128 DRASSIDÆ.
claw at their extremity, and resemble the legs in colour. The abdomen is oviform, hairy,
slightly depressed, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of a dark, reddish-
brown hue, the medial line .of the anterior half of the upper part being the darkest; the
spinners are prominent and of a dark-brown colour; and the branchial opercilla have a pale,
red-brown tint.
The sexes differ very little in . colour, but the male is smaller than the female. The
cubital and radial joints of the pplpi are short; the latter has a large apophysis at its
extremity, which tapers to a bifid termination curved in front of the digital joint, a strong,
obtuse process .occurring within the curve, near its base; the digital joint is oval, .convex and
hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are highly developed,
complicated in structure, with a prominent, obtuse, corneous process near their extremity,
and a curved, pointed spine, directed .outwards, extending nearly to the termination of
the joint; their colour is very dark brown.
M. Walckenaer has confounded this, species .with Clubiona amarantha (‘ Hist. Nat. des
Insect. Apt., tom. iv, p. 439), from which it differs in magnitude, in colour, in the relative
size of its eyes, and, as regards the male, in the structure of its palpi and palpal organs. It
commonly occupies a cell of compact white silk, constructed on the inferior surface of leaves
and of lichens growing on the trunks of trees in the woods of North Wales. Though not
particularly active in its general movements, yet it can leap with agility.
Specimens of Clubiona brevipes, taken in Berwickshire, were received from Mr J Hardy
in 1858.
Clubiona comta. PI. VII, fig. 81.
Clubiona xojnta, Koch,..Die Arachn., Band vi, p. 16, tab. 185, fig. 440.
— — Koch, Die Arachn., Band x, p. 129, tab. 358, fig. 841.
Blackw., Annals and Mag^of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii, p. 44.
: — compta, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom, ii, p. 478.
— fucata, Blackw., Linn. Trans., vol. xviii, p. 605.
Length of the female, jjths of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, Atb, breadth, ^,th ;
breadth of the abdomen, nth; length of a posterior leg, 1th; length of a- leg of the third
pair, Jth.
The eyes are seated on black spots, and form two transverse, parallel rows on the anterior
part of the cephalo-thorax, the anterior row, which is the shorter, being situated immediately
above the frontal margin ; the intermediate eyes-of both rows describe a trapezoid whose
shortest side is before, those of the anterior row being the smallest of the eight. The cephalo-
thorax is oval, convex, glossy, and thinly covered with short hairs ; the colour of the anterior
part is reddish-brown, that of-the sides .and posterior part greenish-brown, and a fine, dark-
brown line occurs on the lateral- margins. The falces are powerful, conical, and rather prominent;
the maxillæ are long, straight, enlarged .where the palpi are inserted, and at the
extremity, which is rounded; the lip is longer than broad, and its figure is nearly quadrangular.
These parts are of a reddish-brown colour. The sternum is oval, glossy, and has
small eminences dn the sides, opposite to the legs; it is of a yellowish-brown hue, with dark,
. reddish-brown spots on the lateral margins. The legs are provided with hairs and sessile
spines, a row of the latter occurring on each side o f the inferior surface'of the tibiae and
metatarsi of the first and second pairs, and their colour is yellowish-brown; the fourth pair is
the longest, then the second, and the third pair is rather the shortest; each tarsus is
terminated by two curved, pectinated claws, and below them there is a small scopula. The
short palpi havé a small, curved claw at their extremity, and.their colour is similar to that of
the legs. The abdomen is oviform, hairy, slightly depressed, and projects over the base of
the cephalo-thorax; it is of a yellowish-brown hue, with a dark, reddish-brown band on the
upper part, which extends nearly half of its length from the anterior extremity along the
middle, the interval betw'een the band and the spinners being occupied by a series of triangular
spots of the same colour; On each side of the medial line there is an irregular,
longitudinal, dark, reddish-brown baiid whose continuity is somewhat interrupted; the
margins of the sexual organs and three narrow bands, situated between them and the spinners,
have 0 flark, reddish-brown tin t; and that of the branchial opercula is yellowish-white.
The abdomen of the male is slender and of a dark-brown hue above, with two or three
yellowish-brown lines extending from the anterior part about a third of its length, and between
these lines and the spinners there are two parallel rows of oval spots of the samè'Vdlöur,
which are inclined towards each other and decrease in size as they approach the anus. The
maxillae are very gibbous at the base, and greatly enlarged at the extremity! The cubital
and radial joints of the palpi are short; the. latter is rather the smaller, and has a large, dark-
brown apophysis at its extremity, on the outer side, which is prolonged into a slender, much
curved, finely pointed spine; the digital joint is oval, convex and hairy- externally, concave
within, comprising the palpal organs; these organs, which are moderately developed, have a
spine-like process curved from the inner side round their extremity, and are of a red-brown
colour. In other particulars the male closely resembles the female.'
Clubiona fucata, Blackwall, which * s identical with the Clubiona comta of M. Koch, is
■placed by M. Walckenaer among the synonyma of Clubiona corticalis (‘Hist. Nat. des Insect.
Apt.,’ tom. iv, p. 439); yet it is not only very much smaller than that .species, from which it-
differs decidedly in cdlour and in the relative size of its eyes, but the structure of the palpi
and of the palpal organs also is widely dissimilar in the male.
This rare spider has been taken in the woods of Denbighshire and Caernarvonshire; also
in Middesex, Berwickshire, and in the north of Lancashire. It conceals itself among the
foliage of trees and shrubs in summer, constructing a cell of white silk on the inferior surface
of a leaf, the sides- of which are curved towards it and retained in that position by fine lines
of silk. The male has the palpal organs completely developed in June, and in that month
females may be seen having the abdomen greatly distended with eo-o-s.