and Sijstematlc Arrangement of British Spiders. 261 



On the 12th of September 1838, a minute black insect of the 

 family Ichneumonida came out of a cocoon belonging to this spe- 

 cies, which 1 had placed in a phial. 



Differences in size, colour, habits and haunts serve to distin- 

 guish Lycosa obscura from Lycosa paludicola, though their spe- 

 cific identity is assumed by M. Walckenaer (Hist. Nat. des Insect. 

 Apt. tom. iv. p. 396). 



11. Lycosa exigua. 



Lycosa exigxua, Blackw. Lend, and Edinb. Phil. Mag., Third Series, 

 vol. viii. p. 490, 



Heaths and pastures are the localities most frequented by this 

 spider, which is found in such situations in many parts of Great 

 Britain. In June the female constructs a lenticular cocoon of 

 compact yellowish or greenish brown silk, encircled by a whitish 

 zone of a slighter texture ; it measures \ih. of an inch in diameter, 

 and contains between fifty and sixty yellowish white eggs of a 

 spherical figure, not agglutinated together. This cocoon is always 

 connected with the spinners of the female, and the young on 

 quitting it attach themselves to her body. 



Both immature and adult individuals of this species, which is 

 nearly allied to the Lycosa {Pardosa) monticola of M. Koch (Die 

 Arachn. Band xv. p. 42. tab. 515. fig. 1445-1447, and tab. 516. 

 fig. 1448, 1449), employ their silken lines to effect aerial excur- 

 sions, ascending currents of rarefied air frequently acting on the 

 lines with sufficient force to raise the adventurous aeronauts into 

 the atmosphere. Preparatory to making an ascent, the spinners 

 are brought into close contact, and viscid matter is emitted from 

 the papillae or spinning tubes ; they are then separated by a 

 lateral motion, which extends the viscid matter into fine filaments 

 connecting the papillae; against these filaments the ascending 

 current of air impinges, drawing them out to a length which is 

 regulated by the will of the animal ; and on the spinners being 

 again brought together, the filaments coalesce and form a com- 

 pound line. 



12. Lycosa pallida. 



Lycosa pallida, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. tom. i. p. 334 ; 



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

 Lycosa {Leimonia) Wagleri, Koch, Die Arachn. Band xv. p. 19. 



tab. 509. fig. 1427. 



This is a common spider on the banks of rivers in Denbigh- 

 shire and Caernarvonshire. It pairs in May, and in June the 

 . female deposits about sixty pale yellow eggs of a spherical figure, 

 not agglutinated together, in a lenticular cocoon of dull green or 

 yellowish brown silK of a compact texture, measuring ith of an 

 inch in diameter, which is connected with her spinners ; the 



