4-10 CLASS ARACIINIDA. 



Argyroneta, Lair. 



The jaws are inclined on the tongue, the form of which is 

 triangular. The two eyes of each lateral extremity of the 

 ocular group are very much approximated one to another, 

 and placed upon a special eminence. The other four form a 

 quadrilateral figure. Argyroneta (Aranea aquatica, Lin., 

 Geoff., Deg.) is of a blackish brown, with the abdomen deeper, 

 silky, and having on the back four deep points. 



It lives in our stagnant waters, swims there, the abdomen 

 being enclosed in an air-bubble, and forms there, as a retreat, 

 an oval cocoon, filled with air, lined with silk, from which 

 proceed threads, directed on all sides, and attached to the 

 neighbouring plants. There it lies in wait for its prey, fixes 

 its cocoon for the eggs, which it watches assiduously, and 

 encloses itself in it to pass the winter. 



The second section of the sedentary and rectigrade spiders, 

 that of Inequiteles, has the external spinnerets almost 

 conical, projecting but little, convergent, disposed like a rosette, 

 and the feet very slender. Their jaws are inclined on the 

 labrum, and grow narrow, or at least do not sensibly widen, 

 at their posterior extremity. 



The majority have the first pair of feet, and then the fourth 

 the longest. Their abdomen is more voluminous, more soft, 

 and more coloured, than in the preceding tribes. They make 

 webs with an irregular net-work, composed of threads, which 

 cross each other in all directions, and on different planes. 

 They bind their prey with cords, watch carefully over the pre- 

 servation of their eggs, and do not abandon them until they 

 disclose the young. They live but a short time. 



Some have the first pair of feet, and after them the fourth, 

 the longest. Such are 



Seytodes, Latr., 

 Which have but six eyes, disposed in pairs. According to 



