EPEIRA. 
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The male, which is smaller than the female, has a conical protuberance on the outer 
side of its maxillae, a longitudinal, black band on each side of its cephalo-thorax, black annuli 
at the joints of its legs, and the extremity of the thighs of the first, second, and fourth pairs 
has a red hue; with these exceptions, it greatly resembles the female in colour. The 
humeral joint of the palpi has a small protuberance at its base, on the under side; the 
cubital joint is short, and prominent at its extremity, whence project two long, curved 
bristles, and a third depends from its base, in front; the radial is much stronger than the 
cubital joint, and very prominent on the outer side; the digital joint is somewhat oval, with 
a curved process at its base directed outwards and terminating in a black, glossy knob, 
which nearly extends to the extremity of the cubital joint; it is convex and hairy externally, 
concave within, and comprises the palpal organs; these organs are very highly developed, 
complicated in structure, convex and glossy at the base, provided with curved, black, pointed 
processes near the extremity, and are of a dark-brown colour. The convex sides of the 
digital joints are directed towards each other. 
The young, when extricated from the egg, have the cephalo-thorax and legs of a pale 
yellowish-white colour, that of the abdomen being reddish-brown; but after their first change 
of integument they acquire an olive or brownish-green tint, the upper part of the abdomen 
being marked with whitish spots, and each side with a longitudinal stripe of the same hue, 
parallel with which, on the upper side, there is a series of minute, black spots. 
In well-wooded districts in Great Britain and Ireland, this species is not uncommon. 
The sexes pair in June, and the female attaches to the stems or leaves of shrubs, in the 
vicinity of her snare, a subglobose cocoon of bright-yellow silk of a loose texture, measuring 
two thirds of an inch in diameter, which usually contains 150 or 160 spherical eggs of a yellow 
colour, cemented together in a subglobose mass, and enveloped in fine, soft, yellow silk. 
Arachnologists affirm that the small net spun by Epeira cucurbitina is always placed 
horizontally; but this is a mistake, as it may frequently be seen in an inclined position. 
Epeira BELLA. PI. XXV, fig. 248. 
Epeira bella, Meade, Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., third series, vol. vii, p. 30. 
Length of the female, Jth of an inch; length of the cephalo-thorax, T jth, breadth, ^th; 
breadth of the abdomen, ^th; length of a posterior leg, 1th; length of a leg of the third 
pair, 1th. 
The legs are short, provided with hairs and fine spines, and are of a brownish-yellow 
hue, with red-brown annuli, those on the extremity of the femora of the first and second pairs 
being much the broadest; the fourth pair is the longest, then the first, and the third pair is 
the shortest; each tarsus is terminated by claws of the usual number and structure. The 
palpi resemble the legs in colour, but are without annuli. The cephalo-thorax is compressed 
before, rounded on the sides, abruptly sloped at the base, convex, glossy, slightly marked 
with punctures, and has an indentation in the medial line; the falces are powerful, conical, 
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