mmrnmmm 
236 LINYPHIIDyE. 
The eyes are seated on black spots; the four intermediate ones describe a trapezoid 
whose anterior side is the shortest, and those of each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a 
tubercle and are nearly contiguous; the anterior eyes of the trapezoid are seated on a small 
protuberance, and are much the least of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, 
glossy, with an indentation in the medial line; the falces are powerful, conical, rather diver¬ 
gent at the extremity, armed with teeth on the inner surface, and inclined towards the 
sternum; the legs are long and slender, and are provided with hairs and a few fine spines. 
These parts, with the palpi, are of a pale yellowish-brown colour, the lateral margins of the 
cephalo-thorax being darkish. The maxillae are straight, with the exterior angle, at the 
extremity, curvilinear ; the lip is semicircular and prominent at its apex ; and the sternum is 
broad, convex, glossy, and heart-shaped. These parts have a dark-brown hue, the maxillae 
being the palest. The first pair of legs is the longest, then the second, and the third pair is 
the shortest; each tarsus is terminated by three claws ; the two superior ones are curved and 
slightly pectinated, and the inferior one is inflected near its base. The abdomen is oviform, 
pointed at the spinners, thinly clothed with hairs, glossy, convex above, and projects over the 
base of the cephalo-thorax ; the upper part is of a yellowish-brown colour, mottled with dull 
white ; a narrow, dentated, black band extends along the middle, whose continuity is frequently 
interrupted, or broken into black spots, about one third of its length above the spinners, and 
from these spots fine, oblique lines of the same hue pass to the sides, which, with the under 
part, have a brown-black tint; a yellowish-brown band, mottled with dull white, extends 
along each side, and the two unite above the anus; the sexual organs are highly developed 
and very prominent; there is a process connected wfith their anterior margin which is 
enlarged at its extremity and curved downwards, and a minute one occurs on the inferior 
margin ; their colour is brown faintly tinged with red. Some individuals have the medial, 
dentated band much more perfectly defined than others. 
In their colours and in the design formed by them the sexes closely resemble each 
other, but the male is rather smaller than the female, and the anterior part of its cephalo- 
thorax, where the eyes are seated, is provided with porrect hairs. The humeral joint of its 
palpi is moderately long ; the cubital joint is short, and has a long bristle projecting from its 
extremity, in front; the radial, which is larger than the cubital joint, has a long bristle 
projecting from its base, in front, and is gibbous underneath; the digital joint is somewhat 
oval, having two lobes on the outer side; it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, 
comprising the palpal organs; they are highly developed, prominent, complex with projecting 
points and processes, one of the latter, situated near the middle, and another on the inner side, 
which is slightly bifid at its extremity, being the most conspicuous; their colour is red-brown. 
Mr. R. H. Meade found specimens of this Linyphia in May, 1852, on the fronds of the 
male shield-fern, in a wood near Bingley, and in the neighbourhood of Bradford, in 
Yorkshire. 
