The Common Spiders of the United States
by J. H. Emerton · English · Gutenberg #42576 · 350,250 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The Common Spiders of the United States
Author: J. H. Emerton
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Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMMON SPIDERS OF THE UNITED STATES ***
Transcriber's Notes at end of index.
$Bold words$ have been marked with dollar signs and
_italic words_ with underscores.
THE
COMMON SPIDERS
OF THE
UNITED STATES
By JAMES H. EMERTON
BOSTON, U.S.A., AND LONDON
GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
The Athenæum Press
ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL
COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY
JAMES H. EMERTON
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
24.12
PREFACE
There are few books on the American spiders, and these are either large
and expensive works or else special papers published by scientific
societies, and so little known to the public. Since publishing my papers
on the New England and Canadian spiders in the _Transactions of the
Connecticut Academy_ from 1882 to 1894, I have had frequent calls for a
smaller and simpler book to meet the wants of readers who, without
making a special study of the subject, want to know a little about
spiders in general and especially those species that they often meet
with. It is hoped this book will answer the purpose and help to lessen
the prejudice against spiders, and lead to a more general acquaintance
with them, like the popular knowledge of birds and butterflies. The
characters used in the descriptions are, as far as possible, those that
can be seen without microscopic examination and without much experience
in the handling of small animals. The illustrations, which show the form
and markings of every species, are from my own drawings and photographs,
a large part of them made new for this book.
J. H. EMERTON.
APRIL, 1902.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION PAGE
NUMBER AND NAMES OF SPIDERS vii
ANATOMY viii
SILK AND SPINNING ORGANS x
COLORS AND MARKINGS xi
HABITATS OF COMMON SPIDERS xii-xiv
COBWEBS xvi
CATCHING AND PRESERVING SPIDERS xvii
THE DRASSIDÆ 1-21
CLUBIONA 15
THE DYSDERIDÆ 22
THE THOMISIDÆ 24-40
MISUMENA 25
XYSTICUS 30
PHILODROMUS 35
THE ATTIDÆ 41-66
THE LYCOSIDÆ 67-90
LYCOSA 68
PARDOSA 78
DOLOMEDES 85
OCYALE 88
OXYOPES 88
THE AGALENIDÆ 91-106
THE THERIDIDÆ 107-13
THERIDIUM 110
STEATODA 119
PHOLCUS 128
SCYTODES 131
THE LINYPHIADÆ 134-153
LINYPHIA 134
ERIGONE 148
THE EPEIRIDÆ 154-204
ROUND WEBS OF THE EPEIRIDÆ 155-159
SPECIES OF EPEIRA 160-181
THE THREE SPECIES OF THE GENUS ZILLA 184
ACROSOMA 188
ARGIOPE 192-198
TETRAGNATHA 198-204
THE CINIFLONIDÆ, OR CRIBELLATA 205-220
DICTYNA 205
AMAUROBIUS 213
ULOBORUS 216
HYPTIOTES 218
FILISTATA 220
INTRODUCTION
This book is designed to make the reader acquainted with the common
spiders most likely to be found over a large part of the United States
as far south as Georgia and as far west as the Rocky Mountains. Local
collections show that in the neighborhood of any city in the country
there are at least three or four hundred species of spiders; but few
such collections have been made, and it is not yet possible to tell all
the kinds of spiders that live in any particular place, or how far any
species extends over the country. The species which are here described
and figured are all of them well known and have been described in other
books. Rare and doubtful species are omitted, though some of these may
in time prove to be among the most common. A large number of spiders are
too small to be easily seen, and most of these are omitted, only a few
representative species being described. Spiders have, unfortunately, no
common names, except such indefinite ones as "the garden spider," "the
black spider," "the jumping spider," and the like. Even "tarantula" has
become only a nickname for any large spider. The names of spiders, like
those of other animals, have been given to them independently by
different persons, so that many of them have more than one name, and the
more common the spider the larger the number of names. In this book only
one name is usually given to each species, and the name used is one that
has been published with a description of the species in some other
well-known book. Readers who are interested in the names of species and
in comparing the classifications of different naturalists are referred
to a "Catalogue of the Described Araneæ Of Temperate North America," by
George Marx, in the _Proceedings of the United States National Museum_,
1890, which is a useful index to what has been published on American
spiders.
The front half of a spider's body, called the cephalothorax, contains in
one piece the head and thorax, the only outward division between them
being shallow grooves from the middle of the back to the front legs. In
the middle of the cephalothorax is usually a groove or depression, under
which, inside, is a muscle that moves the sucking apparatus by which
food is drawn into the mouth. At the sides of the thoracic part are four
pairs of legs, and on the head part are a pair of palpi and a pair of
mandibles. The legs have seven joints: (1) the coxa, the thick basal
joint, having little motion; (2) the trochanter, a short joint moving
very freely on the end of the coxa; (3) the femur, the largest joint of
the leg, moving with the trochanter in all directions; (4) the patella,
moving up and down on the end of the femur; (5) the tibia, joined
closely to the patella and moving with it up and down; (6) the
metatarsus; and (7) the tarsus, moving together on the end of the tibia.
The palpi are like small legs and have one less joint than the walking
legs. The mandibles are close together at the front of the head (fig.
2). They are two-jointed, the basal joint stout and the end joint or
claw slender and sharp-pointed. The claw has near its point a small
hole, which is the outlet of the poison gland. The poison kills or
disables the insects which are captured by the spider. Its effect on the
human skin varies in different persons; sometimes it has no effect at
all; oftener it causes some soreness and itching like the stings of
mosquitoes and bees, and cases have been known in which it caused
serious inflammation which lasted a long time. Spiders seldom bite, and
only in defense, the bites so commonly charged to them being often the
work of other animals.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. Diagram of the under side of a spider, with the
legs removed except one.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2. Front of head, showing the eyes and mandibles.]
On the front of the head are the eyes, usually eight in number,
differing in size and arrangement according to the kind of spider. The
sight of spiders is distinct for only short distances. Spiders of middle
size can see each other, and the insects which they eat, at a distance
of four or five inches, but beyond that do not seem to see anything
clearly. At the ends of the feet are two claws, curved and with teeth
along the inner edge, and in many spiders there is a third shorter claw
between them (fig. 212). The claws are sometimes surrounded by a brush
of flattened hairs (figs. 104, 114). The basal joints of the palpi are
flattened and have their inner edges extended forward so that they can
be used as jaws to press or chew the food. These are called the maxillæ.
Between the maxillæ is a small piece called the labium, and between the
legs is a larger oval piece called the sternum.
The hinder half of the body, the abdomen, is connected with the
cephalothorax by a narrow stem (fig. 1). It has at the hinder end the
spinnerets, three pairs of appendages having at their ends a great
number of microscopic tubes through which the thread is drawn out. When
not in use the spinnerets are folded together, so that the smaller inner
pair are concealed.
The thread of spiders resembles that spun by caterpillars in making
their cocoons, and can be manufactured in the same way into silk cloth.
The spider's thread is composed of a great number of finer threads
passing from the body through separate tubes and uniting into one before
they have time to dry. This can be seen by examining the attachments of
spiders' threads to glass. All the spinning tubes are not alike, but on
certain parts of the spinnerets are larger or differently shaped tubes,
and these are the outlets of glands of different kinds in the spider's
abdomen, and are used in making different kinds of threads for certain
parts of the webs, nests, or cocoons.
In front of the spinnerets on the under side is a small opening to the
tracheæ, or air-tubes (fig. 1). At the front of the abdomen on the under
side is a transverse fold of the skin, at the ends of which are the
openings of the air-sacs or lungs, and between them the opening of the
reproductive organs (fig. 1). The latter is covered in females by an
apparatus, sometimes large and complicated, called the epigynum. Its
presence shows that the female is full grown. Young spiders do not have
it. Male spiders have the ends of the palpi enlarged, and under the
terminal joint what is known as the palpal organ, sometimes very
complicated in shape. The presence of these organs shows that the male
is full grown. Young males that have nearly reached maturity have the
ends of the palpi simply enlarged. Male spiders almost always have the
body smaller and the legs longer than females of the same species.
The colors of spiders are partly in the skin itself and partly in the
hairs and scales that cover it. Almost all spiders are covered with hair
of some kind, but in some species it is so fine and short that it has
little effect on the color. In others the skin is entirely covered with
hairs of various lengths and sometimes with scales somewhat like those
of butterflies, flattened and feathered or toothed on the edges. The
colors of spiders are very varied, and in many species, especially of
the jumping spiders, as brilliant as those of butterflies. The most
common colors are grays and browns, resembling the ground or plants and
stones among which the spiders live. Sometimes the color is uniform all
over the body, except that it is a little darker toward the head and the
ends of the feet. The most common marking is a spot on the front of the
abdomen over the spider's heart, sometimes merely a translucent part of
the skin and sometimes a definite color spot darker in the middle and
outlined with a lighter shade or white. The hinder half of the abdomen
is often marked with several pairs of spots, becoming smaller toward the
end, and these spots may be united into a pair of stripes or a more
complicated pattern. (See figures.) The legs are often marked with rings
of color, almost always at the ends of the joints. Besides these common
markings there are in some spiders strong contrasts of color, such as
bright red or yellow spots on a black ground. In the males, especially
among the Attidæ, there are often shining scales that reflect different
colors in a bright light, and tufts of black or white hairs about the
head and front legs.
