229 



LINYPHIA PELTATA. 



Linyphia peltata, Wid., Mus. Senck., p. 250, Taf. xvii., fig. 7. 

 „ rubea, Blaclcw., Spid. Great Brit, and Irel., p. 217, 

 pi. xv., fig. 143. 



The male moasures about l-8th of an inch in length. 



Tho cephalo-thorax is of a yellowish-brown colour ; the caput 

 strongly tinged with a darker hue. The ocular rogion is slightly 

 prominent, but the caput is not raised above the thorax. The 

 legs are long, and slondor, and the spines are rather short and 

 fine. The palpi are short, and of tho same colour as the legs ', 

 tho radial joint is stronger than tho cubital, and each has a long, 

 strong bristle at the fore-extremity on tho uppor eido. Tho 

 digital joint is rather small, and the palpal organs are prominent 

 and complex, with various corneous processes. 



The falces of the male are moderately long, tolerably strong, 

 and a little divergent. 



Tho abdomen of the femalo is of the ordinary form, and has 

 on tho upper side a broad, dontated, slightly purplish-brown, 

 longitudinal, central, brown band ; one of the latoral indenta- 

 tions of this band (a little way behind tho middle) is much 

 deepor than the rest, some of which are often almost obsolete ; 

 the rest of the upper part, and che sides, are whito, with a broad, 

 rather irregular, lateral, longitudinal, brown band ; the 

 under side is brown, strongly tinged with j'ellow a little way in 

 front of tho genital aperture, and on each side of the hinder 

 extremity is a short, porpendicular, dark-brown, stoutish streak. 

 The central band on tho uppor sido frequently has a series of 

 whito, indistinctly angular, bars along the middle. 



The abdomen of the malo is of a sub-cylindrical form, and is 

 gonerally darker than that of the femalo ; but its colours and 

 markings are similar, though the sides are almost covered by tho 

 longitudinal, lateral, brown stripe. 



This spider is nearly allied to the foregoing, but is much 

 smaller, and the male has not the highly developed falces of that 

 species, nor has tho cephalo-thorax any central furcated brown 



