176 
THERIDIID7E. 
Theridion lineatum. PI. XIII, fig. 111. 
Theridion lineatum, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 285. 
■— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii, 
p. 337. 
redimitum , Latr., Gen. Crust, et Insect., tom. i, p. 97. 
— — Halm, Die Arachn., Band i, p. 86, tab. 21, fig. 65. 
ovatum, Sund., Vet. Acad. Handl., 1831, p. 113. 
Theridium redimitum, Koch, Die Arachn., Band xii, p. 133, tab. 427, figs. 1053— 
1055. 
Steatoda redimita, Koch, Uebers. des Arachn. Svst., erstes Heft, p. 9. 
Titulus 12, Lister, Hist. Animal. Angl. De Aran., p. 51. 
Length of the female, jth of an inch; length of the cephaio-thorax, Ath, breadth, -^th; 
breadth of the abdomen, All; length of an anterior leg, # 5 ths; length of a leg of the third 
pair, 4th. 
The eyes are seated on black spots; four, which are intermediate, form a square, the 
two anterior ones being rather the smallest of the eight, and those constituting each lateral 
pair are placed on a tubercle and are almost contiguous. The cephaio-thorax is convex, 
glossy, compressed before, rounded on the sides, and has a large indentation in the medial 
line; the falces are conical, vertical, and armed with a few teeth on the inner surface; the 
maxillae are inclined towards the lip, which is semicircular; and the sternum is heart-shaped; 
the legs are long and slender; the first pair is the longest, then the fourth, and the third pair 
is the shortest. These parts, with the palpi, which are short, are of a pale-yellowish colour, 
faintly tinged with green; the cephaio-thorax has fine, black, lateral margins, and a dark, 
obscure band extending along the middle; the sternum also has fine, black, lateral margins, 
and a medial line of the same hue; and the anterior legs have a black annulus at the 
extremity of the tibia. The two superior tarsal claws are curved and pectinated, and the 
inferior one is inflected near its base. Each palpus has a curved, pectinated claw at its 
extremity. The abdomen is subglobose, glossy, sparingly supplied with hairs, very convex 
above, and projects over the base of the cephaio-thorax; it is of a pale, yellowish-white 
colour, with a dark, ramified line extending along the middle of the upper part, and two rows 
of small, black, indented spots on each side, which converge to the spinners, the outer row 
being usually the more conspicuous; two black spots occur on each side of the spinners, and 
a broad black band occupies the middle of the under part; the sexual organs, which are 
small, have a dark, reddish-brown hue; and the colour of the branchial opercula is yellow, 
their posterior margin having a reddish-brown tint. 
Two handsome varieties of Theridion lineatum have been described by arachnologists as 
distinct species. One, Theridion redimitum , has a line of a carmine hue on the upper part of 
the abdomen, which describes a large oval; and the other, Theridion ovatum, has the entire 
oval space of a carmine colour. 