Spiders live in all kinds of places. Certain species are attached to
houses and seldom found far from them, and many of these occur over a
large part of the world. The light webs in the corners of rooms are
chiefly the work of _Theridium tepidariorum_ (p. 112), occasionally of
_Steatoda borealis_ (p. 119) and _Steatoda triangulosa_ (p. 121). In
cellars the thin webs about the stairs and shelves are those of the
long-legged _Pholcus phalangioides_ (p. 129) or of _Linyphia nebulosa_
or _minuta_ (pp. 144, 145), and the thick flat webs in corners and
between the beams are those of _Tegenaria derhamii_ (p. 96). On the
outside of houses live two jumping spiders, the most common being
_Epiblemum scenicum_ (p. 60), a small gray species the color of
weathered wood, and the other, _Marptusa familiaris_ (p. 61). Some of
the round-web spiders live in great numbers about houses. The three
brown species, _Epeira sclopetaria_ (p. 160), _patagiata_, and _strix_,
hide in cracks and at night make their round webs in porches, barns, and
bridges. In the northern part of the country _Epeira cinerea_ (p. 165)
has the same habit. _Epeira globosa_ (p. 174) is often found on the
outside of houses, and so are _Zilla atrica_ and _Zilla x-notata_ (p.
185). _Amaurobius ferox_ (p. 215), a large imported species, is
sometimes found in cellars, and several Dictyna (p. 206) live in great
numbers on the outside of houses, in corners of windows, under the edges
of shingles, or in cracks of walls, spreading their webs wherever there
is room for them and gathering dust so that they often make a distinct
spot on the wall. In the southern states _Filistata hibernalis_ (p. 220)
is one of the most common spiders about houses. Its webs often make a
round spot of dust a foot or more in diameter. Stones and sticks lying
on the ground furnish shelter for a great number of spiders. _Steatoda
borealis_ (p. 119), _marmorata_ (p. 121), and _guttata_ (p. 120) and
_Asagena americana_ (p. 122) are found in such places, and so,
especially in the South, is _Latrodectus mactans_ (p. 122). The large
jumping spiders, _Phidippus mystaceus_ (p. 50) and _tripunctatus_ (p.
51), make large nests of white silk under stones near the ground. The
ground spiders, _Drassus saccatus_ (p. 6), _Gnaphosa conspersa_ (p. 2),
and _Prosthesima atra_ (p. 5), run on the ground and hide under stones.
_Lycosa nidicola_ (p. 69), _Lycosa communis_ (p. 75), _Lycosa pratensis_
(p. 69), _polita_ (p. 70), and _cinerea_ (p. 74) are often found under
shelters of this kind. The crab spiders of the genus Xysticus live under
stones, but oftener under bark farther from the ground.
In the summer, plants of all kinds from grass to trees are full of
spiders. The Lycosas (pp. 68 to 84) run among the short grass. The small
species of Linyphia (p. 134) and Erigone (p. 148) make their flat webs
close to the ground among small plants. _Linyphia marginata_,
_communis_, _coccinea_, and _phrygiana_ make theirs among plants and
rocks, a foot or two above the ground. The Theridiums (p. 110) live
between leaves and on the ends of twigs, covering them with webs that
only show when the dew is on them. _Agalena nævia_ (pp. 91 to 95) makes
its flat webs on the grass and anywhere else where it can find a place
to fasten them. The jumping spiders (p. 41) run about for their prey on
plants, and some of them have silk nests among the leaves. The Misumenas
(p. 25) live among flowers and wait for insects to alight within reach.
The webs of Dictyna (p. 206) are commonest on the ends of grass and
twigs, and are known by the dust that they gather. The round-web spiders
mature in the middle of the summer, and then _Epeira trivittata_ (p.
166) is found on all kinds of bushes and grass, and later _Epeira
insularis_ (p. 169) and _Epeira trifolium_ (p. 171) in hidden nests near
their webs. _Epeira angulata_, _sylvatica_, and _nordmanni_ (p. 162)
live among bushes and trees. _Cyclosa conica_ (p. 183), _Acrosoma
spinea_ (p. 190), and Uloborus (p. 216) live among low bushes in
openings of the woods. Hyptiotes (p. 218) lives among the lower dead
branches of pines, perching on the end of a twig which it exactly
matches in color.
The marshes are the home of great numbers of spiders. The Tetragnathas
(p. 198) live there, especially along the streams and ditches. _Epeira
gibberosa_ (p. 175) and _placida_ (p. 176) make their horizontal and
oblique webs among the tall grass in open places. The two species of
Argiope (pp. 193 to 198) swarm in marshes and open fields and in autumn
become conspicuous by their size and bright colors, and when they
disappear leave over winter their brown cocoons (pp. 197, 200) fastened
to the grass.
The moss and dead leaves in the woods are alive with spiders; even in
summer some species always live there, and in winter the young of those
that in warm weather live among the bushes find shelter where they can
remain torpid through the cold season without freezing.
The eggs of spiders are covered with silk, forming a cocoon which varies
much in shape and color in different species. Some spiders hang it in
the web, others attach it to plants or stones, and others carry it about
with them either in the mandibles or attached behind to the spinnerets.
The young remain in the cocoon until they are able to run about, and
after coming out of the cocoon keep together for a short time, sometimes
in a web which they make in common, sometimes in a nest made by the
mother, and in some species on the mother's back, but they soon scatter
and hunt their own food or make cobwebs, according to the habits of the
species.
Different kinds of spiders mature and breed at different times of the
year, most of them living only one season. Those that mature late, like
_Agalena nævia_ and Argiope, pass the winter as eggs, while those that
mature early, like _Epeira sclopetaria_ and _Lycosa nidicola_, pass the
winter half grown. Some species, like _Theridium tepidariorum_ (p. 112),
breed several times in the year, and old and young are found at all
seasons.
The spiders are naturally divided into two groups of families: (1) the
hunting spiders, which run on the ground or on plants, catching insects
wherever they find them, or waiting among leaves and flowers until
insects come within their reach; (2) the cobweb spiders, which make webs
to catch insects and live all the time in the web or in a nest near it.
The hunting spiders include: (1) the Dysderidæ (p. 22), a few species
with six eyes only and with four breathing holes at the front end of the
abdomen; (2) the Drassidæ (p. 1), or ground spiders, which live among
stones and dead leaves or among plants, making tubular nests and flat
egg cocoons but no cobwebs; (3) the Thomisidæ (p. 24), the flat and
crab-like spiders living on plants or under bark and stones; (4) the
Attidæ (p. 41), the jumping spiders, with wide heads and large front
eyes, many of them brightly colored and active in their habits; (5) the
Lycosidæ (p. 67), the long-legged running spiders, living on the ground
and, a few of them, in holes and carrying about their round egg cocoons
attached to the spinnerets.
The cobweb spiders include: (1) the Agalenidæ (p. 91), making flat webs
on grass or in corners of houses, with a tube at one side in which the
spider lives; (2) the Therididæ (p. 107), round spiders with flat or
irregular webs in corners and on plants; (3) the Linyphiadæ (p. 134),
with flat webs, small spiders of a great number of species living near
the ground and in shady places; (4) the Epeiridæ (p. 154), the round
web spiders; (5) the Cribellata, having a calamistrum (see p. 205) on
the hind legs and making rough webs that gather dust.
Cobwebs are of four principal kinds:
1. The flat webs, closely woven of long threads crossed by finer ones in
all directions and connected with a tubular nest where the spider hides,
and from which it runs out on the upper side of the web after insects
that may fall upon it. These are made by Agalena and Tegenaria (pp. 91
to 104).
2. The net-like webs, made of smooth threads in large meshes, sometimes
in a flat or curved sheet held out by threads in all directions. The
spider lives on the under side, back downward. These are made by
Therididæ and Linyphiadæ (pp. 107, 134).
3. The round webs, made of threads radiating from a common center and
crossed by circular loops and spirals, part of which are adhesive.
4. The webs of the Ciniflonidæ, composed in part of loose bands of silk
(p. 205).
The simplest and best way to preserve spiders for examination is to put
them in alcohol. It kills them immediately and keeps their form and
markings and, to a great extent, their colors. They may be kept alive
for a few days in glass bottles or jars. It is not necessary to make
holes in the covers, or to feed the spiders often. They need water, and
this can be furnished them conveniently by putting a piece of wet paper
or rag in the bottle.
If one wishes to find what spiders live in his neighborhood, they must
be looked for at all times and in all kinds of places. The house and
cellar should be looked over and the spiders watched until they are
fully grown. The outside of the house and fences should be looked over
occasionally in the same way, only those spiders being taken that are
full grown, unless they are of new or rare kinds. A great many spiders
may be found on the garden fences of a shady street, especially in the
early summer and again in the autumn. At both seasons they are more
active in the middle of the day and more likely then to be wandering
about. The writer always carries two small bottles, one a common
homeopathic medicine vial, holding one or two drams and half full of
alcohol, the other a straight tube vial, without any neck and about the
same size, that is kept always dry and occasionally wiped out to remove
the threads that are made in it. The dry bottle is placed quickly over
the spider and moved about until the spider is coaxed to go into it. The
bottle is then turned up and closed with a finger until the other bottle
can be uncorked and the spider shaken into the alcohol. In the fields
and along the country roads the stones and sticks that have been lying
for some time on the ground should be carefully lifted and searched,
both on the under surface and on the ground below. The stones and sticks
should be turned back into the same places so that other spiders may
find at once comfortable places to hide under. If they are dropped on
new ground, it may be a year before they are fit to use again. Among
trees and shrubs the best things are to be found by moving slowly about
and watching for spiders, nests, and cobwebs without disturbing them.
The webs can be best seen when moving toward the light. The greatest
number of spiders can usually be found along paths and the edges of
woods, and paths through the woods are the best places for many ground
spiders.
