D IM E R O SOM A TA .
Order. D IM E R O S OM A T A . Leach.
E P E IR A (N E PH ILA ) MACULATA.
P la te 47.
C l a s s . A r a c h s id a . L am a r c k . A p t e r a p . L in næ u s .
O r d e r . D im e r o som a t a , L ea ch .
F a m il y . A r a n e id je , Lea ch .
G e n u s . E p e ir a , W a lc k en a e r .
S u b -G e n . N e p h il a , L e a c h Z o o l. M is c .
Ci i . S p . E . corpore e lo n g a to , c ep h a lo -th o ra c e h olosericeo a rg en teo , abdomine cylindrico lusco-
rub ro lineis pu n c tisq n e a lb is ; pedibus longissimis a tris. Long. C o rp . 1 | u nc .
E . with th e body e lo n g a ted , c ep h a lo -th o rax holosericeus a n d silvery, abdom en cy-
lin d ric , red-brown with spots a n d lines o f white, legs very long a n d b la ck . Length
o f th e bod y 1 | inches.
S y n . A rane a m a c u la ta , F a b r . E n t . S y s t . 2 . p . 4 2 5 .
This remarkable creature is peculiar to some parts o f the Chinese empire. It is not
the largest o f the genus known ; y e t it is o f sufficient magnitude to ex cite terror and
disgust. To an European, who has seen only the indigenous spiders o f his own country,
a species five or six inches in length, and nearly the same in breadth, must appear a
frightful creature : Epeira Maculata sometimes ex ceeds that size ; but it has not the
forbidding aspect o f most insects o f the same genus. The leg s are unusually long, and
the body slender. In its general appearance it resembles some kinds o f the P h a lan g ia
that are known in England by the vulgar name Harvest-m en , being generally seen about
that time o f the year.
It has been observed, tliat nature oftentimes adorns the most deformed and loathsome
o f her creatures in the richest display o f colours ; and tiiis is e specially noticed in many
sorts o f snakes, toads, lizards, &c. Spiders seem also o f this description : to a form the
most hideous we frequently find united a brilliance o f colours, and elegance o f marking,
that is scarcely ex celled by any o f the butterfly tribe,— the most beautiful o f all lepidop-
terous insects. Our present subject is a striking proof o f the latter part o f this observation.
The three figures in our plate o f Epeira Maculata exhibit a front and a profile
v iew o f the insect, together with the front o f the head at the third figure. The head is
furnished with two very strong black mandibles, each terminated in an extremely acute
point. Tile fore part o f the ceplialo-thorax, which is wholly o f a fine silky appearance,
and the colour o f silver, bending over the mandibles in the form o f an arch, or circular