are seated obliquely on a small tubercle, and are almost contiguous. The abdomen is
oviform, pointed at-the posterior extremity, sparingly clothed-with hairs, glossy, convex
above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of an olive-green colour, and has
a dark, red-brown band, bordered with yellow, extending along the middle of the upper part;
four small depressions, forming a quadrilateral figure, occur on the upper part, and a yellow
line, originating at the anterior pair, passes obliquely along each side to a point below,
the spinners; two parallel lines of the same hue are produced from the branchial opercula,
which have a bright-)rellow tint, to the spinners; the colour of the sexual organs is very dark,
reddish-brown.
The abdomen of the male is smaller than that of the female, but its legs are longer. Its
falces are long, prominent, and somewhat divergent at the extremity. The radial joint
of the palpi is longer and slenderer than the cubital, and has a pointed apophysis at its
extremity, on the outer side, and a very minute one on the inner sid e ; the digital joint has an
oblong-oval form, and. projects from its base, on the outer side, a long, fine, pointed spine
which is curved backwards; it has a reddish-brown hue, is convex and hairy externally, and
concave within, comprising the palpal organs; these organs are moderately' developed,
provided with one or two spine-like processes, and of a brownish-black colour.
Specimens of this handsome species are frequently met with in woods and on commons
in the west of Denbighshire. In July the female constructs a cell of white silk, of a compact
texture, among the stems of gorse, heath, or the leaves of plants, which she curves about it
and secure's an that position by means of silken lines. In this cell she deposits about 140
eggs of a deep-yellow colour, not agglutinated together; they are contained in an exceedingly
delicate tissue of white silk, of a subglobose form, measuring one fourth of an inch in
diameter* which is attached to the surface of the celtlfe The female, after the deposition of her
eggs, does not appear to quit the cell eyen for the purpose of procuring food.
A collection of spiders made by the Rev. Hamlet Clark, in the autumn , of 1842, at
Wappenham, in Northamptonshire, comprised specimens of this species.
Genus ARGYRONETA (Latreille).
Eyes disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse rows; they do
not differ remarkably in size, but the intermediate ones of the anterior row, which are seated
on a minute prominence, are the smallest, and, with those of the posterior row, describe
a trapezoid whose shortest side is before; each lateral pair is placed obliquely on a
tubercle.
M axilla powerful, rounded at the extremity, and inclined towards the lip.
L ip long, triangular, dilated at the base, and rounded at the apex.
Legs robust; the first pair is the longest, then the fourth, the third pair being the
shortest.
Argyroneta aquatica. PI. VIII, fig. 87.
Argyroneta aquatica, Latr., Gen. Crust, et Insect., tom. i, p. 94.
— t-pry,'; Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 378, pi. 22, fig. 4.
----- —- Sund., Vet. Acad. Handl., 1831, p. 131.
— — Hahn,-Die Arachn., Band ii, p. 33, tab. 49, fig. 118.
— — Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 14.
— Koch, Die Arachn., Band viii, p. 60, tab. 269, fig. 636.
— Blackw., Linn. Trans., vol. xix, p. 116.
•?. — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii,
* p. 97.
Length of the female, ^ths of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, 1th, breadth, ^ths;
breadth of the abdomen, 1th ; length of an anterior leg, fths; length of a leg of the third
pair, |,ths.
The eyes constituting each lateral pair are seated obliquely on a tubercle, but are not
contiguous. The cephalo-thorax is glossy, compressed before, convex at the anterior part,
somewhat depressed on the sides, which are marked with furrows converging towards the
middle, and is slightly hairy; the falces are powerful, conical, vertical, divergent at the
extremity, and armed with three teeth on the anterior and two on the posterior side of the
space which receives the fang when in a state of repose ; the maxillæ are strong, and slightly
inclined towards the lip, which is triangular and rounded at the apex ; the sternum is heart-
shaped, and densely covered with long hairs; the legs are amply supplied with hairs, those on
the third and fourth pairs being the longest and most abundant ; each tarsus is terminated by
three claws ; the two superior ones are curved and deeply pectinated, and the inferior one is
inflected near its base ; the palpi are slender, and have a curved, pectinated claw at their
extremity. These parts are of a dark-brown colour, faintly tinged with red; the falces,
maxillæ, lip, and sternum being the darkest. The abdomen is oviform, broader at the
anterior than at the posterior extremity, convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-
thorax ; it is densely covered with hairs, those on the under part being much the longest, and
is of an olive-brown colour ; four minute, circular depressions of .a darker hue, situated on the
upper part, describe a quadrilateral-figure, whose anterior side is the shortest.
In colour the sexes closely resemble each other, but the male is decidedly larger than the
female, and its legs are longer, an anterior one measuring an inch. The humeral joint of the
palpi is curved towards the cephalo-thorax ; the radial joint is longer and rather slenderer
than the cubital ; and the digital joint is long, slender, hairy, convex above, at the base, but
cylindrical and pointed at the extremity; the palpal organs, comprised in a cavity on the
under side of the basal convexity, are neither highly developed nor very complicated in
structure ; they have a fine spine, curved from the inner towards the outer side, near their
extremity, a small, prominent process, inflected at its summit, which is directed from their