Thomisus luctuosus. PI. IV, fig. 45.
Thomisus luctuosus, Blackw., Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag^ third series, vol. viii, p. 489.
— * 1— Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vii,
p. 450.
Length of the female, ^ths of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, gth ;
breadth of the abdomen, Jgths ; length of a leg of the second pair, Jrd ; length of a leg of
the third pair, £th.
The legs are of a dark-brown colour, streaked and spotted with brown of a deeper
shade, and have a yellowish-white hue at the joints ; the first and second pairs, which are
much longer and more robust than the third and fourth pairs, are nearly equal in length, the
second pair being slightly the longer, and the fourth pair surpasses the third in longitudinal
extent ; each tarsus has two curved, deeply pectinated claws at its extremity. The cephalo-
thorax is large, slightly compressed before, rounded on the sides, broadly truncated in front,
and depressed in the anterior and posterior regions ; it is of a brown colour, veined with
lines of a deeper shade, and has a fine, yellowish-white line on the lateral margins ; a short,
yellowish-white band, bifid before, occupies the medial line near its base, on each side of
which there is a spot of the same hue, situated on an irregular black patch ; and a faint,
brownish-white spot occurs on the inner side of the tubercles on which the anterior eyes of
the lateral pairs are seated. The falces are short, strong, cuneiform, and vertical ; the sternum
is oblong heart-shaped; the maxillae are convex at the base; and the lip is triangular.
These parts are of a dark-brown colour, the first two being mottled with lighter brown, and
the extremities of the last two being much paler than their bases. The palpi have a dark-
brown hue, and are terminated by a curved, pectinated claw. 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 abdomen
is depressed, sparingly supplied with hairs, slightly corrugated on the sides, much broader at
the posterior than at the anterior extremity, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax ;
its colour is yellowish-gray, mottled with black and dull-white ; an obscure, light-coloured
band, which subtends a few whitish streaks from each side towards the middle, encircles the
upper part, and there are several short, curved, transverse, whitish lines above the spinners ;
the sexual organs and the branchial opercula have a reddish-brown hue. The abdomen of
the female, after she has deposited her eggs, becomes much more corrugated and darker
coloured.
The male is smaller, darker, and more distinctly marked than the female. The femora
and tibiæ of the first and second pairs of legs are of a very dark-brown colour, tinged with
red, and those of the third and fourth pairs have a reddish-brown tint, the anterior extremity
of the femora being the darkest ; the metatarsi and tarsi of all the legs are of a pale,
reddish-brown hue. The palpi are of a reddish-brown colour, the humeral joint being much
the darkest, and the digital joint the palest ; the cubital and radial joints are short ; the
latter projects a long, pointed apophysis from its extremity, on the outer side, and a strong,
prominent one, terminating in the form of a crescent, on the under sid e ; the digital joint is
oval, with a small, acute process on the outer side, against the base of which the end of the
pointed apophysis connected with the radial joint applies ; it is convex and hairy externally,
concave within, and comprises the palpal organs; these organs are moderately developed,
and have a spine curved round their extremity, whose point terminates in a cavity of
the small, acute process on the outer side of the digital joint; their colour is dark, reddish-
brown.
Tkomisus luctuosus is found among coarse herbage growing in woods and pastures about
Oakland. In July, the female constructs a lenticular cocoon of white silk, of a compact texture,
measuring |th of an inch in diameter, and deposits in it between eighty and ninety spherical
eggs, of a pale] yellowish-white colour, not agglutinated together. The cocoon, to which the
female manifests her attachment by remaining constantly with it, is often placed between
two leaves, connected by a slight tissue of silk, forming a kind of sac.
This spider appears to be nearly allied to the Tkomisus fucatus of M. Walckenaer (Hist.
Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. i, p. 505).
Thomasus bifasciatus. PI. IV, fig. 46.
Thomisus bifasciatus, Blackw., Linn. Trans., vol. xix, p. 122.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vii,
p. 450.
Xysticus — Koch, Die Arachn., Band iv, p. 59, tab. 125, figs. 286— 288.
— — Koch, XJebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 26.
Length of the female, ^ths of an in ch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, breadth, ?th;
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of a leg of the second pair, &ths; length of a leg of
the third pair, ^ths.
The cephalo-thorax is large, glossy, slightly compressed before, rounded on the sides,
broadly truncated in front, and depressed in the anterior and posterior regions; it is of a
pale, red-brown colour, with a longitudinal, dark-brown band immediately above each lateral
margin, and another of the same hue extending backwards from each lateral pair of ey e s; on
the anterior part of the space comprised between the latter bands, there are two pale-yellow
lines, which meet in an angle directed towards the abdomen, and a transverse line of the
same colour passes between the two rows of eyes. The falces are short, cuneiform, and
vertical; the maxillae are enlarged where the palpi are inserted, and convex near the base;
and the lip is rather long and triangular. These parts are of a pale, red-brown colour,
except the. base of the lip, which is blackish. The sternum is oblong heart-shaped,
thinly covered with strong black hairs, and of a pale, red-brown colour, with dark-brown
spots, the largest of which, situated at its posterior extremity, is of an elongated form.
The first and second pairs of legs are much longer and more powerful than the third and