Spiders should be looked for in the same way in grass, by creeping along
on the ground or by sitting down and watching until something walks into
view; or the grass and weeds may be swept with a cotton bag, fastened on
a hoop like a dip net, with a short handle, and the spiders picked out
with a dry bottle from among the leaves and insects that will be
gathered with them. Bushes may be swept in the same way, or may be
shaken over an open umbrella, or a piece of cloth or paper. In winter,
when spiders are torpid, great numbers can be found by sifting the dead
leaves that have been lying for some years in the woods. A common coal
sieve is fine enough to hold the leaves while the spiders and sticks and
dirt pass through, and may be picked over on a cloth or carried home in
a bag and examined in the house. The sifting should be repeated several
times, as many of the spiders hold to threads among the leaves and
become loosened only after much shaking.
In the following pages a general description is given of each family,
followed by descriptions of the species belonging to it, with a figure
of each species placed as near as possible to the description. In some
cases, where the genera are large and well defined, separate
descriptions are given of each genus, but where the genus is not easy to
distinguish or represented by only a few species, there is no separate
generic description, and the species are placed next to those of other
genera to which they are most closely related. If the names of spiders
are known, they can readily be found by the index at the end of the
book. If information is sought about an unknown spider, the
illustrations through the book furnish the most convenient index, as the
general form and proportions of spiders and the arrangement of their
eyes usually show to what family they belong. The ground spiders and
those without cobwebs are described first, and the sedentary species
living in webs in the last half of the book. Readers unfamiliar with the
subject are advised to read first the descriptions of the families and
compare with them the spiders that they find in their own neighborhoods.
The figures are in most cases enlarged for the sake of distinctness, and
spiders of much smaller size must be looked for.
THE COMMON SPIDERS
THE DRASSIDÆ
The Drassidæ, like the Lycosidæ (p. 67), are ground spiders, though some
genera, like Anyphæna (p. 12) and Clubiona (p. 15), are equally common
in summer on bushes. They make nests in the form of a bag or flattened
tube, but no cobwebs for catching insects, and are commonly found
running about among dead leaves and short grass and sometimes even on
bare ground and sand. In form they are usually two or three times as
long as they are wide, like the Lycosidæ (p. 67), but more often
flattened on the back. The legs differ but little in length, and the
first and second pairs are directed forward, the third and fourth
backward. Their hairs and spines are short, giving them a smooth,
velvet-like appearance. The feet have two claws, with a brush of
flattened hairs under them, like the Thomisidæ and Attidæ (p. 41), but
unlike the Lycosidæ (p. 67), which have three claws. The mandibles are
large and strong and are together as wide as the head. The eyes are all
about the same size and arranged in two rows of about the same length
and not far apart, but between different species there are slight
differences in their arrangement. The colors are usually dull gray,
brown, and black, with few markings or none. A few species are very
brightly marked, as in Micaria (p. 9) and Pœcilochroa (p. 4).
There are three groups among the Drassidæ:
1. Prosthesima, Gnaphosa, Pœcilochroa, Pythonissa, and Drassus, which
are generally dark in color and flattened above, with the cephalothorax
narrow in front and the eyes covering about half the width of the head
and differing in their relative positions among the different genera.
The labium is long and the maxillæ slightly widened at the end, or with
the outer corners rounded off and sometimes a crease or depression in
the middle. The joints of the first legs are sometimes thickened in the
middle. The lower spinnerets are longer than the others and flat on the
end.
2. Micaria, Geotrecha, Phrurolithus, Agrœca, and Anyphæna, in which
the body is less flattened, the legs longer, and the movements quicker.
The colors are lighter and more varied. The labium is short and the
maxillæ with straight sides.
3. Clubiona, Chiracanthium, and Trachelas, in which the colors are plain
and light, the eyes spread over more than half the front of the head and
close to its front edge. The labium is as long as it is in Drassus, but
contracted at the base. The maxillæ are narrow in the middle and flat
and wide at the ends.
[Illustration: FIGS. 3, 4, 5. Gnaphosa conspersa.--4, female enlarged
four times. 3, the eyes seen from in front. 5, the maxillæ, labium, and
ends of the mandibles from below.]
$Gnaphosa conspersa.$--Half an inch long and rusty black in color. In
alcohol the legs and cephalothorax are dark reddish brown and the
abdomen gray. The whole body is covered with fine black hairs. The
cephalothorax and abdomen are about the same size and a little
flattened. The legs are stout and all nearly the same length. The upper
row of eyes is nearly straight and the lateral eyes much farther from
the middle pair than these are from each other (fig. 3). The middle eyes
are oval and oblique, diverging toward the front. The maxillæ are large,
and rounded on the outer corners. The mandibles are large and strong,
with a wide, flat, serrated tooth (fig. 5) under the claw. The cocoon is
white and flat, with a diameter as great as the length of the spider.
The female, as far as I have observed, makes no nest, but partly lines
with silk a shallow hole, in which she nurses her cocoon. It lives under
stones and leaves as far north as the White Mountains and west to the
Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, and on the Pacific coast in Oregon.
A smaller and similar species, _Gnaphosa brumalis_, lives on the top of
Mount Washington and as far north as Labrador.
$Pythonissa imbecilla.$--About quarter of an inch long, bright orange
brown on the cephalothorax and legs and blue black on the abdomen, with
a few white hairs around the muscular spots. The legs are covered with
fine long hairs a little darker in color than the skin. The
cephalothorax is wide behind and more narrowed in front than in
Gnaphosa. The eyes (fig. 6) are close together, and the lateral eyes of
both rows are larger than the middle pairs and a little farther back on
the head. The maxillæ (fig. 8) are short and wide, and bent toward each
other so that they nearly meet in front of the labium. The front edges
are nearly straight and the outer corners only slightly rounded. The
sternum is wide and almost circular. The tarsus of the female palpi
tapers from the base to the tip.
[Illustration: FIGS. 6, 7, 8. Pythonissa imbecilla.--7, female enlarged
four times. 6, the eyes seen from in front. 8, the maxillæ, labium, and
ends of mandibles from below.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 9, 10, 11. Pœcilochroa variegata.--11, female
enlarged four times. 9, eyes from in front. 10, maxillæ, labium, and
ends of mandibles from below.]
$Pœcilochroa variegata.$--This is one of the most brightly colored of
the family. The cephalothorax is bright orange, a little darker toward
the eyes. The abdomen is black, with three transverse white stripes and
a T-shaped white mark between the first and second stripes. On the front
of the abdomen the white stripes are sometimes tinged with orange. The
femora of the first and second legs are black. The distal end of the
femur and both ends of the tibia of the fourth legs are black. Other
parts of the legs are orange-colored. The female is quarter of an inch
long. The cephalothorax is narrower than in _Prosthesima atra_ and
_Gnaphosa conspersa_, and the sternum longer and narrower. The maxillæ
(fig. 10) are long and widened at the outer corners. The two rows of
eyes (fig. 9) are almost straight, the upper one longer than the lower.
[Illustration: FIG. 12. FIG. 13. Pœcilochroa bilineata.--Upper and
under views of female without the legs, enlarged four times.]
$Pœcilochroa bilineata.$--A little smaller than _P. variegata_, but
with the abdomen longer. Cephalothorax and abdomen both white at the
sides and in the middle, with two black stripes from the eyes nearly to
the spinnerets. The abdomen is covered with long hairs, black in the
stripes and silvery white in the light portions. The legs are gray, with
white hairs. The under side is light gray, with two black stripes at the
sides of the abdomen that do not quite reach the spinnerets. The
spinnerets are unusually long. The eyes are arranged as in _variegata_,
the middle eyes being even more distinctly farther apart than they are
from the lateral eyes.
[Illustration: FIGS. 14, 15, 16. Prosthesima atra.--16, female enlarged
four times. 14, eyes seen from in front. 15, maxillæ, labium, and ends
of mandibles from below.]
$Prosthesima atra.$--Black, and less than a third of an inch long. It
may be mistaken for a small _Gnaphosa conspersa_, but, besides the small
size, the abdomen is usually longer in proportion and the head is
narrower than in Gnaphosa. The color is usually a deeper black and less
likely to be gray in the young and rusty in the old, but the feet and
under side of the abdomen are sometimes yellowish in the young. The eyes
(fig. 14) are closer together and the two rows more nearly of the same
length. In alcohol the cephalothorax and legs are blacker than in
Gnaphosa and less brown. The maxillæ (fig. 15) are a little longer and
less rounded at the outer corners than in Gnaphosa or Pythonissa. The
mandibles (fig. 15) are without the large teeth under the claw that
Gnaphosa and Pythonissa have, and they are turned forward more than in
those genera. It lives on the ground and under stones. The cocoon is
white or pink, attached by the under surface, with the upper side convex
and thickened in the middle, sometimes with a little dirt attached to
it.
[Illustration: FIG. 17. FIG. 18. Prosthesima ecclesiastica.--Upper and
under views of female enlarged four times.]
$Prosthesima ecclesiastica.$--Black, with white markings along the
middle of the back. One-third of an inch long, a little larger than _P.
atra_ and smaller than _Gnaphosa conspersa_. The cephalothorax is
proportionally longer and narrower and the sternum narrower and less
round than in _P. atra_ (fig. 18). The cephalothorax is dull black at
the sides, with a whitish stripe in the middle. The legs are also dull
black and, like the cephalothorax, turn brown in alcohol. The abdomen is
black, with a bright white stripe in the middle that extends from the
front end about two-thirds its length; and at the hinder end, just over
the spinnerets, is another white mark (fig. 17). The under side of the
abdomen is dark at the sides and light in the middle. The eyes and
maxillæ are as in _P. atra_, the maxillæ a little less rounded at the
ends.
[Illustration: FIG. 19. Drassus saccatus.--Female enlarged three times.
For eyes and mouth parts see figs. 1 and 2 in Introduction.]
