Thomisus incertus. PI. IV, fig. 51.
• Thomisus incertus, Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xviii, p. 297.
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vii,
p. 451.
Length of the female, ^ths of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^ th ;
breadth of the abdomen, ^ th ; length of an anterior leg, ^ths; length of a leg of the third
pair, rrth.
The legs are robust, provided with hairs and spines, and are of a pale, reddish-brown
colour, with annuli and spots of a dark-brown h u e ; the first and second pairs are equal in
length, the latter extending a little wider in consequence of being articulated to a broader part
of.the cephalo-thorax, and the fourth pair is rather longer than the third; each tarsus is
terminated by two curved, pectinated claws. The palpi, which are short, resemble the legs
in colour, and have a curved, pectinated claw at their extremity. The eyes are disposed in
the form of a crescent on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax; the lateral eyes, which are
seated on tubercles, are larger than the intermediate ones, those of the anterior row being the
largest of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is compressed before, rounded on the sides,
truncated in front, and abruptly depressed in the posterior region; on each side there is a
broad, dark-brown band comprising several irregular, red-brown marks; the medial line is of
a red-brown colour, and the lateral margins are whitish. The falces are short, subconical,
vertical, and of a dark-brown hue, tinged with red, especially near the base, in front. The
maxillae are enlarged where the palpi are inserted, and convex near the base; and the lip is
triangular. These parts are of a red-brown colour, the base of the lip being much the
darkest. The sternum is heart-shaped, and has three or four dark-brown spots on each side,
and a streak of the same hue extending from its posterior extremity to the middle. The
abdomen is depressed, sparingly supplied with short, strong hairs, broader at the posterior
than at the anterior extremity, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; its colour is
dull, yellowish-brown, with oblique, brownish-black bars on each side of the medial line,
whose length and distance from each other diminish as they approach the spinners; a
yellowish-brown band, which tapers to a point at its posterior extremity, extends along the
middle, and includes two obscure, parallel, brownish-black lines in its broad, anterior part;
the sides and under part are spotted with brownish-black, the former the more densely, and
the sexual organs have a reddish-brown hue.
The sexes differ in various particulars. The male is smaller than the female, and the
femora of its anterior pair of legs are black, faintly tinged with red on the sides and under
part; the other joints of these limbs have a pale, reddish-brown hue, with a few dark spots on
the sides of the genua and the base of the tibiae ; the second pair of legs resembles the first
pair, except that the base of the femora is of a pale, reddish-brown colour; the third and
fourth pairs have a pale, reddish-brown tint, with a few brownish-black annuli. The humeral
joint of the palpi is o f a brownish-black hue, being palest at the base, and that of the cubital
and radial joints is reddish-brown, obscurely marked with dark-brown; a long, brownish-
black, curved apophysis, which is recurved at the point, projects from the extremity o f the
radial joint, on the outer side, and a crescent-shaped one of a reddish-brown hue is situated
underneath; the digital joint is oval, of a dark-brown hue, convex and hairy externally, concave
within, comprising the palpal organs, which are highly developed, complicated in structure,
with a black spine curved round their extremity, and are of a reddish-brown colour. The
abdomen is of a dark-brown hue, obscurely tinged with reddish-brown; the sides are mottled
with yellowish-white, and the branchial opercula have a dark, reddish-brown tint.
A male of this spider, with its palpal organs fully developed, was discovered in an outbuilding
at Oakland, in June, 1845; and in the spring of 1850 an adult female was received
from Miss Ellen Clayton, who captured it in Dorsetshire. Another female, having the groundcolour
of its abdomen yellowish-red, was taken early in 1851, at Bradford, in Yorkshire, by
Mr. R. H. Meade.
In June, 1852, a female Thomisus incertus, confined in a phial, fabricated a lenticular
cocoon of white silk, of a compact texture, which she attached to the glass. This cocoon
measured one fourth of an inch in diameter, and contained twenty whitish eggs o f^ spherical
form, not adherent among themselves.
T homisus c l a v e a t u s . PI. IV, fig. 52.
Thomisus claveatus, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. i, p. 510.
Length of the female, gth of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^th »
breadth of the abdomen, ^th ; length of a leg of the second pair, gth ; length of a leg of
the third pair, ^th.
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 slight protuberance, and are wide apart, are larger than the intermediate ones,
those of the anterior row being much the largest of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is small,
convex, rugose, compressed before, rounded on the sides, abruptly depressed at the base, and
is supplied, with short, strong hairs enlarged at their extremity, which abound most in the
medial line and in front, and is of a dark-brown colour, tinged with red ; a broad, dull, red-
brown band extends along the middle, and the lateral margins have a yellowish-white hue.
The falcès are short, cuneiform, and vertical; the maxillæ are pointed’ at the extremity, and
strongly inclined towards the lip, which is triangular; and the sternum is heart-shaped.
These parts have a yellowish-brown colour, the falces and lip being the darkest. The legs
are provided with hairs and spines, two parallel rows of the latter extending along the inferior
surface of the tibiæ and metatarsi of the first and second pairs, which are longer and more
robust than the third and fourth pairs ; the second pair is slightly longer than the first, and
the third pair is rather the shortest; they have a brown hue intermixed with yellowish