than the third and fourth pairs, are nearly equal in length, the second pair being rather the
longer, and the fourth pair a little surpasses the third in longitudinal extent; each tarsus is
terminated by two curved claws, pectinated at the base. The abdomen is depressed, thinly
covered with hairs, much broader at the posterior than at the anterior extremity, and projects
over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of a pale, yellowish-brown hue above, with a broad,
irregular, dark-brown band extending on each side of the medial line nearly to the spinners,
immediately above which organs there are a few transverse streaks of the latter colour connecting
the lateral bands; in the space comprised between these bands there are a short,
dark-brown streak, directed backwards from the anterior part of the abdomen, and five
indented spots of the same hue, forming an angle whose vertex is directed forwards; a
whitish band extends along the sides, and below it there is a parallel, dark-brown band;
underneath, the abdomen is of a yellowish-brown colour, mottled with dark-brown about the
middle; and the branchial opercula have a yellowish-white tint.
The male is smaller and darker coloured than the female. The femoral and genual joints
of its first and second pairs of legs are of a dark, reddish-brown colour, inclining to black
above, the other parts of these limbs, and the whole of the third and fourth pairs, being
either of a pale-red or yellowish-brown colour. The humeral joint of the palpi is of a dark,
reddish-brown h u e ; the cubital and radial joints are short, and their colour is pale, red-
brown ; the latter projects a pointed apophysis from its extremity, on the outer side, and
another underneath, which has a small protuberance near its termination; the digital joint is
oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs; they are
highly developed, complex in structure, with one or two strong, prominent processes near the
upper part, and are of a dark, red-brown colour.
This spider may be seen in summer running on foot-paths in North Wales and Lancashire,
but it is not a common species. In June the female constructs a lenticular cocoon, of
compact, white silk, measuring one fourth of an inch in diameter; it is commonly attached to
the under side of withered leaves, and contains about forty-three spherical eggs, of a pale-
yellow colour, not agglutinated together.
T homisus sabulosus. PI. IV, fig. 41.
Thomisus sabulosus, Hahn, Die Arachn., Band i, p. 28, tab. 8, fig. 24.
— J l f i l Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. xx,
p. 498.
Xysticus — Koch, Die Arachn, Band xii, p. 64, tab. 411, figs. 999, 1000.
Length of the female, 2k lines (Koch).
The legs are provided with hairs and spines, and the first and second pairs, which are
much longer and more robust than the third and fourth pairs, are of a yellowish-brown hue,
with dark-brown streaks, spots, and annuli ; each tarsus is terminated by two curved, pectinated
claws. The palpi resemble the legs in colour, but are without any dark-brown marks.
The cephalo-thorax is large, convex, slightly compressed before, rounded on the sides,
broadly truncated in front, and provided with a few strong, black hairs, particularly on its
anterior part; it is of a brownish-black colour, minutely mottled with yellowish-white; a
yellowish-white band, whose anterior part is the broadest, and is tinged with brown, extends
along the middle, and the margins have a pale, yellowish-white hue. The eyes are disposed
on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse, curved rows, forming a crescent
whose convex side is before; the lateral eyes, which are seated on a protuberance whose
superior part is whitish, are larger than the intermediate ones, those of the anterior row being
the largest of the eight. The falces are short, cuneiform, and vertical; their colour is
yellowish-white, the base and extremity having a brown hue. The maxillae are pointed at
the extremity, and strongly inclined towards the lip, which is triangular. These parts are of
a yellowish-brown colour, the base of the latter and a spot on the inner side of the base of the
former having a brown hue. The sternum is heart-shaped, and of a yellowish-brown colour,
freckled with brown. The abdomen is rather larger at the posterior than at the anterior
extremity, sparingly clothed with short hairs, convex above, and projects over the base of the
cephalo-thorax ; it is of a yellowish-brown colour, with a longitudinal, dark-brown, dentated
band on each side of the medial lin e ; a short, transverse, black streak occurs on each dentated
band, about one third of its length from the anterior extremity, which is followed by a series
of black spots diminishing in size as they approach the spinners; from the exterior angles of
the dentated bands oblique, black lines pass to the sides, which are black anteriorly and dark-
brown posteriorly, and an obscure, dark line extends from each brown branchial operculum to
the spinners, where they meet.
The male bears a near resemblance to the female in colour, but it is more strongly
marked, and the under part of its abdomen has a darker hue. Its palpi are short; the humeral
and cubital joints ate of a yellowish-white colour, the former having a brown-black hue on
the upper part, except at the extremity, and the latter being tinged with pale-brown ; the .
radial and digital joints are of a yellowish-brown colour, marked with darker brown; the
cubital and radial joints are short, and the latter projects from its extremity, on the outer side,
two strong apophyses, the anterior one being somewhat pointed, and the posterior one
depressed and rounded at its extremity; the digital joint is oval, with a lobe near the
middle of its outer margin; it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the
palpal organs, which are highly developed, not very complex in structure, with a prominent,
pointed, curved process projecting beyond the lobe on the outer side of the joint, and are of
a very dark-brown colour.
Four immature females and an adult male of this species were taken near Blandford in
Dorsetshire,, by the Rev. O. P. Cambridge, in 1856.
M. Walckenaer has placed this spider among the synonyma of Thomisus cristatus, from
which it differs in size and in the design formed by the distribution of its colours; and on
referring to M. Koch’s ‘ Uebers. des Arachn. Syst./ erstes Heft, p. 2-5, it will be seen that
Thomisus sabulosus had been confounded with Thomisus lanio (Xysticus lanio, Kock), by that
arachnologist, an error which he afterwards corrected in treating on the species in the twelfth
volume of ‘ Die Arachniden,’ p. 66.