163 



are : eight eyes, forming two parallel lines, the upper being 

 curved and longer. Lip wider in the middle, cut straight at its 

 extremity. Maxillas inserted upright, not bent on the lip. 

 Corselet nearly as large as the abdomen. The first pair of legs 

 the longest, the fourth next, then the second, and the third the 

 shortest. 



Manners. Spiders forming an liorizontal web, with a cylin- 

 drical tube, in the form of a funnel. 



This is sufficient to characterise the genus, containing the dif- 

 ferent species of spiders which inhabit cellars and dark places. 

 The species that makes its web in the fields, on bnshes, does not 

 belong to the same genus ; it has been properly separated from 

 it by Walckenaer. The last pair of legs is the longest in this, 

 and the eyes differ essentially in their situation. There is 

 another species, very common in Carolina, which, however, I 

 have not yet observed here, making a Aveb nearly similar to this, 

 but very different in all its generic characters ; it ought not to 

 be taken for the other : I intend publishing a description of the 

 genus Aranea, in which this will form a separate section. But 

 the characters which I have given are sufficient to ascertain 

 whether a spider belongs to the genus Tegeneria, so that with 

 some attention, no mistake will occur. 



The species which I am treating of, is of a black colour, in- 

 clining to blue ; the abdomen is marked with about ten livid 

 pale spots, and a line toward its anterior extremity : I have seen 

 specimens where the legs were marked with black spots. I think 

 it necessary to remark here, that spiders of the same species liv- 

 ing in dark places, vary greatly in their colours, according to 

 the manner in which the light strikes upon them. The great 

 point in this case I think, is to ascertain the genus, for it appears 

 that the web of all species belonging to it has the same virtues, 

 and this is distinct from the Aranea domestica, whose web has 

 been used in Europe : we see an illustration of this in the genus 

 Meloe, where every species possesses more or less the blistering 

 power. 



