THERIDION. 
201 
Theridion flavo-maculatum. PI. XIV, fig. 132. 
Theridion flavo-maculatum, Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, 
yol. xi, p. 118. 
Micryphantes flavo-maculatus, Koch, Die Araclm., Band iii, p. 67, tab. 95, fig. 220. 
Length of the male, |th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, T \th, breadth, ~th; 
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of a posterior leg, Ith; length of a leg of the third 
pair, gth. 
The legs are short, moderately hairy, and of a light, reddish-brown colour, with the 
exception of the tarsi, which have a dark-brown tint; the fourth pair is the longest, the first 
pair slightly surpasses the second, and the third pair is rather the shortest; the two superior 
tarsal claws are curved and pectinated, and the inferior one is inflected near its base. The 
cephalo-thorax has a short oval form; it is convex, glossy, prominent in front, and has an 
indentation in the medial line; the falces are small, conical, and vertical; the maxillae are 
gibbous at the base, and greatly inclined towards the lip, which is short and semicircular; 
the sternum is heart-shaped and glossy. These parts are of a reddish-brown colour, the 
margins of the cephalo-thorax and sternum being blackish. The four intermediate eyes form 
a square nearly, the two anterior ones, which are rather wider apart than the posterior ones, 
and the largest of the eight, being seated on a brownish-black protuberance; the eyes con¬ 
stituting each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a small tubercle, and are almost contiguous. 
The palpi have a browner tint than the legs, and the colour of the radial and digital joints is 
dark-brown; the radial joint is short, broad, and projects upwards from its base, on the 
outer side, a pointed process which is in close contact with the extremity of the cubital 
joint; the digital joint is somewhat oval, but slightly curved and pointed at the end; it is 
convex and hairy externally, concave within, and comprises the palpal organs, which are highly 
developed, with three short processes at their extremity, and are of a dark, reddish-brown 
colour. The abdomen is oviform, glossy, sparingly supplied with hairs, convex above, and 
projects over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of a brownish-black hue, marked with pale, 
reddish-brown spots and streaks on the upper part, those in the medial line, and on each side 
of it, being the most conspicuous; the colour of the branchial opercula is brownish-yellow, 
and a line of the same hue extends from them nearly to the spinners. 
An adult male Theridion Jlavo-maculatum, which hitherto appears to have escaped the 
observation of arachnologists, was found running on a foot-path in a wood near Oakland, in 
May, 1852, and from it the foregoing description was made. The female of this species, 
previously described and figured by M. Koch under the name of Micryphantes flavo-maculatus , 
judging from the smallness of its size, was probably an immature individual; its colours, 
though not so intense, bear a close resemblance to those of the male in their distribution. 
A minute examination of the essential characters of this spider has led to its removal from 
the genus Micryphantes to that of Theridion. 
In confirmation of the opinion that the female Theridion flavo-maculatum described by 
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