336 
EPBIRIDiE. 
Epeira solers. PI. XXIV, fig. 243. 
Epeira solers, Walck., Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt., tom. ii, p. 41. 
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. x, p. 182. 
— agalena, Halm, Die Araclm., Band ii, p. 29, tab. 47, fig. 115. 
— — Blackw., Linn. Trans., vol. xix, p. 126. 
Atea sclopetaria, Koch, Uebers. des Aracbn. Syst., erstes Heft, p. 4. 
— — Koch, Die Arachn., Band xi, p. 134, tab. 390, figs. 934, 935. 
Length of the female, ^ths of an inch ; length of the cephalo-thorax, 1 th, breadth, gth ; 
breadth of the abdomen, 5 th; length of an anterior leg, ijths ; length of a leg of the third 
pair, 1 th. 
The legs are robust, abundantly provided with hairs and strong spines, and of a yellowish- 
brown hue, with red-brown annuli; each tarsus is terminated by three claws of the usual 
structure, and below them there are several smaller ones. The palpi resemble the legs in 
colour, and have a curved, pectinated claw at their extremity. The cephalo-thorax is com¬ 
pressed before, truncated in front, rounded on the sides, depressed behind, and has an 
indentation in the medial line; it is densely covered with long, yellowish-white hairs, and is 
of a very dark-brown colour, with the exception of the anterior part, about the region of the 
eyes, which has a yellowish-brown tint. The four intermediate eyes are seated on a small 
prominence, and form a square, and those of each lateral pair are placed obliquely on a 
tubercle, but are not in contact. The falces are strong, conical, vertical, armed with teeth on 
the inner surface, and of a reddish-brown colour. The maxillae are short, powerful, and 
greatly enlarged at the extremity ; and the lip is semicircular, but somewhat pointed. These 
organs are of a dark-brown hue at their base, that of their apices being yellowish-brown. 
The sternum, which is heart-shaped, has a very dark-brown tint, with a longitudinal, yellow- 
brown line in the middle; it is covered with whitish hairs, and has small eminences on the 
sides, opposite to the legs. The abdomen is of a very broad oviform figure, and projects 
greatly over the base of the cephalo-thorax; it is densely covered with hairs, and the upper 
part is of a brown colour, with an angular band of a deeper shade, whose apex is directed 
backwards, extending along the middle; this band is intersected by transverse lines of the 
same hue, diminishing in extent as they approach the spinners; both the longitudinal band 
and transverse lines are bordered by long, whitish hairs, and a sinuous band of long, whitish 
hairs extends along each side ,• the under part, which has a yellowish-brown tint, is marked 
with brown spots and streaks, and a broad, longitudinal, brownish-black band, comprising two 
curved, yellow lines, occurs in the middle ; the branchial opercula are of a brown colour, and 
the sexual organs have a membraneous process of a semicircular form in connection with their 
anterior margin. 
The male is smaller and darker coloured than the female, and its legs, which are much 
longer than hers, are marked with broader annuli. Its palpi have a dark, yellowish-brown 
hue ; the cubital and radial joints are short, and the latter has a slender apophysis at its 
