PULMONARIA. 



4GI 





TclrnijiiatUx. Lnfr., has the eyes ;in'an,:;eil, four ami four, in two lines nearly paralli'l, and separated by 

 nearly equal intervals ; the niaxilke lonf?, narrow, and dilated only at the upper eml, and the chelicerffi are very 

 lon^, especially in the males : the web is vertical — T. ecetcnsa, V^alck., Linn. 



Epcira, \Valck., has the two eyes on each side close to^^ether, and tlie four uiiddlu ones fonnin;? a square. The 

 iruixilke are dilated from the base, and form a rounded palette. E. cucurbUiiia is the only known species of which 

 the web is horizontal ; that of all the others is vertical or inclined. 



Some species place themselves in the centre with the head downwards ; the others make in its vicinity a small 

 cell, either arched over, sometimes in the form of a silken tube, and sometimes composed of leaves broufjht tog'ether 

 and attached by threads, or opened above like a bird's nest. The webs of some exotic species are composed of 

 threads sutticiently stroni^- to catch small birds, and even to annoy man when he may happen to come into contact 

 with them. The ^'^^ case is f^enerally i^lobular, but that of some species is of an oval Ijgure truncated at one end, or 

 rescmbliuf,^ a very short cone. The natives of New Holland ( To v(?^e a la recherche de La Perouxc, i). 230) and of some 

 of the South Sea Islands, when in want of other food, devour a species of Epeira, early allied to E. esuriens, Fabr. 

 M. Walckenaer mentions sixty-four si)ccies of Epeira, g"enerally remarkable for the variety of their colours, 

 forms, and habits. He has distributed them into various small and very natural families., of which we have endea- 

 voured to simplify the study m the 2nd edition of the Nuitv. Diet. cVHiai. Nat., article Epeira. ^'arious important 

 considerations, however, such as the characters of the sexual org'ans, have been neglected or not surliciently 

 studied. The must intere:;tin;;- species are 



Ejn-ira diaiJcma, Liu. — This is of a larj;-e size, m ith the 

 abdomen marked \vith a triple cross formed of small 



^^^ -v , -v . ■ spots; it is very abundant in autumn. The e^i^s 



/ / '^i^y ^/// \\\ N V'/.^^X. / — )v^V\ V'\\ \ \ '^' [^vhich the parent deposits at the commencement of the 



' ' ' weather, in anj^les of the ceilings of rooms, passages, 

 &c. near gardens, enveloping them with a loose white 

 silken web] are hatched in the spring of the fuUowiug 

 year. 



E. veniricom, De Geer, has the abdomen flattened, of a 

 greyish-brown or obscure yellowish colour, with a black 

 band margined with grey down the middle of the back, 

 and eight or ten impressed dots. It spins its web against 

 walls or other bodies, and hides itself in a nest uf white 

 silk, which it constructs beneath some ]ironniience, or 

 in some cavity iii tlie neighbourhood of its web. It 

 neither works nor feeds except during the night, or when 

 there is but little day-light. 



E. fasciala, Walck., has the thorax covered with a thin silvery pubescence ; the abdomen is of a fine yellow with 

 b!ack transverse lines. Its cocoon is about an inch long, and resembles a small balloon ; of a grey colour, with 

 longitudinal black ribs, with one of the extremities truncated, and closed by a flat silken lid. The interior exhibits 

 a very fine down, which envelopes the eggs. This species is found at the edges of running water, where it spins 

 a vertical web, of a very regular construction, in the centre of wdiich it stations itself. IM. Dufour has given a very 

 detailed account of this species, and of its habits, {Ann. Set. Phijuiq. torn, vi.,) and has for the lirst time described 

 the male, [which is exceedingly small, compared with the feniale.] [The egg cocoon of this species is described 

 and figured in the Field Natiiranxfs Maiiazinc, vol. ii. ji. 57.] 



Epeira cueiirbii ilia, Lin., A. scnoculuta, Fabr., spins its web of small extent in a horizontal position, amongst 

 the stems and leaves of plants. 



Ejieira opunti(£, Dufour, constantly stations itself amongst the leaves of the agave and opuntia in Catalonia and 

 V.alenciain Spain, .wliere it constructs i(s net with loose and irregular meshes. Its cocoons are oval and of a whitish 

 coloxrr, composed of two coats, the interior of which envelopes the eggs. 



Amongst the exotic species some are very remarkable. Some of them have the abdomen cased with a very solid 

 skin, armed points, or Imrny spines, (.i. militaris, spinosa, hexacantha, ietracantha,&ic., Fabr.: E. cicrviea/idaj 

 Vauthier, (Ann. fki. Xaf. tuin. i.) has the abdomen dilated behind and armed with two extremely long, curved, 

 slender spines. These spined species ought to form a distinct subgenus, [Ga^-teraea/ifha, Latr., in Coins 

 d^Eii.tnmolo;iie'\. 



Other exotic species of Epeira have bundles of hairs upon the legs, {A. pUipes, clacipcs, Fabr.) Dr. Leach fonns 

 his genus Ncphi^a with one of these species, named X ni'ieulafa. 



We now pass to Spiders, sedentary like the preceding, but -which are able to walk sideways, back- 

 wards, forwards — in fact, in any direction. These form the section of tlie Laterigrades. The four 

 fore-legs arc always longer than the others ; sometimes the second pair exceeds the first, Ijut some- 

 times they are equal to them ; the animal stretches them out, tliroughout their entire length, upon the 

 surface upon which it is stationed. The cheliccrce are generally small, and their hook is folded 

 transversely, as in (he four preceding tribc^ ; the eyes are always eight in number, often very unequal, 

 a;i(l form, liy tlicir union, a segment of a circle or crescent ; the two lateral posterior ones are placed 

 further backwards and nearer to the sides of the thorax than the others. The maxilhc are in a great 



. ;iO.— Epii 



