86 
THOMISIDtE. 
Thomisus incertus. PI. IV, fig. 51. 
Thomisus incertus, Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xviii, p. 297. 
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol, vii, 
p. 451. 
Length of the female, J^ths of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^th; 
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of an anterior leg, f B ths; length of a leg of the third 
pair, fith. 
The legs are robust, provided with hairs and spines, and are of a pale, reddish-brown 
colour, with annuli and spots of a dark-brown hue; the first and second pairs are equal in 
length, the latter extending a little wider in consequence of being articulated to a broader part 
of the cephalo-thorax, and the fourth pair is rather longer than the third; each tarsus is 
terminated by two curved, pectinated claws. The palpi, which are short, resemble the legs 
in colour, and have a curved, pectinated claw at their extremity. The eyes are disposed in 
the form of a crescent on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax; 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. The cephalo-thorax is compressed before, rounded on the sides, 
truncated in front, and abruptly depressed in the posterior region; on each side there is a 
broad, dark-brown band comprising several irregular, red-brown marks; the medial line is of 
a red-brown colour, and the lateral margins are whitish. The falces are short, subconical, 
vertical, and of a dark-brown hue, tinged with red, especially near the base, in front. The 
maxillm are enlarged where the palpi are inserted, and convex near the base ; and the lip is 
triangular. These parts are of a red-brown colour, the base of the lip being much the 
darkest. The sternum is heart-shaped, and has three or four dark-brown spots on each side, 
and a streak of the same hue extending from its posterior extremity to the middle. The 
abdomen is depressed, sparingly supplied with short, strong hairs, broader at the posterior 
than at the anterior extremity, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; its colour is 
dull, yellowish-brown, with oblique, brownish-black bars on each side of the medial line, 
whose length and distance from each other diminish as they approach the spinners; a 
yellowish-brown band, which tapers to a point at its posterior extremity, extends along the 
middle, and includes two obscure, parallel, browmish-black lines in its broad, anterior part; 
the sides and under part are spotted with brownish-black, the former the more densely, and 
the sexual organs have a reddish-brown hue. 
The sexes differ in various particulars. The male is smaller than the female, and the 
femora of its anterior pair of legs are black, faintly tinged with red on the sides and under 
part; the other joints of these limbs have a pale, reddish-brown hue, with a few dark spots on 
the sides of the genua and the base of the tibiae ; the second pair of legs resembles the first 
pair, except that the base of the femora is of a pale, reddish-brown colour; the third and 
fourth pairs have a pale, reddish-brown tint, with a few brownish-black annuli. The humeral 
