212 
LINYPHIIDtE. 
The abdomen of the male is nearly cylindrical, and is less distinctly marked than that of 
the female. The falces are very long, widely divergent at the extremity, which is armed 
with a long, slightly curved fang, and have a small, obtuse prominence close to the base, in 
front; they, with the cephalo-thorax, legs, maxillae, sternum, and abdomen, have a reddish- 
brown tint, the abdomen being the darkest. The cubital and radial joints of the palpi are 
short, the latter being rather the stronger; the digital joint is oval, convex and hairy 
externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs, which are moderately developed, 
complicated in structure, with a fine spine at their extremity, curved in a spiral form, and 
enveloped in membrane; they are of a reddish-brown colour. The convex sides of the 
digital joints are directed towards each other. 
This very common spider is frequently mistaken for Linyphia triangularis, but may 
readily be distinguished from that species by its figure, by the relative size and disposition 
of its eyes, and by the design formed by the colours of its cephalo-thorax and abdomen; it 
constructs in hedges, bushes, and rank herbage, an extensive horizontal sheet of web of a 
fine texture, on the inferior surface of which it takes its station in an inverted position and 
watches for its prey. Connected with the web and with objects situated above and below it, 
are numerous fine lines intersecting one another at various angles; those on the upper side 
are the most extensive, and not only serve to support the web, but also to precipitate such 
insects as strike against them with their wings upon the horizontal sheet, where they arc 
quickly seized by the vigilant and active occupant. 
Inhabits Scotland and Ireland. 
Linyphia triangularis. PI. XV, fig. 139. 
Linyphia triangularis, Walck., Hist. Nat. ties Inseet. Apt., tom. 11 , p. 240. 
_ _ Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. viii, 
p. 449. 
— marginata, Wider, Museum Senckenb., Band i, p. 253, taf. 1/, fig. 5. 
_ _ Koch, Die Arachn., Band xii, p. 118, tab. 423, figs. 1041, 1042. 
Length of the female, §th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, T Uh, breadth, re th , 
breadth of the abdomen, ^th ; length of. an anterior leg, |; length of a leg of the third 
pair, Jjths. 
The cephalo-thorax is moderately convex, glossy, elevated and slightly compressed 
before, rounded on the sides, which have raised margins, and has an indentation m the 
medial line; its colour is brown, the lateral margins having a yellowish-white hue. The 
falces are conical, vertical, armed with a few teeth on the inner suface, and have a brown 
tint, which is darkest in front. The max illse are straight, and the exterior angle, at their 
extremity, is curvilinear; the lip is semicircular and prominent at the apex ; and the sternum 
is heart-shaped. These parts are black. The eyes are seated on black spots; the four 
intermediate ones describe a trapezoid whose anterior side is the shortest, and those of each 