$Drassus saccatus.$--Four-fifths of an inch long, and pale, without
markings. The head is shorter and wider than in _Gnaphosa conspersa_ and
_Prosthesima atra_, and the eyes cover a larger part of the head. Both
rows of eyes (figs. 2, 19) are curved, with the middle highest. The
middle upper pair are oval and turned apart toward the front. The
lateral eyes are twice their diameter from the middle pair. The maxillæ
(fig. 1) are widened at the ends on both sides. The labium is as wide as
it is long, narrowed toward the end but truncated at the tip. The color
is light gray, with short fine hairs all over the body. The front of the
head, the feet, and the mandibles and maxillæ are darker and browner.
The abdomen is marked only with the usual four muscular spots and
sometimes a few transverse dark markings toward the hinder end. The
legs are long and tapering in both sexes. The male is smaller and more
slender than the female, and the male palpi are long, with the end very
little enlarged. They live under stones, and make a large transparent
bag of silk in which the female makes her cocoon of eggs, and stays with
it until the young come out. Early in the summer a male and female often
live together in the nest, even before the female is mature.
[Illustration: FIGS. 20, 21, 22. Geotrecha crocata.--22, female enlarged
four times. 20, eyes seen from in front. 21, maxillæ, labium, and ends
of mandibles from below.]
$Geotrecha crocata.$--Black, with the ends of the legs light yellow and
a bright red spot on the end of the abdomen. It is about a third of an
inch long. The legs are slender and the body is not at all flattened.
The cephalothorax is two-thirds as wide as long, oval behind and
narrowed in front of the legs, where the sides of the head are nearly
parallel. The abdomen is oval and nearly twice as long as wide. The
spinnerets are so far under the body that they show but little from
above. At the front end of the abdomen is a spot larger below than
above, where the skin is thicker and harder and browner in color than
the rest. The cephalothorax is dark brown or black, as are also the
femora of all the legs and of the palpi. The ends of the third and
fourth legs are a lighter brown and the ends of the first and second
legs and palpi light yellow. The abdomen is deep black except a bright
red spot at the hinder end, which varies in size, is sometimes broken
into several spots, or is sometimes wanting altogether. The eyes (fig.
20) are near together, the upper row curved down at the ends. The
maxillæ are straight, with the sides nearly parallel, and the labium is
shorter than wide. The males are usually smaller than the females and
have the red spot larger. These spiders live among stones in dry open
places. They are easily alarmed and move very rapidly. The flat,
parchment-like cocoons found on stones are probably made by this
species.
[Illustration: FIG. 23. FIG. 24. Geotrecha bivittata.--Upper and under
views of female enlarged four times.]
$Geotrecha bivittata.$--The same size as _G. crocata_ but much lighter
colored, and with two white stripes across the abdomen (fig. 23). The
cephalothorax is a little narrower behind than it is in _crocata_. Its
color varies from orange to dark brown. The femora of all the legs are
striped lengthwise with brown and yellow. The hind legs are brown, with
a little yellow on the upper side of the patella and tibia. The other
legs are yellow, sometimes with brown stripes on the under side. The
white marks on the abdomen extend underneath halfway to the middle line.
The sternum and under side are light brown. It lives under leaves at all
seasons.
[Illustration: FIGS. 25, 26, 27, 28. Micaria longipes.--28, Male
enlarged four times. 25, eyes seen from in front. 26, maxillæ, labium,
and ends of mandibles from below. 27, Southern variety, Micaria aurata.
Colored orange, with black and white markings.]
$Micaria longipes$ or $aurata.$--A quarter of an inch long or less, and
resembling an ant both in size and color (fig. 28). The cephalothorax is
twice as long as wide, and only a little widened in the middle. It is
highest in the middle, curving downward at both ends. The front row of
eyes (fig. 25) is nearly straight and the upper row curved, with the
middle eyes highest and the eyes all farther apart than in the lower
row. The abdomen is one-half longer than the cephalothorax and about as
wide, blunt at both ends and drawn in a little at the sides and above at
a point a third of its length from the front. The legs are long and
slender, the fourth pair longest. The colors are light yellow brown,
with gray hairs and scales which on the abdomen have green and red
metallic reflections. The legs are darker from before backward, the
front pair all light yellow except the femur, and the third and fourth
pairs with longitudinal brown stripes that nearly cover the tarsal
joints. The abdomen has a pair of transverse white stripes near the
constricted part and another pair less distinct at the front end. The
under side is as dark as the upper. The white markings extend underneath
halfway to the middle line. The maxillæ are nearly straight on the outer
edge and a little widened toward each other at the ends. The labium is
narrowed at the end and a little longer than wide (fig. 26).
There is an orange-colored Micaria from Long Island, N.Y., and farther
south (probably what is described by Hentz under the name _Herpyllus
auratus_), that seems to belong to this species (fig. 27). Its size and
markings are the same, and the epigynum is like that of _longipes_. The
cephalothorax, abdomen, and femora of all the legs are bright orange
color, with brilliant yellow and green reflections. The spinnerets are
black, and there are five or six transverse black marks on the hinder
half of the abdomen and some irregular black spots around the white
bands.
[Illustration: FIGS. 29, 30, 31, 32. Phrurolithus alarius.--31, female
in a natural position, with legs drawn up over the back, enlarged eight
times. 29, one of the front legs to show spines. 30, eyes from in front.
32, maxillæ, labium, and ends of mandibles.]
$Phrurolithus alarius.$--A small and very active spider marked with gray
and white and having on the abdomen iridescent green scales (fig. 31).
The cephalothorax is nearly as wide behind as it is long. The head is
about half as wide as the thorax. The eyes (fig. 30) are large for so
small a spider, and cover more than half the width of the head. The
middle eyes of the upper row are oval and turned obliquely, diverging
toward the front. The labium is short and the maxillæ straight, as in
Agrœca and Anyphæna, but wider at the base (fig. 32). The legs are
long and slender, except the tibia and metatarsus of the first and
second pairs, which are twice as thick as the same joints of the other
legs and have on the under side two rows of strong spines (fig. 29). The
cephalothorax is light yellowish, with a black line on the edge each
side, and two light gray stripes. The abdomen is gray, with transverse
white markings that vary greatly in size and shape in different
individuals. The abdomen is covered with scales that change from grayish
green to pink with the motions of the spider. The legs are pale, except
the patella and tibia of the first pair, which are black or dark gray,
with the tip of the tibia white. The tibia and patella of the second
pair are marked with lighter gray in the same way. It lives among stones
in open ground, and runs short distances with great swiftness. When
still it lies close to a stone, with the tibiæ drawn up over the back.
[Illustration: FIGS. 33, 34, 35, 36. Agrœca pratensis.--33, eyes from
in front. 34, maxillæ, labium, and ends of mandibles. 35, back of female
enlarged four times. 36, under side of female as far back as the
epigynum.]
$Agrœca pratensis.$--A little light-colored spider, resembling the
next species, _Anyphæna incerta_. It is about a fifth of an inch long.
The cephalothorax is wide behind and low in front and highest near the
dorsal groove. The head is contracted in front of the legs more than it
is in _incerta_. The front row of eyes is nearly straight, the middle
pair only a little the higher (fig. 33). The upper row is longer and
more curved, with all the eyes about the same distance apart, the middle
pair not so much separated as in _incerta_. The abdomen is widest
behind, but not as wide as in _incerta_. The spinnerets are two-jointed,
as in Anyphæna. The legs are long, the fourth pair longest, and are a
little thicker than those of _incerta_. The coxæ of the hind legs almost
touch, and the sternum is short and nearly round (fig. 36). The labium
is short and the maxillæ straight, as in Anyphæna. The cephalothorax,
legs, and mouth parts are light brownish yellow. The cephalothorax has a
fine dark line on each side and two broken longitudinal stripes made up
of gray marks radiating from the dorsal groove. The abdomen has two rows
of gray oblique markings on a light ground. The general appearance is
like a small Lycosa. It lives among leaves and short grass. There is
little difference between male and female.
[Illustration: FIGS. 37, 38, 39, 40, 41. Anyphæna incerta.--37, palpus
of male. 38, under side of female as far forward as end of sternum. 39,
eyes from in front. 40, female enlarged four times. 41, maxillæ, labium,
and ends of mandibles.]
$Anyphæna incerta.$--About a fifth of an inch long, light yellow, with
gray markings. The cephalothorax is three-quarters as wide as long,
rounded at the sides and highest in the middle. The front of the head is
very low, so that the eyes nearly touch the mandibles. The front row of
eyes is nearly straight. The upper row is longer and more curved, with
the middle eyes highest and farthest apart (fig. 39). The abdomen is
large in the female, widest behind the middle, and a little pointed
behind. The labium is not longer than wide, and the maxillæ are
straight, with the sides parallel. The sternum is oval, not so short and
wide as in _pratensis_. The opening of the air-tubes is halfway between
the epigynum and spinnerets (fig. 38), instead of just in front of the
spinnerets, as it is in most spiders. The spinnerets are two-jointed.
The legs are slender and tapering, the fourth longest in females and the
first in males. The cephalothorax has two longitudinal broken gray
bands. The abdomen has a double row of spots in the middle and oblique
rows of smaller spots each side. The oblique lines of spots extend under
the abdomen halfway to the middle.
[Illustration: FIGS. 42, 43. Anyphæna calcarata.--42, under side of
cephalothorax of female. 43, palpus of male.]
$Anyphæna calcarata.$--The same size and color as _A. incerta_, with
longer legs. The markings are the same in both species. The plainest
difference between the females is in the epigynum, the hard and dark
parts of which are larger and longer in _incerta_. Another slight
difference is in the shape of the sternum, which in _calcarata_ extends
farther between the hind legs (fig. 42). In _incerta_ it is more pointed
at the hinder end and shorter (fig. 38). The difference between the
length of the legs in the two species, which is slight in the females,
is greater in the males, the legs of _calcarata_ being the longer. The
palpi of the males differ considerably. In _incerta_ (fig. 37) the tibia
of the palpus has a large process on the outer side close to the tarsus
and extending along its edge a third of its length. In _calcarata_ (fig.
