The abdomen is oviform, sparingly supplied with hairs, convex above, projecting over
the base of the cephalo-thorax ; the upper part is of a bright-red colour, somewhat paler in the
medial region, and has a few obscure, transverse lines of a lighter hue above the spinners ;
the sides have a yellowish-white tint, and the under part is of a pale-red colour, mottled with
yellowish-white spots; the sexual organs have a brownish-black hue. The cephalo-thorax
is large, slightly compressed before, broadly truncated in front, convex, and glossy; the
falces are short, cuneiform, and vertical; the lip is rather long and triangular; and the
sternum is heart-shaped ; the first and second pairs of legs, which are much longer and more
powerful than the third and fourth pairs, are nearly equal in length, the first pair being
rather the longer, and are provided with two parallel rows of strong spines on the under side
of the tibiae and metatarsi; the legs of the third pair are the shortest; the palpi are short,
and have a curved, pectinated claw at their extremity. These parts, which are of a pale-
green colour in immature females, have a greenish-yellow hue in adults. The tarsi are
terminated by two curved, deeply pectinated claws. The eyes form a crescent on the anterior
part of the cephalo-thorax; the lateral eyes, which are seated on tubercles, are larger than
the rest, those of the anterior row being the largest of the eight.
The male, though rather smaller and slenderer than the female, resembles her in colour,
with the exception of the cephalo-thorax and its appendages, which have a red hue. The
radial joint of its palpi is rather stronger than the cubital, and projects a large, pointed
apophysis from its extremity, on the outer sid e ; the digital joint is oval, compact and
pointed at its termination, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal
organs, which are moderately developed, not very complicated in structure, and of a red
colour.
An adult male and female of this handsome species, captured at Southgate in 1848, the
former in May, and the latter in June, are in Mr. Walker’s cabinet.
Thomisus floricolens. PI. IV, fig. 44.
Thomisus floricolens, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. i, ,p. 532.
— — Black w., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. xiv,
p. 29.
— dorsatus, Hahn, Die Arachn., Band i, p. 44, tab. 11, fig. 34.
—: — Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 24.
— — Koch, Die Arachn., Band xii, p. 56, tab. 410, figs. 991 and 992.
— — Sund., Vet. Acad. Handl., 1832, p. 221.
Length of the female, £th of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, T‘5th, breadth, ^ th;
breadth of the abdomen, 5th ; length of an anterior leg, fths; length of a leg of the third pair, ^th.
The cephalo-thorax is convex, glossy, compressed before, rounded on the sides, truncate
in front, depressed behind, and without an indentation in the medial lin e ; the falces are
short, strong, subconical, and vertical; the maxillae are powerful, convex near the base, and
inclined towards the lip, which is somewhat oval; and the sternum is heart-shaped: the legs
are provided with a few hairs and some strong spines, two parallel rows of the latter being
conspicuous 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 is the longest,
then the second, and the third pair is the shortest; each tarsus is terminated by two curved,
pectinated claws: the palpi are short, and have a small, curved, pectinated claw at their
extremity. These parts have a yellowish-green colour, the maxillae and lip being the
yellowest. The eyes are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse,
curved rows, forming a crescent whose convexity is directed forwards; the eyes of each
lateral pair, which are seated on a tubercle, are larger than the intermediate ones, those of
the anterior row being the largest of the eight. The abdomen is oviform, broader in the
middle than at the extremities, convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax ;
it is of a pale, dull-yellow colour, with a large, oval, dark-brown band extending along
the middle of the upper part, whose margin, which is the darkest, presents an irregular
outline; the sexual organs have the appearance of two minute, brownish-black spots; and
the colour of the branchial opercula is pale-yellow.
The male is smaller and slenderer than the female, but its legs are longer than hers, an
anterior one measuring half an inch. It also differs from her in colour, the cephalo-thorax
having a reddish-brown hue, with narrow, black, lateral margins, and a deep shade of brown
about the region of the eyes. The falces have a pale, reddish-brown tint, with a minute,
dark-brown spot near their base, in front. The colour of the maxillae, lip, and sternum is
yellowish-brown. The legs have a reddish-brown hue, with dark-brown annuli, tinged with
red, at the extremity of the femora, genua, tibiae, metatarsi, and tarsi; sometimes the femora
have a tinge of green, and are marked with small, red-brown spots, particularly on the under
side. The palpi have a yellowish-brown tint, with the exception of the digital joint, which is
of a dark-brown colour; the cubital and radial joints are short, the latter projecting two
apophyses from its extremity, one situated underneath, and the other, which is bifid at its
extremity, on the outer sid e ; the digital joint is oval, pointed at the end, convex and hairy
externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are moderately developed,
with a slender, black spine, curved from the outer side round the base, inner side, and
extremity, and are of a reddish-brown colour. The dark-brown band on the upper part of
the abdomen has a pale, dull-yellow line extending along the middle of its anterior half, and
there are several transverse ones of a similar hue on its posterior half; a brownish-black
band passes along each side, and the space between the brarichial opercula has a red-brown
tint.
Adult males and immature females of this species were received from Mr. R. H.
Meade, in December, 1853, which had been captured by Mr. Francis Walker, in that and
the preceding year, at Piercefield, near Chepstow, in Monmouthshire; and in the autumn of
1854, Mr. Meade met with numerous immature individuals among bushes of box, growing on
the chalk-hills of Buckinghamshire.