THOMISUS. 
87 
joint of the palpi is of a brownish-black hue, being palest at the base, and that of the cubital 
and radial joints is reddish-brown, obscurely marked with dark-brown; a long, brownish- 
black, curved apophysis, which is recurved at the point, projects from the extremity of the 
radial joint, on the outer side, and a crescent-shaped one of a reddish-brown hue is situated 
underneath; the digital joint is oval, of a dark-brown hue, convex and hairy externally, con¬ 
cave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are highly developed, complicated in structure, 
with a black spine curved round their extremity, and are of a reddish-brown colour. The 
abdomen is of a dark-brown hue, obscurely tinged with reddish-brown ; the sides are mottled 
with yellowish-white, and the branchial opercula have a dark, reddish-brown tint. 
A male of this spider, with its palpal organs fully developed, was discovered in an out¬ 
building at Oakland, in June, 1845; and in the spring of 1850 an adult female was received 
from Miss Ellen Clayton, who captured it in Dorsetshire. Another female, having the ground¬ 
colour of its abdomen yellowish-red, was taken early in 1851, at Bradford, in Yorkshire, by 
Mr. R. H. Meade. 
In June, 1852, a female Thomisus incertus, confined in a phial, fabricated a lenticular 
cocoon of white silk, of a compact texture, which she attached to the glass. This cocoon 
measured one fourth of an inch in diameter, and contained twenty whitish eggs of a spherical 
form, not adherent among themselves. 
Thomisus claveatus. PI. IV, fig. 52. 
Thomisus claveatus, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. i, p. 510. 
Length of the female, B th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, T gth, breadth, T ‘ B th ’ 
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of a leg of the second pair, B th ; length of a leg of 
the third pair, T ',th. 
The eyes are disposed on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two transverse, 
curved rows, forming a crescent whose convex side is before ; the lateral eyes, which are 
seated on a slight protuberance, and are wide apart, are larger than the intermediate ones, 
those of the anterior row being much the largest of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is small, 
convex, rugose, compressed before, rounded on the sides, abruptly depressed at the base, and 
is supplied with short, strong hairs enlarged at their extremity, which abound most in the 
medial line and in front, and' is of a dark-brown colour, tinged w T it,h red; a broad, dull, red- 
brown band extends along the middle, and the lateral margins have a yellowish-white hue. 
The falces are short, cuneiform, and vertical; the maxillae are pointed at the extremity, and 
strongly inclined towards the lip, which is triangular; and the sternum is heart-shaped. 
These parts have a yellowish-brown colour, the falces and lip being the darkest. The legs 
are provided with hairs and spines, two parallel rows of the latter extending along the inferior 
surface of the tibiae and metatarsi of the first and second pairs, which are longer and more 
robust than the third and fourth pairs; the second pair is slightly longer than the first, and 
the third pair is rather the shortest; they have a brown hue intermixed with yellowish- 
