260 Mr. J. Blackwall un the Structure, Functions, (Economij, 



9. Lycosa lugubris. 



Lycosa lugubris, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. torn. i. p. 329 ; 



Blackw. Linn. Trans, vol. xix. p. 119. 



sylvicola, Sund. Vet. Acad. Handl. 1832, p. 176. 



sylvicuUrix,'K.oc\'D\eKx&c\\vi. B. iii. p. 25. tab. 82. fig.182,183. 



{Pardosd) alaeris, Koch, Die Arachn. Band xv. p. 39. tab. 514. 



fig. 1443, 1444. 



The description of Lycosa lugubris, given by M. Walckenaer, 

 is applicable to the male only, which differs greatly from the 

 female in size and colour. Among the synonyma of this species 

 he has included the Lycosa nwidiana of M. Hahn (Die Arachn. 

 Band i. p. 20. tab. 5. fig. 16), a spider decidedly superior in size 

 and unlike it in colour, and has placed the Lycosa sylvicultrix of 

 M. Koch, which is identical with Lycosa lugubris, among the sy- 

 nonyma of Lycosa vorax (Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. i. p. 313). 



In the description given by M. Koch of the male oi Lycosa 

 alaeris {Lycosa lugubris) the following passage occurs : — " Fress- 

 zangen, Brust und Spiunwarzen sind schwavz, ebenso die Taster, 

 vom auf dem Kiicken des Eudgliedes aber befindet sich ein 

 schoner rother Fleck" (Die Arachn. Band xv. p. 41). Now, 

 though I have seen several thousand males of this species, not 

 one having a red spot on the digital joint of the palpi has ever 

 come under my observation. 



Lycosa lugubris abounds in the woods of Denbighshire and 

 Caernarvonshire. The sexes pair in April and May, and in the 

 latter month the female deposits about fifty spherical eggs of a 

 pale yellow colour, not agglutinated together, in a cocoon of a 

 lenticular form and compact texture, composed of silk of a dull 

 greenish or yellowish brown hue, and measuring yth of an inch 

 in diameter ; it is encircled by a whitish zone of a slight texture, 

 and is connected with the spinners by short silken lines. When 

 the young desert the cocoon they climb upon the body of the 

 female. 



10. Lycosa obscura. 



Lycosa obscura, Blackw. Linn. Trans, vol. xviii. p. 611. 



In autumn, females of this species may be seen among short 

 grass and heath in pastures and on commons in various parts of 

 England, Wales and Scotland, with their cocoons attached to their 

 spinners. The cocoon is lenticular, and measures ith of an inch 

 in diameter ; it is constructed of compact pale brown or duU 

 greenish brown silk, is surrounded by a narrow whitish zone of 

 a slight texture, and contains about twenty-five spherical eggs of 

 a yellow colour, which are not agglutinated together. On aban- 

 doning the cocoon the young distribute themselves upon the body 

 of their parent. 



