1'ITIitmi m null .. mi l ■- •-r-nrinur 
258 LINYPHIID.E. 
in colour. The abdomen is oviform, convex above, projecting over the base of the cephalo- 
thorax; it is thinly clothed with hairs, glossy, and of a black hue, and the colour of the 
branchial opercula is yellowish-brown. 
The male resembles the female in colour. The humeral joint of its palpi is long; the 
cubital joint is rather long, clavate, slightly curved downwards, and has a row of hairs, 
directed forwards, extending along its upper part; the radial joint, which is short and strong, 
has an obtuse apophysis underneath, and a long one in front, towards the inner side, curved 
upwards and outwards at its extremity, which is somewhat enlarged and rounded; the digital 
joint is oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal organs; they 
are moderately developed, with several curved processes at the extremity, and are of a brown- 
black colour. 
This is an aeronautic spider, and is very common among the grass of meadows and 
pastures in North Wales and in Lancashire. 
Neriene dentata. PI. XYIII, fig. 174. 
Theridion dentatum, Wider, Museum Senckenb., Band i, p. 229, taf. 15, fig. 8. 
Argus dentatus, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 354. 
Length of the male, T ‘ 5 th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, ith; 
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of an anterior leg, |th; length of a leg of the third 
pair, T ' 5 th. 
The four intermediate eyes form a trapezoid whose anterior side is the shortest, and those 
of each lateral pair are seated obliquely on a small tubercle, and are almost contiguous; the 
lateral eyes are the largest, and the two anterior ones of the trapezoid are the smallest and 
darkest of the eight. The cephalo-thorax is oval, glossy, convex, particularly in the cephalic 
region, where it is supplied with some long, hoary hairs directed forwards, and has a slight 
indentation in the medial line ; the falces are conical, armed with teeth on the inner surface, 
and a prominent, pointed process in front, near the middle, towards the inner side; they 
have numerous, minute, pointed protuberances in front and on the outer side, and are slightly 
inclined towards the sternum, which is broad and heart-shaped; the maxillae are enlarged 
where the palpi are inserted, and inclined towards the lip, which is semicircular and pro¬ 
minent at the apex. These parts have a dark-brown colour, the falces and maxillae, which 
are the palest, being tinged with red. The legs have a pale, brownish-yellow tint; they are 
provided with hairs and a few fine spines, and the anterior and posterior pairs are equal in 
length ; the two superior tarsal claws are curved and pectinated, and the inferior one is 
inflected near its base. The palpi resemble the legs in colour; the cubital joint is strong 
and clavate, and projects a short, conical apophysis from its extremity on the outer side; 
the radial joint is somewhat produced at its extremity on the inner side, and has a long, 
curved apophysis on the outer side, which terminates in a point in front of the digital joint; 
this last joint is oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the palpal 
