apex; and the sternum is heart-shaped, with minute prominences on the sides, opposite to the
legs. These parts are of a dark-brown colour, the falces being the darkest, and the maxillte
and lip having yellow-brown margins. The legs are robust, provided with hairs and spines,
and of a pale, yellow-brown hue, with black annuli; and each tarsus is terminated by the
customary number of claws of the usual structure. The palpi resemble the legs in colour,
and have a curved, pectinated claw at their extremity.
The male is smaller and darker coloured than the female, and the conical protuberances
on its abdomen are less prominent; its legs also, which .are longer than hers, have a small,
pointed process at the extremity of the coxse of the anterior pair, on the under side, and the
tibiae of the second pair are amply provided with strong spines; a pointed process occurs
near the extremity of the falces, in front, and another on the outer side of the maxillee, immediately
before the insertion of the palpi. Its palpi are short; the cubital joint has a long
bristle projecting from its extremity, in front, and the radial joint, which is the stronger of
the two, has a large, obtuse protuberance on the outer side, and a smaller one on the inner
sid e; the digital joint is of an oblong oval form, and has an obtuse, glossy, black process,
curved outwards, at its base ; it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising
the palpal organs, which are very highly developed, complicated in structure, and of a dark,
reddish-brown colour. The convex sides of the digital joints are directed towards each
other.
In the wooded parts of Denbighshire this rare species occurs on the trunks of trees. It
pairs in June, and in July the female constructs a subglobose -cocoon of light-brown silk of a
loose texture, about one third of an inch in diameter, which includes her eggs.
Epeiba conica. PI. XXVII, fig. 261.
EpiUra conica, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., t. ii, p. 138,
(Vy Latr., Gen. Crust, et Insect., tom. i, p. 109.
— — Sund., Yet. Acad. Handle 1832, p. 248.
— — Hahn., Die Arachn., Band ii, p. 45, tab. 57, fig. 130.
Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. x,
p. 249.
Singa — Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft., p. 6.
— Koch, Die Arachn., Band xi, p. 145, tab. 392, figs. 943— 945.
Titulus 4, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran., p. 32, tab. 1, fig. 4.
Length of the female from the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax to the extremity of the
conical abdominal protuberance, ?th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, Ath, breadth, ^th;
breadth of the abdomen, |t h ; length of an anterior leg, |r d ; length of a leg of the third
pair, ^ths.
The abdomen has a large, conical protuberance situated near the middle of the upper
part, which gives it somewhat of a triangular form when viewed laterally; it projects greatly
over the base of the cephalo-thorax, and its prevailing colour is yellowish-white ; the sides are
marked with streaks and blotches of a pale, reddish-brown hue, a broad, irregular, blackish
band, comprising several white marks, extends from the anterior part to the extremity of the
conical protuberance, and the space between the protuberance and the spinners has a brown
tint, with confluent, white spots constituting longitudinal and transverse lines; the under part
is black, and a large, angular, white mark, whose lower side is the broader, and whose vertex
is directed obliquely downwards and outwards, occurs on each side of i t ; the sexual organs
are prominent, and of a dark, reddish-brown colour, with a somewhat cylindrical process,
directed backwards, in connexion with their anterior margin; and the branchial opercula
have a brown tint. The cephalo:thorax is small, convex, glossy, compressed before, rounded
on the sides, and has a broad indentation in the medial lin e ; the falces are long, powerful,
armed with teeth on the inner surface, and slightly inclined towards the sternum, which is
heart-shaped, and has small eminences on the sides, opposite to the le g s ; the maxillae are
strong, and the lip is nearly semicircular, but somewhat pointed. These parts are of a very
dark, reddish-brown or brownish-black colour, with the exception of the extremities of the
maxillae and lip, which have a pale, reddish-brown hue. The four intermediate eyes nearly
form a square, the two anterior ones, which are rather wider apart than the posterior ones,
being placed on a bold protuberance; those of each lateral pair are seated obliquely on a
minute tubercle, and are almost in contact. The legs are moderately long, sparingly provided
with hairs and fine spines, and of a reddish-brown colour, the coxae and femora being much
the palest, with brown spots and annuli; and each tarsus is terminated by the customary
number of claws of the usual structure. The palpi have a slightly curved, pectinated claw
at their extremity, and are of a pale, yellowish-brown colour, the extremity of the radial joint
and the whole of the digital'joint, except its base, having a dark, reddish-brown tint. This
species varies greatly in the intensity and distribution of its colours, both in the immature and
adult states, and young individuals have the conical protuberance on the upper part of the
abdomen less perfectly developed than old ones; but it may always be readily distinguished
from other British Epeiree by the singularity of its form.
There is much similarity between the sexes of Epeira conica, but the male is the darker
coloured, and its cephalo-thorax is larger in proportion to the size of its abdomen. The
femora of its first and second pairs of legs are of a brownish-black hue, with the exception of
their bases, which have a yellowish-white tin t; those of the third and fourth pairs are
brownish-black at their extremity only, the colour of the remaining portion and of all the
coxse being yellowish-white. The palpi are short and of a yellowish-brown hue, with the
exception of the digital joint, which has a very dark-brown tin t; the cubital joint has a long
bristle at its extremity, in front, and the radial joint, which is larger than the cubital, has an
obtuse protuberance on its outer sid e ; the digital joint is of an oblong oval form, tapering to
its extremity, and having an obtuse process at its base, directed outwards; it is convex and
hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are very highly
developed, remarkably prominent, complicated in structure, and of a very dark-brown
colour.