226 
LINYPHIIDiE. 
Linyphia alticeps. PL XVI, fig. 149. 
Linyphia alticeps, Sund., Yet. Acad. Handl., 1832, p. 261. 
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. ix, p. 17. 
— luteola, Blackw., Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag., third series, vol. iii, p. 192. 
— — Blackw., Research, in Zool., p. 390. 
Length of the female, ith of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ^th; 
breadth of the abdomen, T ’ 5 th; length of an anterior leg, fths; length of a leg of the third 
pair, 1th. 
The cephalo-thorax is convex, glossy, compressed, prominent, and somewhat pointed 
before, rounded on the sides, and has an indentation in the medial line; the falces are 
conical, vertical, and armed with teeth on the inner surface; the maxillae are straight, and 
nearly quadrate; the lip is semicircular and prominent at the apex; the sternum is heart- 
shaped ; the legs are long, slender, and provided with fine, erect spines ; each tarsus is ter¬ 
minated by three claws; the two superior ones are curved and pectinated, and the inferior 
one is inflected near its base; the palpi are rather short, and have a slightly pectinated, 
curved claw at their extremity. These parts are of a pale yellowish-brown colour, with the 
exception of the lateral margins of the cephalo-thorax, and a fine line extending along its 
middle, which are black. 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 contiguous; the two posterior eyes of the trapezoid are the 
largest, and the anterior ones the smallest of the eight. The abdomen is oviform, glossy, 
compressed, very convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is of a 
pale-yellow colour, with minute, white spots on the upper part; the sides are obscurely 
marked with oblique lines of a blackish hue, and above the spinners there are several angular 
ones of a similar tint; the colour of the branchial opercula is yellow. The black lines on the 
abdomen of some individuals are almost obliterated. 
The male is smaller and slenderer than the female, but its cephalo-thorax is longer, very 
prominent and pointed before, and provided with numerous strong, black bristles, particularly 
at the apex. Its maxillae also are remarkably convex externally. The humeral joint of its 
palpi is robust; the cubital and radial joints are short, a strong bristle, rough with projecting 
points on the under side, depending from a protuberance at the extremity of the former, in 
front; the digital joint is oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the 
palpal organs, which are complicated in structure, with a curved, pointed process at their 
base, and are of a red-brown colour. 
The conclusion arrived at by Professor Sundevall, that Linyphia alticeps and Linyphia 
luteola are the same species, is perfectly correct; but M. Walckenaer is certainly mistaken in 
regarding it as identical with his Argus cornutus (‘ Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt.,’ tom. ii, p. 368), 
from which it differs remarkably in structure, colour, habits and economy. 
