EPEIRA. 
359 
wards, is in connexion with the prominent sexual organs ; and the branchial opercula are of 
a pale-brown hue, the inner margin having a tinge of yellow. This species varies from light 
yellowish-brown to brownish-black, but, notwithstanding the differences in its predominant 
tint, it may readily be distinguished by the peculiarity of the design formed by the distribution 
of the colours on its abdomen. 
Though the male bears a marked general resemblance to the female, yet it differs from 
her in various particulars. It is much smaller, and the dark bands on its cephalo-thorax are 
not so conspicuous,• its falces are less powerful, and of a yellowish-brown hue; a small, 
conical process occurs on the outer side of its maxillae, immediately before the insertion of 
the palpi, and these organs, with the lip and sternum, are of a red-brown colour, with the 
exception of the extremities of the maxillae and lip, which have a yellowish-brown, tint; the 
coxae of its anterior legs have a conical process at the extremity, on the under side, and a 
similar process is situated at the base of the coxae of the second pair, whose tibiae are more 
robust than those of the other legs, and are provided with two parallel rows of short, strong, 
black spines on their anterior surface ; its palpi are short, and of a yellowish-brown hue, 
the cubital joint is rather prominent at its extremity, in front, whence project two long 
bristles, and the radial joint is protuberant on the outer side; the digital joint has somewhat 
of a narrow, elongated, oval form, with an obtuse, brownish-black process at its base, curved 
outwards; it is convex and hairy externally, concave within, and comprises the palpal 
organs, which are very highly developed, very protuberant, and complicated in structure, 
having a pale, prominent process on the outer side, and several pointed ones at the. ex¬ 
tremity, and their colour is red-brown, intermixed with yellowish-brown. The convex sides 
of the digital joints are directed towards each other. 
This spider is plentiful in Great Britain and Ireland, constructing an extensive net, with¬ 
out any circular opening at the centre, among gorse, heath, and bushes. In common with 
the other species belonging to the genus Epeira, its head is always directed downwards 
when occupying a position at the centre of its snare, and as it is supported on such occasions 
chiefly by the sustentacula and a line connecting the spinners with its station, the reason of 
the fact is apparent. 
Epeira diadema and some of its congeners envelope their prey in a sheet of web by the 
following curious process. Causing the victim to rotate by the action of the third pair of 
legs and the palpi, the first pair of legs also being frequently employed in a similar manner, 
they extend the spinners laterally, and applying to them alternately the sustentaculum of each 
posterior leg, they seize and draw out numerous fine lines in the form of a fillet, which they 
attach to their revolving prey, and thus involve it in a dense covering of silk from one ex¬ 
tremity to the other. By means of this stratagem they are capable of overcoming formidable 
and powerful insects, such as wasps, bees, and even large beetles. 
In October the female of this species attaches to the inferior surface of stones a sub- 
globose cocoon of yellow silk of a loose texture, measuring two thirds of an inch in diameter, 
in which she deposits between 700 and 800 spherical eggs, of a yellow colour, agglutinated 
together in a lenticular form. Withered leaves and bits of dry fern are frequently distributed 
on the exterior surface of the cocoon. After deserting this nidus, the young spin a few lines, 
on which they group themselves into a compact mass, somewhat resembling the granulated 
fruit of the Rubi. 
47 
