and Systematic Arrangement of British Spiders. 337 



Family Theridiida. 



Genus Theridion, Walck. 



83. Theridion lineatum. 



Theridion lineatum, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. '285. 

 redimitum, Latr. Gen. Crust, et Insect, torn. i. p. 97 ; Hahn, 



Die Arachn. 15. i. p. 86. tab. 21. fig. 65. 



ovatum, Sund. Vet. Acad. Handl. 1831, p. 113. 



Theridium redimitum, Koch, Die Arachn. B. xii. p. 133. tab. 427. 



fig. 1053-1055. 

 Steatoda redimita, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, p. 9. 

 Titulus 12, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 51. 



This common spider, remarkable for its variation in colour, 

 spins among coarse herbage and the stems of shrubs numerous 

 fine glossy lines intersecting one another in different planes and 

 at various angles, which constitute a snare similar in design to 

 the toils constructed by the Theridia generally. It pairs in June, 

 and in July the female deposits about 170 spherical eggs of a 

 yellowish white colour, not agglutinated together, in a globular 

 cocoon of bluish white, blue, or greenish blue silk of a looseish 

 texture, measuring |th of an inch in diameter. The cocoon is 

 inclosed in a slight tissue of white silk connected with the in- 

 ferior surface of the leaves of trees and shrubs, the edges of 

 which are convolved about it and are retained in that position by 

 silken lines. The young remain a long time in this nidus with 

 the female and are supplied by her with food. 



M. Koch, in transferring that variety of Theridion lineatum 

 named redimitum to the genus Steatoda of Prof. Sundevall (Con- 

 spectus Arachnidum, pp. 16, 17), lapsed into an inconsistency 

 which M. Walckenaer has pointed out in his ' Hist. Nat. des 

 Insect. Apt/ t. ii. p. 288, and which he himself has subsequently 

 corrected. 



84. Theridion quadripunctatum. 



Theridion quadripunctatum, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. 



p. 290 ; Hahn, Die Arachn. B. i. p. 78. tab. 20. fig. 58 ; Sund. 



Vet. Acad. Handl. 1831, p. 118. 

 Steatoda quadripunctata, Sund. Consp. Arachn. p. 16, 17. 

 Eucharia bipunctata, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, 



p. 7; Die Arachn. B. xii. p. 99. tab. 418. fig. 1027. 

 Phrurolithus ornatus, Koch, Die Arachn. B.vi. p. 1 14. t. 208. fig. 515. 

 Titulus 11, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 49. t. 1. fig. 11. 



Crevices in walls and rocks, and interstices among stones are 

 the haunts selected by this species, which occurs in many parts 

 of England and Wales. It pairs in May, and in June the female 

 constructs a globular cocoon of yellowish white silk of a loose 

 texture, measuring /^ths of an inch in diameter ; it is usually 



Ann. fy Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2, Vol. viii. 22 