43) the corresponding process is small and does not lap over the tarsus.
The coxæ of the third and fourth legs of the male _calcarata_ have
little processes on the under side (fig. 42), one on the fourth and two
on the third. These do not occur in _incerta_. It lives on plants like
_saltabunda_ (p. 14).
[Illustration: FIGS. 44, 45. Anyphæna rubra.--44, female without the
legs, enlarged four times. 45, under side of abdomen, showing position
of air-tubes.]
$Anyphæna rubra.$--Larger than the other species, with the legs shorter.
The female is about a third of an inch long, with the abdomen longer and
narrower than in _incerta_ or _saltabunda_. The opening of the air-tubes
(fig. 45) is farther forward than usual, twice as far from the
spinnerets as from the epigynum. The legs are comparatively short, the
longest, the fourth, being about as long as the body. The maxillæ are a
little widened at the end. The sternum is widest at the second legs and
narrows to a point behind. The head is a little wider than usual, and
the whole appearance more like Clubiona than the other species. The
color is the usual pale yellow, a little brownish on the head and legs,
and with two longitudinal stripes on the cephalothorax. The abdomen is
nearly white, with two stripes made up of gray spots, and scattered
spots at the sides. The spots turn red in alcohol.
[Illustration: FIGS. 46, 47. Anyphæna saltabunda.--46, female enlarged
six times. 47, palpus of male.]
$Anyphæna saltabunda.$--A pale short spider, with long and slender legs
(fig. 46). The body is an eighth to a sixth of an inch long. The abdomen
is oval, two-thirds as wide as long, and nearly as high as it is wide.
The cephalothorax is three-fourths as wide as long, widest across the
dorsal groove and narrowing gradually to half as wide in front. The eyes
of the upper row are twice as large as those of the front row. The first
legs are longest in both sexes, measuring in the female over twice the
length of the body and in the males three times. The spines are very
long on the legs and palpi but only a little darker in color. The
general color is pale yellow or white, with two broken gray stripes on
the cephalothorax and two middle and several lateral rows of light gray
spots on the abdomen. The spinnerets are slender and two-jointed. The
opening of the air-tubes is halfway between the spinnerets and the
epigynum. The palpi of the male (fig. 47) are long and slender, and the
tibia is slightly curved and has a large thin process on the outer
side.
THE GENUS CLUBIONA
These spiders are all pale and most of them without markings. The eyes
are close to the front edge of the head and cover more than half its
width (figs. 50, 54, 56). The upper row is longer and the eyes larger
and the middle pair farthest apart. The distance between this pair
varies according to the species. In _crassipalpis_ and _canadensis_ it
is little more than that between the middle and lateral eyes, while in
_rubra_ it is nearly twice as great. The mandibles of the females are
swelled at the base in front, and this swelling is greatest in
_canadensis_ (fig. 55). The mandibles of the males are longer and are
shaped in a variety of ways according to the species. The shape of the
epigynum is indistinct and variable, and females of different species
are difficult to distinguish. The females of _ornata_ and _excepta_ are
known by their markings and those of _rubra_ by their size and
resemblance to the male. The females of _crassipalpis_ and _tibialis_
are doubtful. The palpal organs and male palpi are of great variety and
distinguish the males of all species without much difficulty.
[Illustration: FIG. 48. Female Clubiona crassipalpis, enlarged four
times.]
The Clubionas live in flat tubes of silk on leaves of low plants in
summer and under bark and stones at all seasons.
$Clubiona crassipalpis.$--A quarter of an inch long and pale, without
markings. The head is sometimes a little darker than the rest of the
body, and the mandibles and ends of the male palpi are always darker.
The eyes of the upper row are almost equidistant, the middle pair only a
little farther apart than they are from the lateral eyes. The mandibles
of the male (figs. 49, 50) are elongated as usual, narrowed toward the
end, and thickened in front just above the middle. On the outer side in
front is a sharp ridge that extends from the base of the claw halfway up
the mandible. The inner edges of the mandibles are thin and inclined
backward toward the mouth, but there is no line or ridge between the
thick and thin portions as in some other species. The palpi of the male
(fig. 51) have the patella and tibia both short. The tibia is widened on
the outer side and laps over the tarsus, extending in a blunt hook for
half its length.
[Illustration: FIGS. 49, 50, 51, 52. Clubiona crassipalpis.--49, head
and mandibles of male from the left side. 50, head and mandibles of male
from in front. 51, palpus of male. 52, maxillæ, labium, and ends of
mandibles.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 53, 54. Clubiona tibialis.--53, end of palpus of
male, showing large tibia. 54, head and mandibles of male.]
$Clubiona tibialis.$--Quarter of an inch long, the same size and color
as _crassipalpis_, with no markings and no dark color except on the
mandibles and male palpi. The middle eyes are a little farther apart
than in _crassipalpis_. The male mandibles (fig. 54) are narrower than
in _crassipalpis_ and without the sharp ridge on the outer side, but on
the inside they are sharply hollowed out with a ridge between the thick
outer and thin inner portions. The male palpi (fig. 53) have the patella
about as long as wide, as it is in _crassipalpis_ and _canadensis_, but
the tibia is very large, with a hook in the usual place on the outer
side and a much larger process, which extends forward over the tarsus.
The tarsus is long and thickened in the middle where it rests against
the process of the tibia.
[Illustration: FIGS. 55, 56, 57. Clubiona canadensis.--55, head of
female, showing the swelled mandibles. 56, head and mandibles of male.
57, palpus of male.]
$Clubiona canadensis.$--Quarter of an inch long and without markings.
The upper eyes are nearly equidistant, as they are in _crassipalpis_,
but the legs and palpi are shorter. The male mandibles (fig. 56) are
much like those of _crassipalpis_, but have not so sharp a ridge on the
outer side. The male palpi (fig. 57) have the patella longer than wide
and the tibia wider than long, with two processes on the outer side. The
upper tibial process is a simple point extending along the outer side of
the tarsus for a quarter of its length. The under process is twice as
long, with a projecting corner at its base and running forward to a
sharp point, with a round notch halfway between the point and base. The
female has the head wider and the mandibles very much swelled in front
at the base (fig. 55). The fourth leg is longest and about as long as
the body.
[Illustration: FIGS. 58, 59. Clubiona rubra.--58, front of head and
mandibles of male. 59, palpus of male.]
$Clubiona rubra.$--Smaller than the other species, a sixth to a fifth of
an inch long. Cephalothorax light yellow brown, darker toward the front.
Abdomen pale in front and darkened with brownish red at the sides and
behind and along the middle of the back. The hind middle eyes are nearly
twice as far apart as they are from the lateral eyes. The fourth legs
are longest in both sexes, and there is little difference in the length
of the legs of the two sexes. The mandibles of the female are but little
swelled in front, not much more than those of the male, and the male
mandibles (fig. 58) are only a little narrowed at the ends. The male
palpi (fig. 59) have the tibia very much widened on the outer side, with
a short tooth in the middle and two larger short processes on the outer
side. The palpal organ has a large dark-colored process in the middle.
The epigynum is pointed behind, with a notch in the middle and two black
spots under the skin toward the front of the abdomen.
[Illustration: FIGS. 60, 61, 62. Clubiona ornata.--60, back of female
enlarged four times to show markings. 61, palpus of male. 62, front of
head and mandibles of male.]
$Clubiona ornata.$--This is one of the few Clubionas that have markings
on the abdomen. The general color is pale as usual, but the abdomen has
a dark stripe in the middle, broken into spots behind and bordered by
pale yellow. At the sides are oblique dark and light transverse
markings. These marks are of different sizes in different individuals
and connected in different ways. The length is from a third to half an
inch. The abdomen is wide across the middle and more pointed behind than
in most species. The front middle eyes are about as far apart as in
_tibialis_ and nearer than in _rubra_. The mandibles are not much
swelled in front. The legs of the male are longer than those of the
female, with the first pair longest, while in the female the fourth pair
is longest. The male mandibles (fig. 62) are narrow at the end and
hollowed on the inner edges as in _tibialis_, with a sharp ridge between
the thick and the thin portions. The male palpi (fig. 61) have two
processes on the outer side of the tibia longer than in _rubra_ and
shorter than in _canadensis_. The tibia is a little widened toward the
end and curved outward.
[Illustration: FIGS. 63, 64, 65. Clubiona excepta.--63, front of head
and mandibles of male. 64, palpus of male. 65, back of female enlarged
four times to show markings.]
$Clubiona excepta.$--A third of an inch long and with very distinct gray
markings on the abdomen. The cephalothorax is light yellow brown, and
the legs are more deeply colored with yellow than in most species. The
abdomen is white, with sometimes a yellow mark on the front of the
abdomen, and on the hinder half of the abdomen is a middle row of gray
spots and a row of larger transverse spots on each side. The fourth legs
are longest in both sexes. The male palpi have the tibia longer than
usual and patella and tibia about the same length. The tibia has a small
process with two teeth (fig. 64). The tarsus is oval and narrow and the
palpal organ small.
[Illustration: FIG. 66. Trachelas ruber, enlarged four times.]
