THOMISUS. 
69 
the maxillae and lip being much the darkest. The eyes are disposed on the anterior part of 
the cephalo-thorax in the form of a crescent; the lateral eyes, which are seated on tubercles, 
are larger than the intermediate ones, those of the anterior row being the largest of the eight. 
1 he abdomen is depressed, corrugated, particularly on the sides, and has black hairs sparingly 
distributed over its surface; it is broader at the posterior than at the anterior extremity, the 
latter, which appears as if cut in a straight line across, projecting over the base of the cephalo- 
thorax ; the upper part is of a dark-brown colour, and is marked with five circular 
depressions; the three anterior ones are disposed in a triangle, whose vertex is directed 
forwaids, and the other two are situated parallel to its base; a large, strongly dentated, 
yellowish-brown band extends along the middle, and the sides and under part have a yellowish- 
brown hue, the former being shaded with darker brown; the branchial opercula are of a 
dark-brown colour, bordered with yellow on the inner margin; and the sexual organs have a 
longitudinal, red-brown septum in the middle. 
The figures designed on the cephalo-thorax and on the upper part of the abdomen are 
nearly alike in both sexes, and the relative length of their legs is the same, but the male is 
much smaller and darker coloured than the female. Its abdomen is of a very dark-brown 
hue above, inclining to black, and is surrounded by a band of pale, yellowish-white; the 
broad, dentated band extending along the middle is of a yellow-brown colour, mottled with 
dark-brown; the sides and under part are of a dark-brown hue, and the branchial opercula 
have a reddish-brown tint. The colour of the tarsi, metatarsi, and the greater part of the 
tibiae of the first and second pairs of legs, is pale, yellowish-brown; the other parts of those 
limbs have a brown-black hue, and the anterior side of the femora of the first pair of legs is 
supplied with strong, black spines; the prevailing hue of the third and fourth pairs of legs is 
pale, yellowish-brown, but the tibiae are marked with dark-brown, and the femora are of a 
dark-brown colour, obscurely marked with yellowish-brown. The palpi are short, and of a 
brown hue, tinged with red, the cubital, radial, and digital joints being much the palest; the 
radial joint projects two strong apophyses from its extremity, one on the outer side, and the 
other, which is larger, more prominent and obtuse, on the under side; the digital joint is 
oval, with a slender, prominent process on the outer side, against the base of which the 
extremity of the smaller apophysis projected by the radial joint applies; it is convex and 
baity externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs; these organs are highly 
developed, complicated in structure, with a strong, black spine curved round their extremity, 
and terminating in a point in the slender process on the outer side of the digital joint; near 
their middle there is a black, curved, prominent spine, which has a conical point on its 
con\exity, and a curved, pointed, projecting process is situated at their superior part, on the 
inner side, at the base of which there is a very acute, erect point; their colour is dark-brown, 
faintly tinged with red. 
The varieties of Tkomisus cnstatus, caused by differences in age, condition, and other 
circumstances, are very numerous, and many of them have been mistaken for distinct species. 
This common spider occurs on the ground and among the herbage of old pastures; in form 
and gait it bears some similitude to a small crab, moving in a lateral direction almost with as 
great facility as it does forwards; it is remarkable also for its propensity to take aerial 
excursions, particularly when immature. In July the female constructs a lenticular cocoon, of 
white silk, of a compact texture, measuring about one third of an inch in diameter, which is 
