468 Mr. J. Blackwall on the Structure, Functions, (Economy, 



however, very decidedly in structure and colour, no doubt they 

 are perfectly distinct. 



182. Pachygnatha Degeerii. 



Pachygnatha Begeerii, Sund. Vet. Acad. Handl. 1829, p. 211, & 

 1832, p. 259; Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Syst. erstes Heft, 

 p. 10 ; Die Arachn. B. xii. p. 143. tab. 430. fig. 1065. 



Linyphia Begeerii, Walck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 269. 



Theridion vernale, Hahn, Die Arachn. B. ii. p. 38. tab. 53. fig. 123. 



Manduculus vernalis, Blackw. Linn. Trans, vol. xix. p. 125. 



In autumn, adult males and females of this species may 

 frequently be seen running on the ground in various parts of 

 Lancashire and Denbighshire. A collection of spiders received 

 from Charles C. Babington, Esq., M.A., in 1840, and another 

 transmitted to me from Northamptonshire by the Rev. Hamlet 

 Clark in 1842, contained specimens of Pachygnatha Degeerii ; it 

 is found in Scotland also, Mr. J. Hardy having taken both sexes 

 in Berwickshire in the spring of 1849. 



Family Epeirida. 

 Genus Epeira, Walck. 

 183. Epeira quadrata. 



Epeira quadrata,^ alck. Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. t. ii. p. 56 ; Sund, 

 Vet. Acad. Handl. 1832, p. 239 ; Koch, Die Arachn. B. v. p. 66. 

 tab. 162. fig. 381, 382. 



Titulus 8, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran. p. 42. tab. 1. fig. 8. 



This large and handsome Epeira appears to prefer wild un- 

 cultivated districts, and is not uncommon in many parts of 

 England and Wales. It pairs in autumn, and in October the 

 female attaches to the stems of heath or gorse a subglobose cocoon 

 composed of coarse yellow silk of a looseish texture, measuring 

 T 7 n ths of an inch in diameter, which sometimes comprises between 

 900 and 1000 spherical eggs of a yellow colour, agglutinated 

 together in a lenticular form. In constructing the cocoon the 

 female presses her spinners against the mass of eggs and attaches 

 a compound line to it, then drawing out the line by elevating 

 the body, she again applies the spinners to the eggs and cements 

 the line to them in the form of a small loop ; this operation is 

 continued (the lines being united to each other when the eggs 

 are covered) till the cocoon is completed, and, as it consists of a 

 congeries of short silken loops, it cannot be otherwise than loose 

 in texture. 



The snare of this spicier has the appearance of being con- 

 structed with geometrical precision, and is similar in design to 



