17S 
THERIDIIDjE. 
The four intermediate eyes form a square, the two anterior ones, which are the largest 
of the eight, being seated on a protuberance; those constituting each lateral pair are placed 
obliquely on a small tubercle, and are almost contiguous. The cephalo-thorax is convex, 
glossy, slightly compressed before, rounded on the sides, and has an indentation in the medial 
line; it is sparingly supplied with short hairs, and of a dark-brown colour. The falces are 
small, conical, vertical, and armed with a few teeth on the inner surface; the maxillae are 
enlarged where the palpi are inserted, and inclined towards the lip, which is semicircular; 
and the sternum is heart-shaped. These parts have a reddish-brown tint. The legs are 
moderately long, provided with hairs and fine spines, and are of a red-brown hue, with 
brownish-black annuli; the first pair is the longest, then the fourth, and the third pair is the 
shortest; the two superior tarsal claws are curved and pectinated, and the inferior one is 
inflected near its base. The palpi resemble the legs in colour, and have a curved, pectinated 
claw at their extremity. The abdomen is somewhat oviform, rather depressed, glossy, 
sparingly clothed with hairs, and projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; the uppei 
part, which is of a pale-brown colour, is encompassed by a broad, dark-brown band, which 
passes above the spinners; the anterior part of this band comprises a curved, transverse, 
yellowish-white line; an obscure line of the same hue extends along the middle, and a 
transverse, curved, yellowish-white line occurs between the posterior part of the dark-biown 
band and the spinners; a longitudinal series of small circular indentations, two pairs of which 
are more conspicuous than the rest, occurs on each side of the medial line; the sides, below 
the dark-brown band, and the under part have a pale-brown tint; a band of a darkei biown 
colour extends along the middle of the latter, and a line of the same hue encircles the spinners , 
the colour of the branchial opercula is red-brown. 
The white marks on the abdomen of this spider are liable to vary in form, size, and 
number. 
The male is smaller than the female, but it resembles her in colour. The abdomen is 
prominent at its extremity, on the under side, and there is a small transverse fold near its 
middle, which connects the posterior margins of the branchial opercula. The cubital and 
radial joints of the palpi are short and provided with numerous long hairs, the former, which 
is rather the longer, being abruptly inflected near its base ; the digital joint has a dark-brown 
hue, and is somewhat oval, being obliquely truncated on the inner side, towards the extremity ; 
it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are 
highly developed, complicated in structure, with a large crescent-shaped process at their 
extremity, whose longer and more pointed limb extends a little beyond the end of the joint, 
and within the crescent the slender extremity of a long, curved, pointed spine appears; their 
colour is dark, reddish-brown. The convex sides of the digital joints are directed towards 
each other. 
Crevices in walls and rocks, and interstices among stones, are the haunts selected by this 
species, which occurs in many parts of England and Wales. It pairs in May, and in June the 
female constructs a globular cocoon, of yellowish-white silk, of a loose texture, measuring 
three twentieths of an inch in diameter; it is usually attached to objects situated in the 
vicinity of her snare, and contains about fifty spherical eggs of a pinkish colour, not 
agglutinated together. 
A female Theridion quadripundatwm placed in a phial which was closely corked and 
