52
THE SPIDERS OF EPPING FOREST.
Eyes arranged almost in a circle, the anteriors very close
together. Tarsal claws 2 or 3. Cephalo-thorax brownish
or blackish .. ... .. .. Harpactes
Genus DYSDERA, Latreille.
Spiders of moderate size, fabricating a silken, tubular retreat,
in which the eggs are laid, apparently not protected by an ovisac.
The females of the various species are extremely difficult to
distinguish one from another.
Dysdera crocota, C. L. Koch. Theydon Bois. A male
and some females, the latter probably of this species, found
beneath stones.
One other species, D. cambridgii, Thor. is found in Britain.
Genus HARPACTES, Tempi.
Spiders of elongate slender build, especially the males-
Habits generally similar to Dysdera.
Harpactes hombergii, Scop. This species is rather
common and widely distributed in Epping Forest, and may
usually be found in the summer amongst dead leaves, and
during the winter months beneath loose bark.
Genus SEGESTRIA, Latreille.
Spiders of moderate size with the thorax brownish or blackish
and the abdomen with a distinct pattern, consisting chiefly of a
longitudinal series of large blackish patches upon a paler ground.
These spiders live in tubes which are usually constructed
beneath loose bark.
Segestria senoculata Linn. Widely distributed in the
Forest, and usually common under the loose bark of hornbeams,
etc.
Two other species of Segestria are found in Britain, S.
bavarica, C. L. Koch, and S. florentina, Ross., but both are very
rare.
Family OONOPIDAE.
[Dysderidae Cambr. List, ad partem.]
Cephalo-thorax of a short oval form and always more or less constricted in
front, its greatest convexity is usually rather near its posterior margin, the slope
being there somewhat abrupt; longitudinal stria obsolete or nearly so. Eyes 6,
homogeneous, of the nocturnal type, large, almost equal, very closely grouped.
Ocular area occupying almost the whole width of the caput. Fakes conical,
rather weak, considerably attenuated towards their extremities: fang slender:
fang-groove without denticulations. Labium fret. Sternum very large and well
developed, convex, of broad-oval form, very wide and obtuse behind. Maxillae