at its anterior extremity, there is a short, longitudinal streak, composed of white hairs, which
is not very conspicuous.
An adult male of this minute Salticus is in the extensive collection of British Araneidea
belonging to Francis Walker, Esq., of Arno’s Grove, Southgate, Middlesex, in which locality
it was taken in May, 1848. Mr. Walker has very liberally permitted descriptions to be made
and published of any species comprised in his collection which were suspected to be unknown
to arachnologists.
Salticus distinctus. PL III, fig. 29.
Salticus distinctus, Blackw., Lion. Trans., vol. xviii, p. 616.
— Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vii,
p. 446.
Euophrys tigrina, Koch, Die Arachn., Band xiv, p. 6, tab. 469, figs. 1275— 1277.
Length of the female, gth of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^th;
breadth of the abdomen, ^th ; length of a posterior leg, ^ths; length of a leg of the second
pair, gth.
The legs are of a pale, reddish-brown hue, marked with brownish-black annuli; the fourth
pair is the longest, then the third, and the second pair is the shortest; each tarsus is terminated
by two long, curved, slightly pectinated claws. The palpi are short, and of a yellowish-
white colour, with the exception of the axillary joint and the base of the humeral joint, which
have a dark-brown hue. The cephalo-thorax is nearly quadrilateral; it slopes abruptly in the
posterior region, and is prominent in front, projecting beyond the falces j its colour is very
dark-brown, a longitudinal line of whitish hairs extending above each lateral margin; the
upper part is covered with yellowish-brown and whitish hairs, a short line of the latter
occurring in the middle, behind the posterior eyes. The falces are vertical, and.armed with a
few small teeth on the inner surface ; the maxillae are greatly enlarged at the extremity ; the
lip is somewhat pointed, and the sternum is oval. These parts are of a very dark-brown
colour, the extremities of the maxillae and lip being much the palest. The abdomen is oviform,
projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax ; it is of a brown colour, and is clothed
with yellowish-brown, reddish-brown, and yellowish-white hairs intermixed; some whitish
hairs occur in front, and a few of the same hue form a spot immediately above the spinners :
in the middle of the anterior part there are two small, obscure, yellowish-white, concentric
arcs of circles, to which succeeds a series of angular lines of the same colour, whose vertices
are directed forwards; the first two lines of the series are the most extensive, the extremities
of the second being reflected and in contact with the first; the sides are of a brown colour
blended with yellowish-white, and a broad, reddish-brown band extends along the middle of
the under part; the superior spinners are of a dark-brown hue, and the other two pairs have
a reddish-brown tin t; the colour of the branchial opercula is pale-brown.
The male greatly resembles the female, but it is rather smaller and darker coloured, and
the relative length of its legs is different, the first pair being a little longer than the third.
The whole of the first and second pairs of legs, and the thighs of the third and fourth pairs,
are of a brownish-black colour. The cubital and radial joints of the palpi are short; the
latter, which is the smaller, projects from its extremity, on the outer side, a long, pointed
apophysis* curved abruptly at the end; the digital joint is large, oval, of a very dark-brown
colour, convex and hairy externally, and concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which
are highly developed, prominent, projecting upwards to the articulation of the cubital with
the radial joint, not complex in structure, and have a dark-brown hue.
Salticus distinctus occurs in Denbighshire, Caernarvonshire, and the north of Lancashire,
on stone walls, in the interstices of which the female fabricates a cell of compact, white silk,
attached to the surface of the stone. In July she constructs in this cell a lenticular cocoon,
measuring one sixth of an inch in diameter, and deposits in it about sixteen spherical eggs, of
a pale-yellow colour, not agglutinated together. The young, even before they quit the cocoon,
exhibit some of the marks most characteristic of the species.
This spider is regarded by M. Walckenaer as identical with Attus erraticus (‘Hist. Nat.
des Insect. Apt./ tom. iv., p. 409), from which it differs both in structure and colour. The
maxillae of Salticus distinctus are shorter, stronger, much more enlarged at the extremity, and
straighter than those of Attus erraticus; its lip too, instead of being obtuse like that of the
latter, is somewhat pointed, and its falces, sternum, and superior pair of spinners, have a much
darker h u e ; the figures also on the cephalo-thorax and*abdomen of both species, designed by
the disposition of their respective colours, are dissimilar.
The jEuophrys tigrina of M. Koch is the same as Salticus distinctus ; but the Salticus tigrinus
and the Salticus litoralis of M. Hahn (‘Die Arachn./ Band i, p. 62, tab. 16, fig. 47 ; and p. 70,
tab. 18, fig. 53) should be expunged from the synonyma of Euophrys tigrina, among which
M. Koch has placed them, as they are distinct species, and have not yet been observed in
Great Britain.
Salticus floricola. PI. Ill, fig. 30.
Euophrys floricola, Koch,* Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 34.
— . -“ a , Koch, Die Arachn., Band xiv, p. 39, tab. 473, fig. 1301.
Length of the male, gth of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, -rath, breadth, 55th ;
breadth of the abdomen, 5'gth ; length of a posterior leg, gth; length of a leg of the second
pair, T*th.
The cephalo-tWax is large, somewhat quadrilateral, sloping abruptly at the base,
depressed before, and projecting a little beyond the falces in front * it is of a brownish-black
colour; the sides and front are clothed with white hairs, those below the lateral eyes having
a brownish tinge; a short, longitudinal streak, composed of white hairs, occurs in the middle
of the posterior region, and the large intermediate eyes of the anterior row are surrounded