XV THERIDIIDAE 403 
where it is abruptly truncated or bluntly pointed. The genus 
Lpisinus is widely distributed, and one species, #. truncatus, is 
one of our most peculiar English spiders. It occurs occasionally 
under ledges of grassy or heathery banks. The genus Zomowena 
is an inhabitant of tropical Asia. Janulus is found in the same 
regions, and in tropical America. 
Gi.) The THERIDIONINAE are a large group of spiders, often 
very ornate, and spinning snares of irregular threads running in all 
directions. The abdomen is usually more or less globular. The 
chelicerae are small and weak, and the paturon is transversely 
(not obliquely) truncated for the reception of the small unguis or 
fang. The somewhat long thin legs are almost or entirely 
destitute of spines. 
We may consider certain genera as typical of the various 
groups into which this sub-family naturally falls.  Zheridion is 
the richest genus of the entire order, numbering some 520 
species, of which seventeen inhabit the British Isles. During 
the summer months nearly every bush is studded with the 
irregular webs of these little spiders, generally prettily coloured, 
and with globular abdomen. The commonest is Z’. sisyphium, 
which swarms on holles and other bushes all over the country. 
One of the handsomest is 7. formosum, a rather local species, 
about a sixth of an inch in length, with the abdomen beauti- 
fully marked with oblique lines of white, yellow, red, and black. 
T. tepidariorum, common in conservatories, is like a large and 
plainer edition of 7. formosum. T. ripariwm is remarkable for 
the curious earth-encrusted tube which it forms for the recep- 
tion of its egg-cocoon. 7. bimaculatum may often be seen 
among coarse herbage, holding on to its ridiculously large egg- 
cocoon ; it is a small spider, and the sexes are more than usually 
unlike. 
Latrodectus and Dipoena are associated exotic genera, includ- 
ing some of the largest species of the group. Latrodectus is 
peculiarly interesting on account of the great reputation for 
especially poisonous properties which some of its species have 
acquired. The New Zealand “Katipo” is JL. scelio, while 
L. 13-guttatus enjoys an almost equally evil reputation as the 
“malmignatte” in Corsica. The American species L. mactans 
(Fig. 197, p. 362) is also considered highly venomous. These 
spiders form their irregular webs on low bushes, and it is curious 
