on each
side, with a red-brown process in the middle, directed backwards, whose extremity is the
broadest; the colour of the branchial opercula- is dark-brown tinged with red.
The sexes bear a strong resemblance to each other, but the male, which is the smaller
and darker coloured, has the anterior part of its cephalo-thorax more pointed. The femora
of the first and second pairs of legs are of a brownish-black hue, except at their base and
extremity, which have a yellowish-red tint, and a small, slightly curved, pointed process
occurs at the extremity of the coxse of the anterior pair, on the under side. Its palpi are
short, and of a brownish-yellow colour, with the exception of the digital joint, which has a
very dark-brown h u e ; the radial joint is produced on the outer side, and both it and the
cubital joint have two long, curved bristles directed forwards from their extremity, in front;
the digital joint is somewhat oval, with a process at its base, which is curved outwards, and
notched at its extremity; it is convex arid hairy externally, concave within, comprising the
palpal organs; these organs are highly developed, complex in structure, with a process at
their base, which projects a strong, prominent spine directed obliquely outwards and upwards,
and a finer and more pointed one directed obliquely downwards, towards the inner sid e ;
their colour is very dark-brown intermixed with yellow-brown. The convex sides of the
digital joints are directed towards each other.
In the autumn of 1860, Mr. R. H. Meade captured at Newton Purcel, in Oxfordshire,
an adult female and an immature male of this interesting jEpeira, which is remarkable for
having the posterior pair of legs longer than the anterior pair. Mr. Meade had previously
obtained several young individuals of this species in the same locality; and in the autumn of
1861 the Rev. 0 . P. Cambridge took an adult male and female at Bloxworth, in Dorsetshire.
Epëira lutea. PI. XXV, fig. 249.
Ep'èira lutea, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 3.
_ _ _ Koch, Die Arachn., Band v, p. 62, tab. 161, fig. 378.
__|ffj|||i Koch, Ibid., Band xi, p. 123, tab. 388, figs. 926, 92.7.
Length of the female, {th of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, Jth, breadth, to* ;
breadth of the abdomen, Jth ; length of an anterior leg, §ths ; length of a leg of the thir
pair, |th.
The cephalo-thorax is compressed before, rounded on the sides, convex, particularly in
the cephalic region, glossy, sparingly supplied with whitish hairs, and has a large indentation
in the medial line ; it is of a paid; yellow-red colour, with a brownish-red line extending from
the posterior, intermediate pair of eyes to the medial indentation, an obscure line of the same
hue passes obliquely backwards from each lateral pair o f eyes, and joins the former line near
its posterior extremity, and a band Ǥ a somewhat deeper hue extends along each side, immediately
above the fine, dark-brown, lateral margins. The eyes are disposed on the anterior
part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse rows; the four intermediate dues are .seated on
a prominenliand nearly form a square, the two posterior ones, which are rather nearer to
eafb other than the anterior ones, being the largest of the eight; the eyes of each lateral pair
are placed obliquely on a tubercle, but are not in contact. The falces are powerful, conical
vertical; and armed with teeth on the inner surfacff the maxillæ are short, straight, an
enlarged and rounded at the extremity; the lip i s - semicircular, but somewhat pointed at the
apex; and the sternum is heaft-Shaped, with prominences on the sides, opposite to the legs.
Thèse parts are of a pale, yellow-red colour; the sternum, which is rather the darkest, has
red-brown spots on its lateral prominences and posterior point, and the extremities of the
maxillæ and lip have a pale, dull-yellowish hue. The legs are robust, provided with hairs
and spines, and have a pale,:yellow-red hue, with brown-red annuli; the first pair is the
longest, then-the second, and the third pair is the shortest; the tarsi are terminated by claws
of the usual number and structure. The palpi resemble the legs in colour, and have a curve ,
pectinated claw at their extremity. The abdomen is oviform, thinly clothed with hairs, convex
above and projects greatly over the base of the cephalo-thorax ; the Colour of the upper part
is pale-yellow, finely reticulated with brownish-red; a leaf-like space, bounded laterally, by a
slightly sinuous, red-hrown line, finely bordered with pale-yellow externally, tapers from the
anterior part to the spinners; this space comprises some small, pale-yellow spots; two
depressed, dark-hrown spots on each side of the medial Une, in its broad, anterior part, are
disposed in pairs, those of the posterior pair being the widest apart, and^several obscure, pale-
yellow, transverse bars, bordered with red-hrown, occur on its posterior half; the superior
region of the sides is somewhat darker than the upper part, and is marked with oblique red-
brown streaks; and the inferior region and under part have a reddish-brown hue the latter
. having a curved, pale-yellow line on each side; the sexual organs are highly developed, prominent,
with a long, depressed, membraneous process connected with their anterior margin;