264 F. M. CAMPBELL — SPIDEES OF HODDESDOiSr. 



I never observed a single representative, although Z. errans, Blackw., 

 would be literally swarming on the first-mentioned railings. I was 

 much struck after repeatedly searching, on cloudy days, the field 

 which these latter surrounded, by meeting but rarely with a single 

 specimen. I therefore sent a boy there for two days to catch 

 all the spiders he saw in the grass about the railings, but he 

 returned with none of this species, although his bottles were 

 well filled for the season. The only suggestion I can make is 

 that these spiders were being carried by a southerly wind, when 

 they were intercepted by the iron railings on which they were 

 found, and which run due east and west for about 200 yards on 

 high ground quite open to the south. The field may not have 

 suited them, and in that case they would seek another habitat. 

 The other iron railings are about 40 yards in length, and run 

 almost due north and south, while they are partly sheltered from 

 the latter by timber. I collected a considerable number of L. ollonga, 

 Cambr., and of L. errans, Blackw., which latter were by far the 

 most numerous of the two, and were found a few days befoi'e L. 

 oblonga. The females were abundant before the males were seen, 

 but of L. ohlonga I only met with one male, which is here recorded 

 for the first time. Its palpi, though smaller, are the same as those 

 of L. errans, and, after a careful examination of a long series of 

 females of these two types, I have concluded that they are varieties 

 of the same species, although the very small eyes of Z. ohlonga, 

 besides other characteristics, are calculated in many specimens to 

 lead to an opposite opinion being formed. The apertures of the 

 females, and the spermatheca3, are the same in form. The size and 

 position of the eyes in both types vary considerably. In most 

 specimens of Z. ohlonga the hind central pair of eyes are closer 

 together than each of them is to the lateral eye next to it of the 

 same row, whereas in Z. errans these four eyes are generally equi- 

 distant or nearly so. Yet occasionally there are individuals of each 

 type with the positions interchanged. The interval between the 

 front central eyes is by no means constant, while the cephalothorax 

 varies irrespective of size, as to the breadth of face and other 

 parts, and also as to the curve of the caput. The spines are irre- 

 gular in length. The oblong form of Z. ohlonga is found with the 

 typical eyes of Z. errans, and the more ovate form of Z. errans with 

 the typical eyes of Z. oblonga ; in fact, the differential characters 

 of the two spiders as species gradually merge into one another in 

 a long series of individuals, while Z. incerta, Cambr. (also found 

 on the same railings), appears to be but a step in the scale which 

 joins the two more distinct types. I have therefore united all thz-ee, 

 viz. Limjplua errans, Blackw., Z. ohlonga, Cambr., and Z. incerta, 

 Cambr., under the earlier specific name of Z. errans, Blackw. It 

 would be interesting to know how far in future years the inter- 

 mediate grades of this variable species will disappear, and whether 

 the two more differentiated forms hitherto regarded as Z. errans, 

 Blackw., and Z. ohlonga, Cambr., will develop such characteristics 

 as to render them specifically distinct. 



