NEREENE. 
269 
some prominent, whitish membrane at their extremity, and are of a red-brown colour. The 
abdomen is oviform, thinly clothed with short hairs, convex above, projecting over the base of 
the cephalo-thorax, and has a brownish-black hue, that of the branchial opercula being pale- 
yellow. 
The female resembles the male in colour, but is without the two large, conical protuber¬ 
ances on the anterior elevation of the cephalo-thorax. 
Adult males of this species, which is very closely allied to Neriene cornuta, were taken by 
the Rev. O. P. Cambridge at Bloxworth, in the spring of 1861. 
M. Wider, in his description of Theridion bituberculatum, states that “ die Beine sind 
ziemlich kurz und nicht sehr ungleich, das dritte Paar am kurzesten, dann folgt das vierte, 
dann das erste und das zweite ist das langsteand M. Walckenaer, in treating upon the 
structure of Argus bituberculatus, remarks that “ les pattes sont peu allongees, la premiere 
paire est la plus longue, ensuite la seconde, la troisieme est la plus courte.” Now, as regards 
the legs of Neriene bituberculata, the fourth pair is the longest, then the first, and the third 
pair is the shortest; it is probable, however, that these discrepancies may be more apparent 
than real, for, without measurement, it is difficult to ascertain the relative length of the 
limbs of spiders, especially when they do not differ greatly in longitudinal extent; and this 
difficulty is chiefly occasioned by the unequal breadth of the cephalo-thorax, to which they 
are articulated. 
Neriene apicata. PI. XVIII, fig. 183. 
Neriene apicata, Blackw., Annals and Mag, of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. vi, 
p. 339. 
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. ix, 
p. 269. 
Length of the male, ^th of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, i^th; 
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of a posterior leg, |„ths; length of a leg of the third 
pair, r'th. 
The legs are provided with hairs, and are of a reddish-brown colour, the femora being the 
reddest; the posterior is longer than the anterior pair, 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 cephalo-thorax is oval, convex, glossy, 
with an indentation in the medial line; an obtuse, conical prominence, surmounted by a tuft 
of short hairs, occurs immediately behind the eyes, near the base of which, on each side, there 
is a small cavity ; the falces are conical, vertical, somewhat divergent at the extremity, and 
armed with teeth on the inner surface; the maxillae are enlarged where the palpi are inserted, 
obliquely truncated at the extremity, on the outer side, and inclined towards the lip, which is 
semicircular and prominent at the apex; the sternum is broad, convex, glossy, and heart- 
shaped. These parts have a very dark, reddish-brown hue. The anterior eyes of the four 
intermediate ones forming the trapezoid are the smallest of the eight. The palpi resemble the 