$Trachelas ruber.$--One-third of an inch long, with the cephalothorax
short and wide like Clubiona, and the deep orange-brown color of
Dysdera. The cephalothorax is almost as wide as long, and widest
opposite the second legs. The head is three-quarters as wide as the
thorax and as high in the middle halfway between the eyes and the dorsal
groove. The front of the head is low, as in Clubiona. The front row of
eyes is a little curved, so that the middle pair are half their diameter
higher than the lateral. The upper row is much longer and the lateral
eyes are farther from the middle than these are from each other. The
labium and maxillæ are like those of Clubiona and the palpi very
slender. The first pair of legs are thicker than the others and as long
as the fourth. The second pair are also somewhat thickened. The legs are
orange brown, darkest on the front pair. The cephalothorax is dark brown
and finely roughened over the whole surface, without hairs except in
front. The abdomen is pale, with no markings except over the dorsal
vessel and the muscular spots. Some light-colored individuals have all
the colors paler. Under stones and leaves.
[Illustration: FIGS. 67, 68, 69. Chiracanthium viride.--67, female
enlarged four times. 68, eyes from in front. 69, maxillæ, labium, and
mandibles from below.]
$Chiracanthium viride.$--This has the color and general appearance of
the Clubionas, but the legs are longer and the first legs are
considerably longer than the fourth. The body is shorter and the abdomen
is wider and thicker in the middle. The female (fig. 67) is a third of
an inch long and the front legs two-fifths of an inch. The eyes (fig.
68) are arranged as in Clubiona. The maxillæ and labium are like those
of Clubiona, but the sternum is shorter and rounder. The head is but
little narrowed and the eyes cover almost its whole width. The upper
spinnerets are longer than the lower and distinctly two-jointed. The
spines of the legs are small and inconspicuous. The color in life is
greenish white, the mandibles brown, and the stripe over the dorsal
vessel darker than the rest of the abdomen.
The male has the front legs nearly three times as long as the body,
though the other legs are not much longer than in the female. The
mandibles are also elongated, as in the males of Clubiona. The male
palpi have the tarsus long, with a pointed process that extends backward
over the tibia between two processes on that joint.
THE DYSDERIDÆ
The Dysderidæ are a small family of spiders resembling in their general
appearance the Drassidæ, but differing from them in several important
characters. They have only six eyes instead of the usual eight, and they
have four breathing holes in the front of the abdomen, two of them
leading to the usual lungs and the others to the air-tubes, which in
most spiders open just in front of the spinnerets.
[Illustration: FIGS. 70, 71, 72. Dysdera interrita.--70, enlarged four
times. 71, head and eyes from in front. 72, under side enlarged six
times.]
$Dysdera interrita.$--Six eyes close together on the front of the head.
Length half an inch, with the abdomen a little longer than the
cephalothorax. The coxæ and patellæ are unusually long, especially on
the front legs, and the tarsi are unusually short (fig. 70). The
mandibles are long and inclined forward. The maxillæ are long, a little
widened in the middle and pointed at the ends. The labium is long and
narrow, and forked at the end (fig. 72). The skin around the base of the
legs is thick and hard, so that the sternum appears to extend between
them (fig. 72). There are two tracheal openings just behind the
openings of the lungs. The cephalothorax and legs are orange brown,
darker toward the front. The abdomen is the same color, but so pale as
to be almost white.
[Illustration: FIGS. 73, 74. Ariadne bicolor.--73, upper side enlarged
four times. 74, under side.]
$Ariadne bicolor.$--Six eyes in three pairs, the side pairs separated by
their diameter from the middle pair. The length is about a third of an
inch, the cephalothorax and abdomen about the same length. The
cephalothorax is long and the head wide. The maxillæ are long and
narrow. The sternum is widest opposite the third legs (fig. 74), and
ends behind in a blunt point. The first, second, and third legs are
directed forward, the first pair longest and stoutest. The tibiæ of the
first and second legs are a little thickened in the middle and have four
pairs of spines on the under side, and the metatarsus of the same legs
eight pairs. The hinder pairs of spinnerets are very small. The
cephalothorax and legs are yellow brown, darker toward the front. The
abdomen is purplish brown, darker in the middle and toward the front. In
the male the head is more narrowed and the front legs longer. The front
metatarsi are curved at the base and have a tooth each side, the inner
one farthest from the tibia. The palpal organ is outside the tarsal
joint, as it is in the Mygales.
THE THOMISIDÆ
The Thomisidæ are generally flat, short, and widened behind, and have a
sidewise gait and crab-like appearance. The first and second legs are
often much larger than the third and fourth, and all the legs extend
sidewise from the thorax and not forward and backward, as they do in the
Drassidæ (pp. 1-21). The feet have two claws and a thick brush of hairs.
They are generally smooth or covered with very short and fine hair, and
often have coarser hairs scattered at considerable distances from each
other over the back. The eyes are small and in two slightly curved rows,
the upper one longest and often much longer than the front row. The
mandibles are small and narrowed toward the end. The maxillæ are narrow
at the end and slant inward. Most of the species belong to the three
following genera:
Xysticus (p. 30) is flat, with short legs, and marked with gray and
brown, like bark and stones.
Misumena (p. 25) is white or brightly colored. The first and second legs
are much longer than the third and fourth, and there is great difference
between the sexes, the females being large and light colored, while the
males are small, and yellow or green, with red and brown markings.
Philodromus (p. 35) is generally small, with long slender legs, the
second pair longest. The colors are generally light gray and brown,
sometimes with iridescent scales.
Besides the larger genera are several other spiders belonging to this
family. _Tmarus caudatus_ (p. 38) resembles Philodromus in color and
outline, but has besides the caudate abdomen a very different head and
thorax, and the hind legs much shorter than the first and second. _Ebo
latithorax_ (p. 38) is a small Philodromus, with a wide body and
exaggerated second legs. _Thanatus lycosoides_ (p. 40) is like a stout
Philodromus, with rough hairs and markings, resembling some Lycosidæ.
_Tibellus duttonii_ (p. 39) is a long straw-colored spider, resembling
Philodromus in its feet and head, but having a long slender abdomen,
with two black spots.
THE GENUS MISUMENA
[Illustration: FIG. 75. Misumena aleatoria.--Natural size, among flowers
of thoroughwort, holding a fly in her mouth.]
The Misumenas are the most conspicuous spiders of their family, and are
among the few that are popularly noticed. They grow to a large size and
are white or brightly colored, and live in open places on flowers. The
males and females differ widely. The males mature early and remain
small, and are marked with a variety of colors in spots and bands, while
the females grow several times as large, lose in great part their
markings, and become white or yellow. In both sexes the two front pairs
of legs are much longer than the two hinder pairs, and often differently
colored. In the young the colors are variable and there is less
difference between the sexes. The Misumenas live on plants, among the
flowers, especially on large flat clusters, like those of carrot and
thoroughwort. They stand among the flowers, holding by the hind legs,
with the front legs extended or bent in stiff and awkward positions, and
wait for insects to alight on the flowers within their reach. Whether
spiders prefer flowers colored like themselves is an unsettled question;
at any rate, Misumenas of all colors and both sexes have been found on
white flowers. Occasionally individuals are found on flowers of exactly
the same color as themselves; for example, deep yellow _M. aleatoria_ on
the wild indigo, _Baptisia tinctoria_, and the reddish _M. asperata_ on
the flowers of sorrel, _Rumex acetosella_. The adult females of _vatia_
and _aleatoria_ are easily mistaken for each other. Both vary in color
from white to deep yellow, and grow to a large size, but they can be
distinguished by the difference in the shape of the head. _Asperata_ is
perhaps the most common species. The female seldom grows as large as the
others, and does not lose entirely the red markings of the abdomen and
legs. The scattered stiff hairs also distinguish it from the others. The
males of the different species are distinct enough one from the other,
though they differ widely from the females. The shape of the head and
the markings around the eyes are much the same in both sexes, and by
these males and females of the same species may be recognized.
[Illustration: FIGS. 76, 77, 78. Misumena vatia.--76, head and eyes seen
from in front. 77, female enlarged four times. 78, male enlarged four
times.]
$Misumena vatia$ is the largest species and lives all over this country
and Europe. It is sometimes half an inch long, and the first legs spread
an inch and a half (fig. 77). It is white, with sometimes a crimson spot
on each side of the abdomen and another on the front of the head between
the upper eyes. The sides of the thorax are a little darkened with
yellow or brown, which extends around the head to a distinct opaque
white spot under and between the eyes (fig. 76). This white spot widens
below over the mandibles and above under the eyes and around the eyes of
the upper row. The shape of this mark and the greater height of the head
distinguish this species from _aleatoria_ (figs. 79, 80). On the back of
the thorax is also a distinct opaque white spot. The first and second
legs have usually a light brown mark on the upper side, but this is
sometimes absent.
The male (fig. 78) is only a quarter or a third as long as the adult
female. The front legs are proportionally longer than in the female, and
the abdomen smaller and more pointed behind. The males are strongly
marked with reddish brown on a light ground. The thorax is dark at the
sides, while the front of the head is white like that of the female.
[Illustration: FIGS. 79, 80, 81, 82. Misumena aleatoria.--79, front of
head and eyes. 80, female enlarged four times. 81, female with dark
markings. 82, male enlarged four times.]
$Misumena aleatoria.$--The female of this species grows nearly as large
as _vatia_, and in some places is much more common. It is white or
yellow, but does not have the crimson markings at the sides of the
abdomen or between the eyes. The head (fig. 79) is rounder than in
_vatia_ and much lower in front, and there is a narrow white stripe
under the eyes that divides at the sides, one branch passing around over
the mandibles and the other close under the eyes. The sides of the
cephalothorax are gray or green. The abdomen usually has no markings
except a little gray color in the middle, but sometimes it has two rows
of dark brown spots (fig. 81), and in such individuals the legs are also
marked with brown at the ends of the joints. The males are very small
and strikingly colored (fig. 82). The two front pairs of legs are brown,
the cephalothorax green, and the abdomen yellow. The shape of the head
and the white under the eyes are the same as in the female.
