and Systematic Arrangement of British Spiders. 443 



A complex snare, having somewhat of a pyramidal form, is 

 spun on trees, shrubs, gorse bushes and heath by this common 

 spider, which is widely distributed in Great Britain. It pairs 

 in June, and in July the female constructs a globular cocoon of 

 dull green silk of a loose texture, measuring ^th of an inch in 

 diameter, which includes from 30 to 40 small, yellowish 

 white, spherical eggs, not adherent among themselves. This 

 cocoon is placed under a shallow dome-shaped canopy of silk, 

 about which withered leaves, flowers, and the remains of insects 

 are accumulated ; it is situated among the foliage near the upper 

 part of the snare, and in this nidus the young live amicably 

 together with the female till they are capable of providing for 

 themselves, when they separate. 



Like its congeners, this species envelopes with lines drawn from 

 the spinners by means of the posterior legs such insects as are 

 too powerful for it to attack when first entangled in its toils. 



88. Theridion denticulatum. 



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

 p. 305 ; Blackw. Linn. Trans, vol. xix. p. 124. 



Branches of trees and shrubs trained against buildings, and 

 crevices in rocks and walls are the situations usually occupied by 

 this species. The female, in the month of June or July, attaches 

 to objects near her retreat a globular cocoon of greenish brown 

 silk of a very loose texture, measuring ^th of an inch in diame- 

 ter, in which she deposits from 30 to 60 spherical eggs of a 

 brown colour, not agglutinated together. 



89. Theridion varians. 



Theridion varians, Hahn, Die Arachn. B. i. p. 93. tab. 22. fig. 71, 

 72; Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 314. 



Theridium varians, Koch, Die Arachn. B. xii. p. 134. tab. 428. 

 fig. 1056-1058. 



Theridion varians occurs in localities similar to those frequented 

 by Theridion denticulatum and is a common British spider. It 

 pairs in June, and in July the female constructs several globular 

 cocoons of dull white silk of a very loose texture, the largest of 

 which measures about |th of an inch in diameter; they are 

 attached to objects situated near the upper part of the snare, 

 and contain, according to their size, from 20 to 60 spherical eggs 

 of a yellowish white colour, not adherent among themselves. 

 Withered leaves, dried moss, and particles of indurated earth 

 are generally disposed about the cocoons. 



Of the three figures of Theridion varians, 1056, 1057 and 

 1058, given by M. Koch in the twelfth volume of ' Die Arach- 



