Epëira angulata. PI. XXVII, fig. 259.
Epëira angulata, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 2.
— — Koch, Die Arachn., Band xi, p. 77, tab. 379, figs. 892— 895.
■—1 Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. xx,
p. 502.
— comuta, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 123.
Length of the female, ^ths of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, £th, breadth, &ths ;
breadth of the abdomen, |th ; length of an anterior leg, fths ; length of a leg of the third
pair, ^ths.
The legs are robust, provided with hairs and spines, and of a yellowish-brown colour,
with brown-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 cephalo-thorax is slightly convex, compressed
before, rounded on the sides, and has an indentation in the medial line ; it is densely
clothed with yellowish-gray hairs, and o f a dark-brown colour; an obscure band extends
along the middle, another on each side, and the lateral margins are the darkest. The four
intermediate eyes, which are seated on a protuberance, nearly form a square, 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, vertical, and armed with teeth on the inner surface
; the maxillæ are straight, short, strong, and greatly enlarged at the extremity, which is
rounded ; the lip is nearly semicircular, but somewhat pointed at the apex. These parts are
of a dark-brown colour, with the exception of the extremities of the maxillæ and lip, which
have a yellowish-brown hue. The sternum is heart-shaped, with prominences on the sides,
opposite to the legs ; it has a dark-brown hue, with a broad, longitudinal, yellow-brown band
in the middle. The abdomen is hairy, and somewhat oviform, a large, prominent, conical
protuberance situated on each side of the anterior extremity of the upper part giving it a
triangular appearance; it is convex above, and projects greatly over the base of the cephalo-
thorax; on the upper part there is a brown-black, leaf-like mark, which is darkest on the
strongly dentated margins, and decreases in breadth as it approaches the spinners ; it is
finely bordered by a yellowish-white line, is obscurely freckled with pale-brown, and its
anterior part comprises one or two yellowish-white, angular lines, whose vertices are directed
forwards, and to these succeed short streaks and spots of the same hue ; the anterior part of
the conical protuberances and the sides have a yellowish-brown colour spotted with dark-
brown ; on the upper part of the latter the spots, which are confluent, form oblique rows,
and on their lower part horizontal ones ; the underpart is of a brown-black colour, with two
conspicuous, parallel, yellow spots near the spinners ; the sexual organs are prominent, and
have in connexion with them a long, curved, membraneous process, which is darkest
coloured at its extremity.
The male is smaller than the female, and the conical protuberance on each side of the
anterior extremity of the upper part of its abdomen is proportionally minute; its legs are
long, the usual colour of the femora is black, and the tibise of the second pair are curved
and dilated. The palpi are short, and of a brownish-yellow colour; the digital joint is oval,
convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are highly
developed, complicated in structure, and of a dark, reddish-brown hue. The colours, and the
design formed by them, are similar in both sexes.
An adult female Epeira angulata, and an immature male which had to undergo its
final ecdysis, were taken in 1856, near Blandford, in Dorsetshire, by the Rev. O. P.
Cambridge.
The descriptions of Epeira angulata given by arachnologists are, in general, so brief and
imperfect as to render any attempt to reconcile the perplexed synonyma of this species
almost hopeless.
Epëira bicornis. PI. XXVII, fig. 260.
Epeira bicornis, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 124.
— — Blackw., Linn. Trans., vol. xix, p. 126.
Koch, Die Arachn., Band xi, p. 92, tab. 382, figs. 902, 903.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. x,
p. 248.
— arbustorum, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft., p. 3.
Length of the female, ^ths of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, Ath;
breadth of the abdomen, ^ th s; length of an anterior leg, |r d ; length of a leg of the third
pair, jth.
The abdomen is short, broad, somewhat oviform, with a bold, conical protuberance on
each side of the anterior extremity of the upper part, and projects over the base of the
cephalo-thorax ; a large, reddish-brown, leaf-like mark on the upper part, which tapers to the
spinners, and has dark, sinuous margins, comprises a green spot, situated between the tubercles;
the anterior part, exterior to the extremity of the leaf-like mark, and the sides have a dull-
green tint, mottled with yellowish-green, and a broad, brownish-black band, bordered by
greenish-yellow, extends along the middle of the under part; the sexual organs are very
prominent, and have in connexion with them a small, pale, oval process, directed backwards;
and the colour of the branchial opercula is yellowish-brown. The cephalo-thorax is convex,
compressed before, rounded on the sides, and has an indentation in the medial lin e ; it is of a
dark-brown colour, and is clothed with pale, yellowish-brown hairs, which are densest in the
cephalic region. The four intermediate eyes are seated on a protuberance, and nearly form a
square, the two posterior ones being much the largest of the e igh t; those of each lateral pair,
which are the smallest, are placed obliquely on a tubercle, and are almost in contact. The
falces are strong, conical, and armed with teeth on the inner surface; the maxillae are short,
powerful, and greatly enlarged at the extremity; the lip is triangular and pointed at the