[Illustration: FIGS. 83, 84. Misumena asperata.--83, female enlarged
four times. 84, male enlarged four times.]
$Misumena asperata.$--The males and females of this spider are more
alike than in _vatia_ and _aleatoria_. The adult females are always pale
and sometimes white, but seldom lose entirely the reddish bands around
the legs. Both sexes are covered with short stiff hairs about their
length apart all over the upper part of the body and legs. The usual
color is pale yellow, with dull red markings. The thorax is reddish at
the sides. The abdomen has two red bands or rows of spots on the hinder
half, meeting behind. In front are a middle pair of spots and two side
bands that spread apart in the middle and meet again at the spinnerets.
The tibia and tarsus of the front legs are marked with a narrow red ring
at the base and a wider ring near the end of each joint. The female is a
quarter of an inch long and the male about half that length. The
markings of the male are like those of the female, but the spots are
larger and more deeply colored. The male palpi are larger than in the
other species.
The male _M. spinosa_ of Georgia resembles _asperata_, but the legs are
much longer and the ends of the palpi smaller.
[Illustration: FIGS. 85, 86. Synema parvula.--Enlarged eight times. 85,
upper side. 86, under side.]
$Synema parvula.$--A common species in the South. Length about
one-eighth of an inch. The thorax is as wide as long, round and high in
the middle. The abdomen is as wide as long, widest across the middle,
and a little pointed behind. The third and fourth legs are not more than
two-thirds as long as the first and second, and lighter colored. The
thorax is orange-colored, a little darker at the sides, and with a dark
brown line on the edges over the legs. There are light rings around the
eyes. The abdomen is white or light yellow in front, and has a wide
black or brown band across the hinder half, not reaching back to the
spinnerets, and sometimes partly divided by a notch in front. On the
front half of the abdomen are some small dark spots and usually several
opaque white marks. On the under side of the abdomen there is a dark
band on each side extending back to and partly surrounding the
spinnerets. The front legs are orange brown, with the femora darker on
the front and rear edges. The other joints are a little darker at the
ends. The males are a little smaller and darker in color, but differ
little from the females.
THE GENUS XYSTICUS
In these spiders the general appearance is crab-like. The abdomen is not
much larger than the thorax, and both are flat and wide. The first and
second legs are a third longer than the third and fourth. The colors are
usually various shades of brown and gray, in small spots and bands. On
the upper side of each leg is usually a light line, with dark lines on
each side of it. The gait is often sidewise, the legs kept close to the
ground, so that the spider can move in a narrow crack. They live under
stones and bark and leaves, and some, like _triguttatus_, on low plants.
The males have longer legs and smaller abdomen and all the dark markings
larger and darker than the females. In _triguttatus_ there is great
difference between the sexes, but in most species very little, as in
_limbatus_ and _stomachosus_. The head is generally low, and the four
middle eyes form a rectangle a little wider than high (fig. 97).
[Illustration: FIGS. 87, 88. Xysticus stomachosus.--87, female. 88,
male. Both enlarged four times.]
$Xysticus stomachosus.$--A middle-sized and light-colored species, with
gray markings on a light ground, the markings most distinct on the
hinder legs and abdomen. The middle of the thorax is lighter than the
sides, and there is a small dark spot in the middle and a larger one on
each side toward the hinder end (figs. 87, 88). The third and fourth
legs have a distinct dark spot at the ends of femur, patella, and
tibia. The abdomen is light, with a few small spots at the front end and
three pairs of dark transverse bands on the hinder half. The hairs are
short and fine. The male has longer legs and is marked in the same way,
with the spots on the abdomen larger and extended farther forward.
[Illustration: FIGS. 89, 90. Xysticus limbatus.--89, female. 90, male.
Both enlarged four times.]
$Xysticus limbatus.$--This is one of the largest species, the females
reaching a length of a third to half an inch (figs. 89, 90). The thorax
is one-eighth of an inch wide and nearly as long. The abdomen is a
little wider at the hinder end. The legs are short, the longest about
half an inch in length. The whole body is hairy. The color is brown, the
markings dark on a light ground, best shown by the figures. The middle
of the head and thorax is more fully covered by the dark markings than
in other species. There is great variation in the color, and young
spiders are usually lighter than adults. Adult males and females in June
and July.
[Illustration: FIGS. 91, 92. Xysticus gulosus.--91, female. 92, male.
Both enlarged four times.]
$Xysticus gulosus.$--This is a very distinct species and less variable
in markings than _limbatus_ and _stomachosus_. The color is brown or
gray, with indistinct darker markings (figs. 91, 92). The whole body is
covered with fine brown spots and has at the hinder end of the thorax
and on the legs traces of the same markings that show more distinctly in
_stomachosus_. There are a few transverse dark lines on the hinder half
of the abdomen and less distinct longitudinal lines at the sides of the
front half.
The male is a fourth smaller than the female, with a smaller abdomen and
more slender legs, but the same colors and markings. It is usually found
under bark or stones which it closely resembles in color.
[Illustration: FIGS. 93, 94. Xysticus nervosus.--93, female. 94, male.
Both enlarged four times.]
$Xysticus nervosus.$--This is a pale species, the females of which are
nearly as large as _limbatus_. The color is light brownish yellow, with
small spots of lighter and darker color scattered all over the body, and
there are traces of the markings which are more distinct in other
species (figs. 93, 94). On the hinder half of the abdomen are three or
four pairs of very indistinct transverse markings. The legs are marked
with irregular dark and light spots, without any distinct rings or
markings, and the first and second pairs are darker than the others. In
the male the first and second legs are twice as long as the third and
longer and more slender than in the other species. It lives on fences
and under bark.
[Illustration: FIGS. 95, 96, 97. Xysticus triguttatus.--95, female. 96,
male. Both enlarged four times. 97, front of head much enlarged to show
eyes and mandibles].
$Xysticus triguttatus.$--This is a small and very common spider living
on grass and low bushes. The female is about a fifth of an inch long and
the male as large but with a smaller abdomen. The difference in the
color of the sexes is so great that they may easily be mistaken for
different species. The females (fig. 95) are straw-colored, the abdomen
almost white, and the thorax and legs brownish yellow. There are three
black spots at the back of the thorax and indistinct darker bands at the
sides. On the abdomen are two black spots near the front end and three
pairs of broken transverse stripes behind. The male (fig. 96) has the
femora of the two front legs dark brown, the rest like the female or a
little darker. The thorax is dark brown, except in the middle, where it
is a little lighter, as in the female. The abdomen of the male is
strongly marked with transverse black and white stripes, irregular
toward the front end.
[Illustration: FIG. 98. Xysticus quadrilineatus, enlarged four times.]
$Xysticus quadrilineatus.$--Quarter of an inch long, with the thorax a
tenth of an inch wide and the head unusually wide in front. The color is
light yellow, with light brown markings and black spots. The
cephalothorax has four narrow brown stripes, one on each side close to
the edge and the others running back from the lateral eyes (fig. 98);
there are also two fine brown lines sometimes extending from the middle
eyes to the dorsal groove, but usually broken in the middle. There is a
brown spot just behind the dorsal groove and two others in the middle of
the cephalothorax. On the abdomen there are two black spots at the front
end, two in the middle and two near the hind end, besides several
smaller ones along the sides. There are four light brown lines across
the hinder half, each with a white line behind it, and at the sides are
oblique brown lines alternating with white. The legs have a distinct
light line along the dorsal side and are covered with fine brown spots
without any other markings.
[Illustration: FIGS. 99, 100. Xysticus versicolor.--99, female. 100,
male. Both enlarged four times.]
$Xysticus (Coriarachne) versicolor.$--The thorax, abdomen, and legs are
all much flattened, the head is low, and the upper and lower eyes nearer
together than in the other species. The colors are black and gray in
irregular spots on a light ground (figs. 99, 100). On bark or unpainted
wood these spiders can hardly be seen. Light individuals have black
spots on the legs at the end of each joint and the usual three pairs of
dark marks on the abdomen. On the thorax is a white spot in the middle
under the front of the abdomen. Around this spot and behind the eyes is
black extending in spots along the sides. In dark females and in most
males the dark spots are so large that the whole spider is nearly black.
This is a common spider, and a similar species, _Coriarachne depressa_,
is equally common in Europe.
THE GENUS PHILODROMUS
In these spiders there is less difference in length between the front
and hind legs than in Misumena or Xysticus. The legs are long and
slender, the second pair longest, and the body is small and flat, and
the abdomen pointed behind. The colors are brown and gray, and the whole
body is often covered with fine flattened hairs that in the males are
iridescent. _Philodromus vulgaris_ lives usually on houses and fences,
but the other species on plants.
[Illustration: FIGS. 101, 102, 103, 104. Philodromus vulgaris.--101,
male. 102, female. Both enlarged four times. 103, tibia of the male
palpus. 104, one of the feet.]
$Philodromus vulgaris.$--About quarter of an inch long, the legs of the
female spreading over an inch and those of the male an inch and a
quarter (figs. 101, 102). They often stand with all the legs extended
sidewise, flat against a wall or fence which they closely resemble in
color. When freshly molted they are covered with fine gray hairs of the
color of weathered boards, that obscure most of the markings. Older
spiders or those wet with alcohol are covered with small gray spots
forming a stripe in the middle of the front of the abdomen and a
herringbone pattern on the hinder half. The edges of the back of the
abdomen are dark and form a sharp line against the light color of the
under surface. The thorax is darker in the middle and at the sides in
irregular spots of gray. The legs are spotted and darker toward the ends
of the joints. The under side of body and legs is light colored.
[Illustration: FIG. 105. Philodromus ornatus.--Female enlarged six
times.]
