THERIDION. 
187 
Theridion simile. PI. XIV, fig. 119. 
Theridion simile , Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 314. 
Theridium — Koch, Die Arachn., Baud iii, p. 62, tab. 94, fig. 215. 
— — Koch, Die Arachn., Band viii, p. 79, tab. 275, fig. 649. 
Length of the female, T ' 0 th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, „' s th, breadth, l,th; 
breadth of the abdomen, ^th ; length of an anterior leg, |th; length of a leg of the third 
pair, T gth. 
The cephalo-thorax is small, oval, convex, glossy, with furrows on the sides converging 
towards an indentation in the medial line; the falces are conical and vertical; the maxillae are 
obliquely truncated at the extremity, on the outer side, and inclined towards the lip, which is 
semicircular, but somewhat pointed at the apex; and the sternum is heart-shaped, with small 
eminences on the sides, opposite to the legs. These parts are of a red-brown colour, the 
middle and margins of the cephalo-thorax, the sides of the sternum, and the lip, being much 
the darkest. The eyes are disposed on the qnterior part of the cephalo-thorax in two trans¬ 
verse rows ; the four intermediate ones form a square, those of the anterior pair, which are 
seated on a protuberance, being the largest and darkest of the eight; the eyes of each lateral 
pair are placed obliquely on a small tubercle, and are contiguous. The legs are moderately 
long, slender, provided with hairs, and of a brownish-yellow hue, with red-brown annuli, 
particularly at the articulation of the joints; the first pair is the longest, then the fourth, and 
the third, pair is the shortest; each tarsus is terminated by three claws; the two superior 
ones are curved and pectinated, and the inferior one is inflected near its base. The palpi 
resemble the legs in colour, but are without red-brown annuli, with the exception of one faint 
annulus at the extremity of the radial joint, and the digital joint has a small, curved, pectinated 
claw at its termination, which has a brown hue. The abdomen is subglobular, somewhat 
pointed at the spinners, thinly clothed with hairs, and projects over the base of the cephalo- 
thorax ; it is of a yellowish-white colour, minutely freckled with brown ; a whitish, dentated 
band, bounded on each side by a dark-brown band, whose anterior extremity is the broadest, 
extends along the middle of the upper part, and is enlarged in the anterior region in a 
triangular form; this band comprises a narrow, longitudinal, brown band, whose continuity 
is usually interrupted by the base of the triangle; a greatly curved line, of a dark-brown 
colour, extends from the exterior margin of each brancial operculum to a patch of the same 
hue immediately below the spinners; the orifice of the sexual organs, which is nearly circular, 
has a reddish-brown colour, and that of the branchial opercula is red-brown. 
The male bears a strong resemblance to the female, but it is smaller, and darker coloured. 
Its palpi are short; the radial is smaller than the cubital joint, and is somewhat produced at 
the extremity, on the under side; the digital joint has a brownish hue; it is oval, convex 
and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are moderately 
developed, not very complex in structure, with a black process enveloped in membrane at 
their extremity, which is slightly curved outwards, and extends beyond the end of the joint; 
