On EUROPEAN SPIDERS. 47 
Ordo ARANEE. 
Sub-ordo I. ORBITELARLE. 
Syn.: Vide infra sub Fam. Epeiroide. 
The European spiders belonging to this sub-order, which comprises 
only one family, the Zpeiroide, are, as is known, most easily distinguished 
from their nearest relations, the Retitelarie, by a very low, not transversally 
impressed forehead, where the distance between the margin of the clypeus 
and the intermediate of the anterior eyes is less, or at any rate not greater, 
than that between the anterior and posterior intermediate eyes (except in 
the case of some males with a strongly projecting forehead); in the Retite- 
lariæ on the contrary (with the exception of Tapinopa) the former distance 
is greater than the latter. They all have three strong, genuine claws on 
the tarsi, of which the two superior are pectinated, and the inferior armed 
with two close and (except in the case of Hyptiotes) blunt comb-teeth; in 
Uloborus and Cyrtophora conica alone I have observed on that claw only one 
well developed tooth. Moreover the extremity of the tarsus is always previded 
with two or more accessory (or auxiliary) claws. The palpus-claw in the 
female is always well developed, pectinated or serrated. The first pair of 
legs is longer than the others, except in Cercidia (Cerceis MENGE). The 
spinners are short, the superior and inferior about equal in length. 
Fam. I. EPEIROIDAE. 
Syn.: 1817. "Orbiteles" LaTR. in Cuvier, Règne Anim., R. III, p. 86. 
1823. Retiariæ SUND., Gen. Aran. Suec., p. 15. 
1825. Orbitele Larr., Fam. Nat. du Règne Anim., p. 315. 
1833. Epeirides SUND., Consp. Arachn., p. 13. 
1833. Araneæ Orbitelariæ Perry, Delect. Anim. Art. Bras.. p. 193. 
1850. Epeirides C. Kock+Mithraides, Uebers. d. Arachn.-Syst., 5, p. 8 et 15. rp. 
In this family we include all the spiders already reckoned as be- 
longing to it by LATREILLE, who called the family Orbitele, and by SUN- 
DEVALL, who introduced the appellation Æpeirides, accordingly all those 
that spin regular, so-called "geometrical" webs. Amongst C. Kocn’s spider- 
families, besides his Æpeirides, the Mithraides, including the genera Poltys 
and Mithras (Hyptiotes- WALCK.), belong to this family. That Poltys C. Koch 
