The lateral eyes of the anterior row are smaller than the intermediate ones. The
cephalo-thorax is glossy, of a dark-brown hue, with a short, obscure, red-brown line in the
middle of its posterior part, and some white hairs on the lateral margins. The falces are
conical, armed with a few teeth on the inner surface, and are of a brown hue, tinged with red.
The maxillae resemble the falces in colour, but are paler; and the lip, which is of a dark-
brown hue, has a reddish tint at the extremity. The sternum is heart-shaped, and of a
reddish-brown colour, the margins being the darkest. The legs and palpi have a yellowish-
brown hue, and are marked with obscure, soot-coloured annuli; the posterior pair of legs is
the longest, and the other three pairs are nearly equal in length. The abdomen is hairy,
convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of a dark-brown colour,
tinged with olive, and has a short, obscure, red-brown line at the anterior extremity of the
upper part, which appears like a prolongation of the one on the cephalo-thorax; a row of
minute, brilliantly white spots extends along each side of the medial line, and numerous
white hairs are distributed on the sides and under part; the sexual organs are black and
g lossy; and the branchial opercula are of a pale, dull-yellow colour.
The male is rather smaller than the female, which it closely resembles in colour. The
palpi are slender, and the radial is longer than the cubital joint; the digital joint is of an
elongated oval form, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal
organs, which are moderately developed, not very complex in structure, with a crescentshaped
process at the extremity, and are of a reddish-brown colour.
Females of this species, which appears to connect the terrestrial with the semi-aquatic
Lycosa, may be found, in the months of May and June, among moss and under stones in
moist situations' in the woods of Denbighshire, with their cocoons attached to their spinners.
The cocoon is globular, measuring one eighth of an inch in diameter, and is composed of
compact, white silk, encircled by a narrow zone of a slighter texture; it comprises forty or
fifty yellow eggs, of a spherical form.
Lycosa latitans is placed by M. Walckenaer among the synonyma of Lycosa fumiyata
(‘ Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt.,’ tom. iv, p. 395), but on insufficient grounds, as it is very
much smaller than that species, and differs from it in the design formed by the distribution of
its colours, which likewise present some diversity.
Lycosa piratica. PI. II, fig. 16.
Lycosa piratica, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. i, p. 339.
— Hahn, Die Arachn., Band i, p. 107, tab. 27, fig. 80.
— . — Sund., Yet. Acad. Handl., 1832, p. 193.
— - Blackw., Linn. Trans., vol. xix, p. 120.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vii,
p. 397.
;— (Potamia) piratica, Koch, Die Arachn., Band xv, p. 1, tab. 505, figs. 1413 and
1414.
— palustris, Koch, Uehers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 22.
The intermediate eyes of the anterior row are larger than the lateral ones. The cephalo-
thorax is glossy, of a yellowish-brown colour, with a broad, longitudinal, brown band on each
side, and a small bifid one of the same hue in the middle, which terminates at the posterior
indentation ; the lateral margins are supplied with hairs of brilliant whiteness. The falces
are powerful, conical, armed with teeth on the inner surface, and, with the maxillæ, are of a
red-brown colour, the latter being the paler. The lip is of a dark-brown hue in the middle,
and has a reddish-brown tint on the sides and at the extremity. The sternum is heart-
shaped, and of a yellowish-brown colour. The legs are provided with hairs and spines, and
are of a greenish-brown hue, with the exception of the tarsi, which have a reddish-brown tint;
the thighs are the palest, and sometimes present a faint appearance of annuli. The palpi
have a greenish-brown colour, the digital joint excepted, which has a reddish-brown hue.
The abdomen is hairy, convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax ; the
colour of the upper part is brown, with a yellowish-brown band in the middle of the anterior
part, extending more than a third of its length ; the lateral margins of this band are bordered
by white lines, which pass beyond its extremity, and meet in a point ; on each side of the
posterior part there is a series of brilliantly white spots, both of which converge towards the
spinners; the sides are thickly mottled with white; and the under part has a pale-brown
hue ; the sexual organs are of a dark, reddish-brown colour ; and that of the branchial
opercula is yellow.
The sexes are similar in colour ; but the male, which is the smaller, has the radial joint
of the palpi longer than the cubital, and slightly curved downwards ; the digital joint has a
reddish-brown hue; it is oval, convex, and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the
palpal organs, which are moderately developed, not very complicated in structure, and of a
dark, reddish-brown colour.
Lycosa piratica frequents marshes and the margins of pools ; it runs rapidly on the
surface of water, even when encumbered with its cocoon, and frequently takes refuge from
danger beneath the surface of that liquid, concealing itself among the leaves of aquatic plants,
the air confined by the circumambient water among the hairs with which it is clothed
enabling it to remain immersed for a considerable period of time.
In June the female deposits from eighty to one hundred spherical eggs of a deep-yellow
colour, in a globular cocoon of compact, white silk, encircled by a narrow zone of a slighter
texture, which measures about one fifth of an inch in diameter.