Page:VCH Cornwall 1.djvu/299

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

SPIDERS 15. Clubiona stagnatilis, Kulczynski. Looe. Known also as C. holosericea, Blackwall. The species is usually fairly common amongst the dry sedge grass and rushes in swampy places. 1 6. Clubiona terrestris, Westring. Liskeard. Not uncommon in the summer time, when it may be found wandering about at night on the walls of outhouses, palings, etc. Known also as C. amarantba, Blackwall. 1 7. Clubiona reclusa, O.P.-Cambridge. Liskeard. A rarer species than the last ; usually beaten from foliage and bushes in the summer time. 1 8. Clubiona lutescens, Westring. Liskeard. Rare ; but sometimes fairly abundant where it occurs amongst dry rushes and sedge grass in swampy places. 1 9. Clubiona brevipes, Blackwall. Liskeard. Not uncommon amongst foliage in the summer time. 20. Clubiona pallidula, Clerck. Liskeard. A larger species than any of the above, and usually fairly common amongst bramble bushes, and where the female makes its egg-cocoon within the folded leaves. Known also as C. epimelas, Blackwall. 21. Clubiona phragmitii, C. L. Koch. Liskeard. Very common indeed amongst rushes and dry sedge grass in swamps, where the females construct a pure white silken retreat amongst the blades or under the bark of riverside palings, posts, pollard, willow trees, &c. Known also as C. deinognatha, O. P.-Cambridge. 22. Clubiona compta, C. L. Koch. Mawnan. A very small species, whose abdomen is striped diagonally on each side, similarly to that of C. corti- calis, Walckenaer. Not uncommon amongst the foliage of bushes and shrubs in the summer time. 23. Chiracanthium erraticum, Walckenaer. Mawnan. Sometimes very common in the folded leaves of the various species of bramble in the summer time. The spider resembles a ' Clubiona,' but has longer legs and a red stripe down the abdomen. Known also as Chiracanthium carnifex (Fabricius). 24. Liocranum rupicolum, Walckenaer. Polperro. Not uncommon under rocks and stones. Known also as Liocranum domesticum (Wider), and Clubiona domestica, Blackwall. 25. Agroeca brunnea, Blackwall. Gerrans Bay. Rarely found amongst dead leaves and at the roots of herbage in woods. Known also as Agelena brunnea. ANYPHAENIDAE 26. Anyphaena accentuata, Walckenaer. Liskeard. Often common on the foliage of oak and other trees. This spider is remarkable for the position of the spiracular opening, which lies in the middle of the ventral surface of the abdomen between the genital rima and the spinners, and not, as in the last family, immediately in front of the spinners. Known also under Clubiona. THOMISIDAE Spiders with eight eyes, situated in two transverse rows, two tarsal claws, and anterior spinners close together at their base. Maxillae not impressed. The crab-like shape and sidelong movements of these spiders are their chief characteristics, enabling them to be easily distinguished, as a rule, from the more elongate Drassidae and Clubionidae. 27. Phihdromus dispar, Walckenaer. Mawnan. This spider with its shiny black abdomen, is not uncommon in the summer time amongst foliage, and can sometimes be observed crouching flat upon palings. It is very swift in its movements. 28. Misumena vatia, Clerck. Mawnan. This species, one of the largest of the Thomisidae, can be found in the blossoms of various woodland plants, where it crouches amongst the petals on the watch for its prey. The colour of the female is yellow, with red lateral slashes ; the male being much smaller and almost black. Known also as Thomisus citreus, Blackwall. 29. Diaea dorsata, Fabricius. Whitsand Bay (G. C. B.). A bright green spider with a large dull red-brown central patch on the abdomen ; not uncommon on herbage and amongst flowers. Known also as Thomisus floricolens, Blackwall. 30. Pbilodromus aureolus, Clerck. Mawnan. A very abundant species, with usually a dull red- brown abdomen, with yellowish central pattern. It frequents the foliage of trees of all kinds, and especially in the immature condition will outnumber all other species which fall into the umbrella beneath the beating-stick. 247