Thomisus atomarius. PI. IV, fig. 42.
Thomisus atomarius, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. i, p. 523.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vii,
p. 449.
? : lynceus, Latr., Gen. Crust, et Insect., tom. i, p. 112.
— similis, Wider, Museum Senckenberg., Band i, p. 275, taf. 18, fig. 8 .
Length of the female, ;th of an inch.
The eyes are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in the form of a crescent;
the lateral eyes are larger than the intermediate ones, and those of the anterior row are the
largest of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is compressed before, rounded on the sides, broadly
truncated in front, and depressed in the anterior region ; it is of a brownish-yellow colour,
with two longitudinal, dark-brown lines on each side, the exterior ones, which are the longer,
being parallel to the lateral margins. The falces, maxillae, lip, and sternum are of a yellowish-
brown hue. The colour of the legs and palpi is pale, brownish-yellow, the former having
numerous minute, dark-brown spots distributed over their surface, particularly on the upper
part. The first and second pairs of legs are much longer and more robust than the third and
fourth pairs, and have the tibiae and metatarsi provided with strong, sessile spines on the
under side. The abdomen is depressed, much broader at the posterior than at the anterior
extremity, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of a pale, reddish-brown
colour, freckled with dark-brown spots, which are much the most numerous on the upper
part; these spots are liable to vary in number, size, and arrangement, in different individuals.
As the Thomisus lynceus of Latreille, which M. Walckenaer regards as identical with
Thomisus atomarius, is stated by Dr. Leach to inhabit Scotland (Supplement to the fourth, fifth,
and sixth editions of the ‘ Encyclopaedia Britannica,’ article “ Annulosa”), it is entitled to a
place among British Spiders.
Thomisus cinereus. PI. IV, fig. 43.
Xysticus cinereus, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 26.
— — Koch, Die Arachn., Band iv, p. 63, tab: 126, fig. 290.
Length of the female, |th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, -rath, breadth, ^th;
breadth of the abdomen, §th; length of an anterior leg, §ths; length of a leg of the third
pair, ?th.
The cephalo-thorax is large, convex, slightly compressed before, rounded on the sides,
truncated in front, and abruptly sloped at the base; it is sparingly clothed with strong hairs,
and of a dark-brown colour, mottled with grayish-brown; a broad band extends along the
middle, whose anterior part has a grayish-brown, and its posterior part, which is narrower, a
yellowish-white hue; a small, black spot occurs in the middle of the band, at the commencement
of the basal slope, and the colour of the lateral margins is yellowish-white. The eyes
are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse, curved rows, forming
a crescent; the lateral eyes are seated on a tubercle, and are larger than the intermediate ones,
those of the anterior row being the largest of the eight. The falces are short, cuneiform, and
vertical; the maxillae are convex at the base, obliquely truncated at the extremity, on the
outer side, and inclined towards the lip ; and the sternum is heart-shaped. These parts have
a yellow-brown hue, the falces being much the palest in the middle, brownish black on the
outer side and at the extremity, and the maxillae brown at the base. The lip is large,
triangular, and of a dark-brown colour, that of the apex being yellowish-brown. The legs are
provided with hairs and spines, two parallel rows of the latter occurring on the inferior surface
of the tibiae and metatarsi of the first and second pairs, which are much longer and more
robust than the third and fourth pairs; the first pair slightly surpasses the second in length,
the third pair is the shortest, and each tarsus is terminated by two curved, pectinated claws;
they are of a yellowish-brown hue, the first and second pairs being the brownest, with brown
streaks, spots, and annuli. The palpi, which are short, resemble the legs in colour, and have
a curved, pectinated claw at their extremity. The abdomen is rather broader at the posterior
than at the anterior extremity, somewhat convex above, and projects over the base of the
cephalo-thorax; it is thinly clothed with short hairs, and of a gray colour on the upper part,
■ with a strongly dentated, grayish-black band extending along each side of the medial line;
these bands, which meet at the spinners, and several of whose exterior angles are produced in
oblique lines to the corrugated sides, comprise between them a broad space tinged with brown
in its anterior region, where it is marked with five indented spots, forming an angle whose
vertex is directed forwards; the anterior extremity of the sides has a grayish-black hue,
passing into brown towards the spinners; the colour of the under part is grayish-brown on
the sides, and yellowish-brown in the middle, with - an obscure, brownish line extending from
each brown branchial operculum to the spinners, where the two meet; the sexual organs are
well developed, and of a reddish-brown hue, with a broad, longitudinal, yellowish-brown
septum in the middle.
An adult female of this species was taken by Mr. James Hardy among heath on a moor
near Penmanshiel by Cockburnspath, Berwickshire, in September, 1858.
TflOMISUS FORMOSUS. .
Thomisus formosus, Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vi,
p. 337.
— __ Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vii,
p. 450.
Length of the female, ;th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, -rath, breadth, -^th ;