EPEIRA. 
337 
extremity; the digital joint is convex and hairy externally, concave within, comprising the 
palpal organs, which are highly developed, complicated in structure, and of a very dark 
reddish-brown colour. 
In a catalogue of spiders, published in the ‘Transactions of the Linnean Society/ 
vol. xix, p. 113, this species is included under the name of Epeira agalena; the mistake 
originated in copying the appellation from M. Hahn’s work, ‘ Die Arachniden/ where it is 
connected with a figure and description of Epeira solers. 
The sexes pair in June, and in that and the succeeding month the female fabricates a 
suhglobose cocoon of yellowish-brown silk of a loose texture, about half an inch in diameter, 
and deposits in it 140 or 150 dark-brown, spherical eggs, agglutinated together in a globular 
form. 
This spider occurs, but not abundantly, in pastures near Llanrwst, spinning among 
coarse plants and bushes a net of moderate extent, between the centre of which and a slightly 
concave cell of white silk, constructed at a short distance from it, a communication is esta¬ 
blished by means of a strong line ; concealed in this retreat, the vibrations of the connecting 
medium speedily convey intelligence to the watchful owner of the snare that a victim is 
involved in its meshes. 
Epeira similis. PL XXY, fig. 244. 
Epeira similis, Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii, p. 186. 
— — Blackw., Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., second series, vol. x, 
p. 183. 
Length of the male, ~th of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, Ath, breadth, ^th; 
breadth of the abdomen, T ' T th; length of an anterior leg, ^ths; length of a leg of the third 
pair, 1th. 
The four intermediate eyes form a square, the two anterior ones, which are seated on a 
small protuberance, being the largest of the eight; the eyes of each lateral pair are placed 
obliquely on a tubercle, but, though near together, are not in contact. The cephalo-thorax is 
convex, glossy, compressed before, rounded on the sides, and has an indentation in the medial 
line; it is of a yellowish-brown colour, with narrow, blackish margins, and a band of the 
same hue, which is broadest at its anterior extremity, extending along the middle. The falces 
are powerful, conical, vertical, armed with teeth on the inner surface, and have a red-brown 
tint. The maxillae are short, strong, straight, and rounded at the extremity; and the lip is 
semicircular, but somewhat pointed. These organs are of a reddish-brown colour, with 
yellowish-brown extremities, the base of the lip being much the darkest. The sternum is 
heart-shaped, and has small eminences on the sides, opposite to the legs ; it is of a brownish- 
black hue, with a yellowish-brown band in the middle, which diminishes in breadth to its 
posterior extremity. The legs are long, provided with hairs and black spines, and of a 
yellowish-brown colour spotted with black. The palpi are short, and have a yellowish- 
