102 THOMISIDA
SPARASSUS SMARAGDULUS. P I. V, fig . *M.
Sparassus smaragdulus, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. i, p. 582.
— — Blackw., Linn. Trans., vol. xix, p. 123.
— ----- -- Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii,
p. 38.
— smaragdinus, Sund., Vet. Acad. Handl., 1831, p. 147, and 1832, p. 271.
| | l | g j |^ virescens, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 28.
— — Koch, Die Arachn., Band xii, p. 87, tab. 416, fig. 1019.
Micrommata smaragdina, Latr., Gen. Crust, et Insect., tom. i, p. 115.
_. — Hahn, Die Arachn., Band i, p. 119, tab. 33, fig. 89.
Length of the female, fths of an in ch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, &ths, breadth, gth;
breadth of the abdomen, i th ; length of a leg of the second pair, fths; length of a leg of
the third pair, fths.
The eyes constitute a segment of a; circle, with its convexity directed forwards; the
lateral eyes of the anterior row are the largest, and the intermediate ones of the same row are
the smallest of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is compressed before, rounded on the sides,
convex, with slight furrows converging from the lateral margins towards the middle. The
falces are powerful, conical, vertical, and armed with teeth on the inner surface. The lip is:
semicircular; and the sternum is heart-shaped. The legs are provided with hairs and sessile
spines; the second pair is the longest, then the fourth, and the third pair is the shortest; the
metatarsi and tarsi have hair-like papillae distributed upon their inferior surface, and the latter
are terminated by two curved, deeply pectinated claws, below which there is a small scopula.
The palpi are robust, and have a minute, curved, pectinated claw at their extremity. The
abdomen is of an oblong-oviform figure, sparingly clothed with short hairs, convex above,
projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax. The colour of this sex is green; the
abdomen, which is paler than the cephalo-thorax, has a band of a deeper hue extending from
the anterior extremity along the middle of the upper part, about half of its length, and terminating
in a point; the sexual organs are large, glossy, with a septum in the middle, and are
of a very dark, reddish-brown colour.
When immature, the male resembles the female in colour, but in the adult state it differs
from her remarkably; it is smaller, and th'e abdomen, which is of a yellow colour above, has
three bands of a fine red tint extending from its anterior to its posterior extremity, one
situated in the middle and another on each sid e; underneath, it is of a dull-green hue. The
radial joint of the palpi projects a long, pointed, red-brown apophysis from its extremity, in
front; the digital joint is oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the
palpal organs, which are highly developed, of a reddish-brown colour, and are terminated bj
a curved, pointed spine.
This handsome spider is not uncommon in the south of England, and has been captured,
in an immature state, in the woods at Tan y Bwlch, in Merionethshire, by Thomas Glover,
Esq., of Smedley Hill, near Manchester. The great dissimilarity of the sexes, when fully
developed, has caused them to be mistaken for distinct species.