270 
LINYPHIIDiE. 
legs in colour, but are rather paler; the humeral joint is somewhat curved towards the cephalo- 
thorax; the cubital joint is clavate, and the radial, which is short, has two curved, pointed, 
black apophyses at its extremity, in front, the superior one being the larger and more promi¬ 
nent ; the digital joint is oval, convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the 
palpal organs, which are moderately developed, complicated in structure, and of a reddish- 
brown colour. The abdomen'is oviform, sparingly clothed with hairs, convex above, projecting 
over the base of the cephalo-thorax, and has a brownish-black hue; that of the branchial 
opercula being brown. 
A male of Neriene apicata, having the palpal organs completely developed, was taken on 
a rail at Oakland, in February, 1850, and in the autumn of 1853 a specimen of the same sex 
was received from the Rev. Hamlet Clark. 
Neriene rubens. PL XVIII, fig. 184. 
Neriene rubens, Blackw., Bond. and Edin. Phil. Mag., third series, vol. iii, p. 189. 
— — Blackw., Research, in Zool., p. 370. 
_ —. Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. ix, 
p. 269. 
Theridion cheliferum, Wider, Museum Senckenb., Band i, p. 237, taf. 16, fig. 4. 
Argus cheliferus, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 364. 
Length of the female, ^th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, ^th, breadth, 55 th ; 
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of an anterior leg, Ith ; length of a leg of the third 
pair, ^th. 
The eyes are seated on black spots. The cephalo-thorax is compressed and abruptly 
elevated before, rounded on the sides, slightly convex, and glossy, with an indentation m the 
medial line; the falces are powerful, conical, armed with strong teeth on the inner surface, 
and inclined towards the sternum, which is heart-shaped; the maxillae are moderately enlarged 
at the extremity, and inclined towards the lip, which is semicircular and prominent at the apex ; 
the legs are provided with hairs and a few spines, and the anterior and posterior pairs are equal in 
length; each tarsus is terminated by three claws; the two superior ones are curved and pec¬ 
tinated, and the inferior one is inflected near its base; the palpi are abundantly supplied with 
black spines, one, longer than the rest, projecting from the extremity of the cubital joint, in front. 
These parts are of a yellowish-red colour. The abdomen is oviform, somewhat convex above, 
projecting over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is thinly clothed with hairs, glossy, and of a 
red-brown hue, which varies in intensity in different individuals; the colour of the sexual 
organs is black, tinged with red; and that of the branchial opercula is pale-orange. 
The male is rather smaller than the female, and the tibiae of the first and second pairs of 
legs are dilated at the extremity, underneath, which enlargements are amply provided with fine, 
long hairs. The humeral joint of the palpi is very robust, increasing gradually in diameter 
from its base to its extremity, which is armed with a strong spur and numerous minute, 
pointed, black spines on the upper part; the cubital joint is short and strong; the radial joint 
