8576 



Arachnida, 



Theridion congener. 



Female, adult. Length 1 -ninth of an inch. Length of cephalo- 

 thorax 1-twentieth. Relative length of legs, 1, 4, 2, 3. 



Cephalothorax small ; ocular region elevated, prominent, and 

 compressed on the sides forwards." 1 ' Colour deep shining black- 

 brown. The space between the eyes and frontal margin [i. e., 

 the insertion of the falces), is of considerable extent, and slopes 

 much forwards. 



Eyes in two curved rows, forming almost an oval at the extremity 

 of the prominence. The centre ones of the hinder row are 

 closer to each other than each is to the end one on its side. 

 Those of the side pairs are contiguous, and obliquely seated on 

 a strong tubercle. The two centre eyes of the front row are the 

 widest apart and the largest of the eight : these last two are 

 black ; the rest are pearly white. 



Legs short, stout, sparingly clothed with hairs and a few fine spines. 

 Colour pale yellow, blotched and annulated with deep shaded 

 black and yellow-brown, giving much the appearance of tortoise- 

 shell. 



Maxillae rather dilated at the base, longish and almost meeting 

 over the labium, which is pointed : these parts are of a dark 

 brown colour. 



Falces short, strong, and of a deep blackish brown colour. 



Sternum heart-shaped, broad, very convex, and of a deeper colour 

 than the cephalothorax. 



Palpi of moderate length, coloured and annulated like the legs. 



Abdomen large, very like some of the Epeiridae in its form, i. e. 9 

 much broader in front than at the spinners. Upper side yel- 

 lowish, thickly mottled and suffused w r ith yellow-brown, and 

 with numerous black dots and points, forming five or six ob- 

 scurely defined, yellowish, transverse, angulated stripes, the 

 angles directed forwards ; the stripes running quite to the 

 lower margins, where they melt into the clearer yellow of the 

 sides. These stripes contain the principal black spots and 

 points, which are largest, and appear as if run together, at the 

 angle of each stripe. The sides towards the front are black, 

 edged broadly underneath with yellow ; and the part projecting 

 over the cephalothorax is also black, as is the whole of the 

 under side and the part surrounding the spinners. About one- 

 third of the distance between the spinners and the plates of the 



