The legs are long, slender, provided with hairs and fine spines, and o f a yellowish-
brown colour; the superior surface of the femora of the first and second pairs has a
brownish-black tint, and the third and fourth pairs are marked with obscure annuli of the
same hue; each tarsus is terminated by three claws of the usual structure, and below them
there are several smaller ones. The cephalo-thorax is convex, glossy, compressed before,
rounded on the sides, and has an indentation in the medial line; it is of a-yellowish-brown
hue, the cephalic region and the lateral margins being the darkest. The four intermediate
eyes form a square, and those o f each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a tubercle and are
almost in contact; the two posterior eyes of the square are the largest of the eight, and the
anterior ones are seated on a prominence. The falces are conical, yertical, and armed with
teeth on the inner surface; the maxillae are short, strong, straight, rounded at the extremity,
and have a conical process on the outer side, immediately before the insertion of the palpi;
the lip js semicircular, but somewhat pointed. These parts are of a dark-brown colour
slightly tinged with red. The sternum, which is heart-shaped, has a yellowish-brown tint,
with darker margins. The palpi are short and of a yellowish-brown hue; the radial
joint is stronger than the cubital and has an obtuse protuberance on the outer side; the
digital joint is somewhat oval, with a slender process at the base curved outwards; it is
convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are very
highly developed, very prominent, complicated in structure, with a yellowish-brown convexity
on the outer side, and are of a veryldark-brown colour slightly tinged with red.. . The convex
sides of the digital joints are directed towards each other. The abdomen is oviform, thinly
clothed with hairs, convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax; on the
upper part there is a broad, leaf-like mark, which tapers to the spinners, and ha s. dentated
lateral margins bordered with white; it is of a brownish-black colour freckled with white,
and has a transverse, white bar, minutely spotted with black, near its anterior extremity; the
sides, which are whitish, are streaked and spotted with brownish-black, and the under part is
of a brownish-black hue, with a curved, yellowish-white stripe on each side of the medial
line; the colour of the branchial opercula is dark-brown.
From the description of this species given by M. Koch, it appears that the female is
larger and more distinctly marked than the male, that its legs are much shorter, the femora,
which are white, having a black annulus near their extremity, and that the palpi are marked
with brown-black annuli.
In December, 1853, an adult male o f this Epeira was received from Mr. R. H.
Meade, which had been taken by Mr. F. Walker, at Piercefield, in the summer of the same
year.
M. Walckenaer has placed the Zitta (Epeira) albimacula of M. Koch among the
synonyma of Epeira agalena (‘ Hist. Na.t. des Insect. Apt.,’ t. ii, p. 3 7 ); but the males o f these
species differ in the design formed by the distribution of their colours, in the armature of
their anterior legs, and in the structure of their palpal organs.
Epeira anthracina. PI. XXVI, fig. 257
Micryphantes anthracinus, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 11.
Binge anthracina, Koch, Die Arachn., Band xi, p,’ 154, tab. 393, fig. 9o0.
Length of the male, ^th o f an in ch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, i t b ;
breadth of the abdomen, ^th ;. length of an anterior leg, ^ths; length of a leg of the third
pair, njth. -
The cephalo-thorax is large, compressed before, rounded on thef'sides, convex, glossy,
with a broad indentation in the medial line, and. is of a very dark-brown colour. The eyes;
are nearly equal in size, and are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax; the
four intermediate ones form a square, the two anterior ones being seated on a prominence,
and those of each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a tubercle, and are near to each other,
but not in contact. The falces are powerful, conical, and inclined towards the sternum; the
maxillae are short, strong, straight, and enlarged and rounded at the extremity; and thé lip
is semicircular, but pointed at the apex. These organs are of a brownish-red colour, the
last two being brown at the base. The legs are long, provided with hairs and fine spines,
and of a yellowish-red colour, the anterior half of the femora of the first pair having a dark-
brown h u e ; the first pair is the longest, then the second, and the third pair is the shortest.
The palpi are short, and resemble the legs in colour, with the exception of the digital joint,
which has a dark-brown hue; the cubital joint is rather prominent at its extremity, from
which two long, curved bristles are directed forwards; the radial joint is somewhat produced
on the inner side ; the digital joint is oval, with a process at its base, curved outwards; it is
convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs; these organs are
very highly developed, protuberant, complicated in structure, with a prominent, pointed
process at their base, a black spine curved from the outer side round their extremity, and
are of; a brown hue. The convex sides of the digital joints are directed towards each
other. * The sternum is broad, heart-shaped, glossy, with small prominences on the sides,
opposite to the legs ; and the abdomen is oviform, thinly clothed with hairs, glossy, convex
above, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax. These parts have a brownish-
black hue.
Two adult males of this small Epëira were taken by the Rev. O. P. Cambridge, at
Lyndhurst, in the New Forest, in the summer o f l-860. The female has not yet been discovered.