THERIDION. 
191 
developed, are of a red-brown colour, and that of the branchial opercula is pale, brownish- 
yellow. 
The male is slenderer, darker coloured, and has much longer legs than the female. The 
cubital and radial joints of its palpi are short, and the latter is produced at its extremity, on 
the outer side, where there are a few long hairs; the digital joint is oval, and is tinged with 
brown ; it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which 
are neither highly developed nor very complex in structure; they have a short, dark-brown 
process at their extremity, which is in contact with some prominent, semi-transparent membrane 
on the outer side, and their colour is red-brown. 
Numerous specimens of Theridion tinctum were taken by the Rev. O. P. Cambridge, in 
the summer of 1860, in uninhabited rooms in Dorsetshire. This species, though very closely 
connected with Theridion varians, Theridion denticulatum, and Theridion simile, by relations of 
affinity, yet may be distinguished from them by the greater length of its legs, and particularly 
by those of the second pair surpassing those of the posterior pair, a character which approxi¬ 
mates it to the spiders of the genus Linyphia. 
Theridion pulchellum. PI. XIV, fig. 122. 
Theridion pulcliellum, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 311. 
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii, 
p. 444. 
— formosum, Blackw., Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag., third series, vol. x, 
p. 101. 
Theridium vittatum, Koch, Die Arachn., Band hi, p. 65, tab. 94, fig. 217. 
— — Koch, Die Arachn., Band iv, p. 118, tab. 141, fig. 326. 
Length of the female, |th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, T ' B th, breadth, ^th; 
breadth of the abdomen, ,’ 5 th; length of an anterior leg, rf ? ths ; length of a leg of the third 
pair, jth. 
The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, glossy, and has a large indentation in the medial 
line; it is of a yellowish-brown colour, tinged with green ; a broad, black band extends along 
the middle, and a fine line of the same hue occurs on the margins. The falces are conical, 
vertical, and armed with a few teeth on the inner surface, near their extremity; the maxillae 
are inclined towards the lip, which is nearly semicircular. These parts are of a reddish- 
brown hue, the lip being black at the base. The sternum is heart-shaped, with small 
prominences on the sides, opposite to the legs; it has a yellowish-brown tint in the middle, 
and broad, black, lateral margins, which meet at its posterior extremity. The legs are long, 
provided with hairs, and of a yellowish-brown colour, with reddish-brown annuli; the first 
pair is the longest, the fourth pair rather surpasses the second, 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, and have a curved, pectinated claw at their extremity. The eyes are nearly equal in 
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