(iii.) The Liocraninae include about twenty-four genera, of which Zora, Liocranum, Agroeca, and Micariosoma are sparingly represented in this country.
(iv.) The Micariinae are a remarkable group of Spiders containing numerous ant-like mimetic forms. Two species of Micaria alone are English, but that genus is abundantly represented on the Continent, where the species mount up to forty. They are mostly small, dark, shining spiders, which, though not particularly ant-like in form, recall those insects both by their appearance and movements. Some of the exotic genera, and particularly the South American genus Myrmecium, possess remarkable instances of mimetic resemblance to ants. Micaria pulicaria is a very pretty little spider, about a sixth of an inch in length, black, with iridescent hairs, and some white marks on the abdomen. It runs about in a very active ant-like fashion and does not object to the sunshine. It is fairly abundant in England.
Fam. 15. Palpimanidae.—This family includes a few genera of exotic spiders. They are especially characterised by the great development of their anterior legs, which are not much used for locomotion, but are frequently raised as the spider moves along, generally somewhat slowly, by means of the other three pairs. The best known genera are Metronax and Stenochilus from India, Huttonia from New Zealand, and Palpimanus from the Mediterranean region, Africa, and South Asia.
Fam. 16. Eresidae.—The Eresidae are a small family of cribellate spiders whose systematic position has been the subject of much discussion. In general appearance they resemble the Attidae (vide infra), but this resemblance is quite superficial. On the whole they seem more nearly allied to the following family than to any other. They are stoutly built, with thick, strong legs, and live either in the ground or on bushes, where they weave a close-textured web. One species, Eresus cinnaberinus, has occurred on rare occasions in the south of England, and the male, which is a third of an inch in length, is perhaps the most striking member of our Spider fauna, the abdomen being scarlet, with four (or sometimes six) black spots edged with white hairs. The cephalothorax is black, with red on the postero-lateral borders. The abdomen of the female is black.
Fam. 17. Dictynidae.—Cribellate spiders, with oval cephalothorax and broad convex caput, with the eyes, normally eight, ranged across it in two straight or slightly curved transverse rows. Basal joints of chelicerae long and strong, often bowed. Legs rather strong. Tarsi three-clawed and devoid of scopula.
The Dictynidae are sedentary spiders which weave a web of irregular strands, covered by the close weft which is the product of the cribellum. Some live under stones or in holes in walls, while others spin their webs in bushes or herbage. There are about sixteen genera, of which Dictyna and Amaurobius are the most important.
Nearly a hundred species of Dictyna have been described. They are small spiders, usually living in grass and herbage. Thirty species inhabit Europe and the neighbouring coast of Africa, and eight of these are natives of Britain. D. arundinacea is very abundant, especially in heather. It is about an eighth of an inch in length. D. uncinata is also often met with. Amaurobius, of which about eighty species are known, includes some species of much larger size. Three species are native to this country, A. ferox, A. similis, and A. fenestralis. A. ferox is a large and rather formidable-looking spider, more than half an inch in length, with powerful chelicerae. It is found under stones and bark, and in cellars and outhouses. A. similis is the commonest species in England, though A. fenestralis somewhat replaces it in the north. They are smaller than A. ferox, but are found in similar situations.
Fam. 18. Psechridae.—This is a small family of cribellate spiders, consisting only of two genera, Psechrus and Fecenia, and some eight species, all natives of Southern Asia and the adjacent islands. The two species of Psechrus are large spiders. They make large domed webs, which they stretch between trees or rocks, and beneath which they hang in an inverted position.
The calamistrum of these spiders is short, about half the length of the fourth metatarsus.
Fam. 19. Zodariidae (Enyoidae).—In this family are included a number of remarkable exotic spiders, most of them somewhat Drassid-like in appearance, but generally with three-clawed tarsi. The group appears to be a somewhat heterogeneous one, the twenty genera of which it consists presenting rather a wide range of characteristics.