OCR Text |
Show 188 ARACHNIDES. acute angles on each side. Fot· these interesting observations I am indebted to my fdend M. Leon Dufour. Uloborus Walckenaerius, Lat.(I) About five lines in length· reddish-yellowish; covered with a silky down forming two serie~ of little fasciculi on the top of the abdomen; paler rings on the legs. From the woods in the vicinity of Bourdeaux, and in va. rious departments of the south of France. TETRAGNATHA, Lat. The eyes placed four by four on two nearly parallel lines, and sepat·ated by almost equal intervals; jaws long, narrow, and only widened at their superior extremity. The chelicerre are also very long, in the males especially. The web is vertical(2). ErEIRA, Walck. The two eyes on each side approximated by pairs, and almost con· tiguous; the remaining four forming a quadrilateral in the middle. The jaws dilate from their base, and form a rounded palette. The cucurbitina is the only species known whose web is horizon· tal; that of the others is vertical, or sometimes oblique. Some place themselves in its centre in a reversed position, or with their head downwards; others construct a domicil close by it, either vaulted on all sides, or forming a silky tube composed of leaves drawn together by threads, or open above, and resembling a cup or the nest of a bird·. The web of some exotic species is formed of such stout materials that it will arrest small Birds, and even impede the progress of a Man. Their cocoon is usually globular; that of some species, however • I lS a trun~.;ated oval, or very short cone. The natives of New Holland-Voyage a Ia recherche de Ia Pey· rouse, p. 239-and those of some of the South Sea Islands, for want of other food, eat a species of Epeira, closely allied to the .llranea esuriens, Fab. M. \Valckenaer, in his Tableau des Araneldes, mentions sixty·four species of Epeirce, remarkable, in general, for the diversity of their colours, form and habits. He has arranged them in various small and very natural families, the study of which we have endeavoured to simplify in the second edition of the Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., article Epe'ire. Certain important considerations, such as those of .<I) Lat., Gen. Crust. et Insect, I, 109; see also second edition of the Nouv. Dtct d~Hist. "at, :u-ticle Ulobore. (2) Tetragnatha trlerw, Walck., Hist. des Aran., v, vi; .IJ.rmua ezterua, L., Fab., De Geer;-bama t'iruetm.2 Fab. ;-.llranea rruu:iiJMa, Id. see Tab. des Aran. of Walckenaer. PULMONARL£. 189 I rgans had been neglected or were not sufficiently attended the sexua o ' . for instance, the female Ep. diadema, and others, present to· thus, . . • 1 d ' t which characterizes their sex, a smgu ar appen age, t the par a . b inds us of the apron of the Hottentot women. These whtc rem .. · · h' • 5 should constitute a separate diVISion. By pursumg t IS ex-spe. c te · other not less natural dI' V·I S·i ons m1· g h t b e esta bl't s h e d • ammauon, · • 1 We will content ourselves with mentioning a few of the prmcipa spec·t es, commencing with those that are indigenous to Europe. Ep. diadema; .flranea diadema, L., Fab.; Rres., Insect. IV, uxv-xl. Large, reddish, velvety; abdomen of the females extremely voluminous, particularly when about to lay their eggs, and of a deep brown or yellowish red; a large rounded tubercle each side of the back near its base, and a triple cross, formed of small white spots or dots; pal pi and legs spotted with black. Very common in Europe in autumn. The eggs are hatched in the spring of the ensuing year. . Ep. scalaris; .!i.ranea scalaris, Fab.; Panz., :aun •. IV~ xx1v. Thorax reddish; top of the abdomen usually whtte, with a black spot in the form of a reversed triangle, oblong and dentated. weaves its web along the banks of ponds, brooks, &c. Ep. Cicatr·icosa; Jlranea cicatricosa, De Geer; .!i.. impressa, Fa b. The abdomen flattened, and of a greyish brown or obscure yellowish; a black band, festooned and edged with grey along the middle of the back; eight or ten large impressed points in two lines. It constructs its web on walls or other bodies, and remains concealed in a nest of white silk, which it forms under some projecting object, ot• in some cavity in the vicinity. It only works and feeds during the night, or when the light of day is but weak. It retires under the bark of old trees or logs. Ep. sericea, Walck., op. cit., III, ii. Covered above with a silvery and silken down; abdomen flattened, immaculate and with festooned margins. South of Europe and Senegal. Ep. fusca, Walck., Hist. des Aran. II, i, the female. Very common in the cellars of Angers. Its cocoon is white, almost globular, fixed by a pedicle, and composed of very fine threads; it is soft to the touch, like wool. That of the Ep. fasciata Walck., op. cit. III, i, the female, is about an J' ' • h inch long; it resembles a little balloon, of a grey colour, Wit lon&-itudinat black stripes, one of whose extremities is truncated and closed by a flat and silky operculum; a fine down envelopes the eggs in its interior, This species weaves a vertical and irregular web, in the middle of which it remains, along the banks of rivulets, &c. Its thorax is covered with a sof~ and silvery down and its abdomen is of a beautiful yellow, mtersccted at int~rvals with transverse brown, or blackish-brown |