LYCOSA. 
35 
Length of the female, ^ths of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, f 5 ths, breadth, Jth; 
breadth of the abdomen, §th; length of a posterior leg, |; length of a leg of the third 
pair, jjths. 
The intermediate eyes of the anterior row are larger than the lateral ones. The cephalo- 
thorax is glossy, of a yellowish-brown colour, with a broad, longitudinal, brown band on each 
side, and a small bifid one of the same hue in the middle, which terminates at the posterior 
indentation; the lateral margins are supplied with hairs of brilliant whiteness. The falces 
are powerful, conical, armed with teeth on the inner surface, and, with the maxillse, are of a 
red-brown colour, the latter being the paler. The lip is of a dark-brown hue in the middle, 
and has a reddish-brown tint on the sides and at the extremity. The sternum is heart- 
shaped, and of a yellowish-brown colour. The legs are provided with hairs and spines, and 
are of a greenish-brown hue, with the exception of the tarsi, which have a reddish-brown tint; 
the thighs are the palest, and sometimes present a faint appearance of annuli. The palpi 
have a greenish-brown colour, the digital joint excepted, which has a reddish-brown hue. 
The abdomen is hairy, convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax ; the 
colour of the upper part is brown, with a yellowish-brown band in the middle of the anterior 
part, extending more than a third of its length ; the lateral margins of this band are bordered 
by white lines, which pass beyond its extremity, and meet in a point; on each side of the 
posterior part there is a series of brilliantly white spots, both of which converge towards the 
spinners; the sides are thickly mottled with white; and the under part has a pale-brown 
hue; the sexual organs are of a dark, reddish-brown colour; and that of the branchial 
opercula is yellow. 
The sexes are similar in colour; but the male, which is the smaller, has the radial joint 
of the palpi longer than the cubital, and slightly curved downwards; the digital joint has a 
reddish-brown hue; it is oval, convex, and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the 
palpal organs, which are moderately developed, not very complicated in structure, and of a 
dark, reddish-brown colour. 
Lycosa piratica frequents marshes and the margins of pools; it runs rapidly on the 
surface of water, even when encumbered with its cocoon, and frequently takes refuge from 
danger beneath the surface of that liquid, concealing itself among the leaves of aquatic plants, 
the air confined by the circumambient water among the hairs with which it is clothed 
enabling it to remain immersed for a considerable period of time. 
In June the female deposits from eighty to one hundred spherical eggs of a deep-yellow 
colour, in a globular cocoon of compact, white silk, encircled by a narrow zone of a slighter 
texture, which measures about one fifth of an inch in diameter. 
