LINYPHIA. 
221 
bristle projecting from its extremity, in front, and the latter, which is the larger, is of an 
oval form, greatly elongated before, and overlaps the base of the digital joint; this joint is 
somewhat oval, with a bold, pointed process at its base, on the inner side, and a prominent 
lobe on the outer side; it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the 
palpal organs, which are depressed, very highly developed, and remarkably complicated in 
structure, having a strong, curved, corneous process at their base, on the outer side, which 
has an obtuse protuberance on its upper part, and a pair of exceedingly long, filiform, black 
spines, of unequal thickness, enveloped in a transparent membrane, and curved into a circle 
measuring about T ‘ B th of an inch in diameter ; these organs are of a red-brown colour. 
Angles of walls, overhanging banks, and depressions in the trunks of large trees are 
the situations in which Linyphia cauta fabricates its extensive snare. Though rarely seen, 
in consequence of the habit of remaining in its retreat during the day, yet it is rather abun¬ 
dant in many parts of England, Wales, and Ireland. 
The Linyphia thoracica of M. Wider (‘Museum Senckenbergianum, 5 B. i, p. 261, taf. 17, 
fig. 10) appears to be nearly allied to this species, but it is difficult to determine whether 
they are identical or not, as no description or figure is given of the male. 
Linyphia yiyax. PI. XVI, fig. 146. 
Linyphia vivax, Blackw., Linn. Trans, vol. xviii, p. 657. 
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. ix, 
p. 15. 
— — Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. iv, p. 499. 
Length of the female, | ? ths of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, r ' 5 th ; 
breadth of the abdomen, T ’ T th; length of an anterior leg, l ; length of a leg of the third 
pair, |rd. 
The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, glossy, with a large indentation in the medial line, 
and is of a yellowish-brown colour, with an irregular, longitudinal, blackish band on each side, 
and a finer one of the same hue, which is bifid before, extending along the middle. The eyes 
are seated on black spots ; the four intermediate ones form a trapezoid whose anterior side is 
the shortest, and those of each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a tubercle and are con¬ 
tiguous ; the posterior eyes of the trapezoid are the largest, and the anterior ones the 
smallest of the eight. The falces, which have a reddish-brown tint, are powerful, conical, 
armed with teeth on the inner surface, and slightly inclined towards the sternum, which is 
heart-shaped, with long, erect, black hairs, and is of a dark-brown hue. The maxillm are 
short, strong, straight, convex underneath, somewhat quadrate, and resemble the falces in 
colour. The lip is semicircular and prominent at the apex, which is of a reddish-brown hue, 
the base being blackish. The legs are long, slender, provided with hairs and numerous 
erect spines, and of a reddish-brown colour, with brownish-black annuli; each tarsus is 
terminated by three claws ; the two superior ones are curved and pectinated, and the inferior 