$Philodromus ornatus.$--This is a small species about one-eighth of an
inch long. The female is very distinctly marked with dark brown on a
white ground (fig. 105). The middle of the thorax is white and the sides
brown nearly to the edge. The abdomen is white, with a distinct brown
band on each side from the front more than half its length backward.
Sometimes there is also an indistinct brownish pattern in the middle,
but this is usually absent in adults, and the middle is entirely white.
Under the abdomen the lateral brown bands extend backward and meet
around the spinnerets. The abdomen is wider than in most
species,--nearly as wide as it is long across the hinder half. The male
is very differently colored. The legs and thorax are orange brown,
darker at the sides of the thorax and toward the ends of the legs. The
abdomen is darker brown and strongly iridescent with red and green in a
bright light. In alcohol it shows indistinctly the same markings as the
female. The legs are longer and the abdomen narrower, as in males of
other species.
[Illustration: FIGS. 106, 107. Philodromus lineatus.--106, female. 107,
male. Both enlarged six times.]
$Philodromus lineatus.$--The female of this species is a little larger
than _ornatus_, the brown markings are lighter, and, in life or when
freshly killed, purplish in the lighter parts. The markings are less
distinct than in _ornatus_, the brown and white running into each other.
The abdomen has a brown band each side, often broken into several spots,
and a brown band in the middle extending back half its length, behind
which are several lighter marks (figs. 106, 107). Between these are
several oblique lighter markings and rows of spots. The legs are light
gray, darker toward the ends of the joints.
[Illustration: FIGS. 108, 109, 110. Philodromus pictus.--110, adult
female. 109, male without the legs. 108, markings of the abdomen of a
young female. All enlarged six times.]
$Philodromus pictus.$--Female about one-fifth of an inch long, the
abdomen nearly twice as long as the thorax, with the widest part across
the middle farther forward than in most species (fig. 110). Legs and
palpi pale yellow with fine brown spots. Thorax light yellow in the
middle and reddish brown at the sides, covered with fine spots. Abdomen
dull red at the sides and bright yellow in the middle, with a dark mark
in the middle of the front half and two dark marks behind it on the
hinder half. The eyes are surrounded by distinct light rings. In some
specimens, usually immature, the abdomen has a more distinct yellow and
red pattern (fig. 108). The male (fig. 109) has the thorax and legs
darker and the abdomen less bright red and yellow than the female,
sometimes gray and iridescent.
[Illustration: FIG. 111. Ebo latithorax, enlarged twelve times.]
$Ebo latithorax.$--In color and general appearance this resembles
Philodromus, but is at once distinguished by the length Of the second
legs, which are more than twice as long as any of the others (fig. 111).
The thorax is wider than long, and the abdomen is wider than in
Philodromus. The head is narrow and rounded in front. The front middle
eyes are largest and farthest forward. The colors are gray and white,
with black spots in the darker parts, as in Philodromus. The length is
not much over an eighth of an inch and the length of the longest legs
quarter of an inch.
[Illustration: FIGS. 112, 113. Tmarus caudatus.--112, female enlarged
six times. 113, left side of the abdomen.]
$Tmarus caudatus.$--This spider is about as large as _Philodromus
vulgaris_ and similarly colored, but may be distinguished from it by the
height of its abdomen and the short tail or projection over the
spinnerets (fig. 113). The thorax is round at the sides and square in
front, and the mandibles are inclined forward so that they can be seen
from above. The two rows of eyes are farther apart than in Philodromus,
and the lateral eyes of both rows are raised on tubercles. Among the
eyes are several black spots that may be mistaken for extra eyes, and
there are similar spots on the legs, most thickly on the front pairs. On
the back of the thorax are radiating white lines. The abdomen is light
in front and marked behind with two or three pairs of indistinct
transverse lines (fig. 112). On the under side the whole body and legs
are pale, without spots except a wide middle band of gray under the
abdomen. The third and fourth legs are shorter than the first and
second, the difference being greater than in Philodromus and less than
in Misumena.
$Tibellus duttonii.$--This is a very common spider on bushes and grass.
The body is slender, from a third to half an inch long, and a tenth of
an inch wide (fig. 115). The thorax is an eighth of an inch long, widest
across the hinder half and narrowed toward the front, where it is cut
off nearly straight over the mandibles. Both rows of eyes are strongly
curved (fig. 116). The hinder row is twice as long as the front row and
all the eyes larger. The abdomen is straight at the sides and a little
pointed behind. The color is light gray or yellow, with a darker gray
line in the middle, divided into two toward the eyes. At the sides of
the thorax are other longitudinal lines. On the abdomen, one-third its
length from the hinder end, is a pair of small round or oval black
spots. The legs are light gray, with no markings except a few black
hairs.
[Illustration: FIGS. 114, 115, 116. Tibellus duttonii.--115, female
enlarged four times. 114, one of the feet. 116, front of head, showing
eyes and mandibles.]
[Illustration: FIG. 117. Thanatus coloradensis, enlarged four times.]
$Thanatus coloradensis$ or $lycosoides.$--In color and general
appearance this resembles Philodromus, but is not as flat, and the legs
are not as long and slender. The general color is light gray, with a
distinct wide light stripe in the middle of the thorax, and a dark brown
pointed stripe with white edges in the middle of the front half of the
abdomen (fig. 117). The head is a little longer and higher than in most
Thomisidæ, and the abdomen is a little longer and not so much widened
behind. The eyes are much as in Philodromus, but larger and nearer
together. The whole body is hairy, with longer and darker hairs
scattered among the short ones. The males differ but little from the
females except in having a little longer hairs and darker color. They
live on plants and may be mistaken for Philodromus (p. 35) or for
_Ocyale undata_ (p. 88).
THE ATTIDÆ
The Attidæ are jumping spiders, many of them brightly colored and quick
in their movements and living in open places among the tops of low
plants. They are usually short and stout spiders, with a large
cephalothorax, which is wide in front, where the eyes have a peculiar
arrangement in three rows (fig. 118), somewhat as in the Lycosidæ, but
with the middle eyes of the front row much the largest, so that at first
sight many of them appear to have only two eyes. The eyes of the second
row are very small and hard to see, and those of the third row are far
back on the head and usually turned a little backward. The front legs
are usually thicker than the others, especially in the males. The
relative length of the legs is variable, the first pair being commonly
the longest, but sometimes the fourth and even in some species the third
pair. The feet have two claws, with many fine teeth and a thick brush of
hairs. The Attidæ are usually thickly covered with hair or scales, often
brightly colored or iridescent, and their appearance is often entirely
changed by rubbing or wetting.
[Illustration: FIG. 118. Front of head of Phidippus mystaceus, showing
eyes and mandibles.]
They walk backward or sidewise as well as forward, and many of them jump
great distances. They make no cobwebs, but some species make silk tubes
or bags on plants or under stones in which they hide to molt or lay
their eggs or to pass the winter. There are often great differences in
color and markings between the sexes, and the males have peculiar
bunches of hairs and color spots on the legs and head. At the mating
time some of the males have peculiar ways of approaching the female,
holding their legs extended sidewise or over their heads in such ways as
to display their ornaments. These mating habits have been well described
by G. W. Peckham, who has made a special study of this family, in the
_Occasional Papers of the Wisconsin Natural History Society_, of
Milwaukee, in 1889. This family is largely represented in more southern
countries, and our species belong to a great number of genera most of
whose members live farther south.
[Illustration: FIG. 119. Attus palustris, enlarged six times.]
$Attus palustris.$--Large females are quarter of an inch long, the males
a little smaller. The cephalothorax is a quarter longer than wide,
shorter in proportion to its width than in the next species, _Saitis
pulex_, which it much resembles. The two sexes resemble each other in
markings, but the females are lighter and browner and the males darker
and grayer. The cephalothorax has a narrow white middle line, widened
opposite the dorsal eyes, and a shorter white line just below the eyes
on the sides (fig. 119). The edge of the cephalothorax is also white. On
the abdomen the front middle spot is not so distinct as in _pulex_, but
in place of it are two white spots. Behind these is a large transverse
light marking, sometimes broken into two spots. The legs are dark or
light gray, without any distinct markings. The male palpi are smaller
than in _pulex_, though the males are larger. _Palustris_ lives on
plants and makes nests among the leaves.
[Illustration: FIGS. 120, 121. Saitis pulex.--120, female. 121, male.
Both enlarged six times.]
$Saitis pulex.$--This is one of the smallest of the family. It is about
a sixth of an inch long, sometimes even smaller. The colors are various
shades of gray like the ground, and when still it is hard to find, but
it is an active spider and exposes itself by jumping in open places. The
cephalothorax is half longer than wide, longer and narrower than in
Habrocestum and Attus. The abdomen is usually shorter than the
cephalothorax and wider (figs. 120, 121). The cephalothorax has a large
light-colored triangle in the middle, covering the head between the eyes
in front and ending in a point behind. In alcohol this spot disappears,
especially in the males, and the head appears black between the eyes and
light behind and at the sides. The front half of the abdomen has a light
middle stripe, lightest at the edges and darker gray in the middle.
Behind this is a transverse white spot nearly the whole width of the
abdomen and behind it several smaller light markings. In the male these
markings are brighter and the surrounding dark color blacker than in the
females. The legs are marked with indefinite spots of dark gray on a
lighter ground, the contrast stronger in the males. The hairs all over
the body are short and fine and the spines on the legs distinct,
especially in the males.
[Illustration: FIGS. 122, 123. Habrocestum auratum.--122, male. 123,
female. Both enlarged eight times.]
$Habrocestum auratum.$--In life this spider is covered with bluish white
hairs that give it a light gray color and obscure the markings. The
markings of the male are so much stronger that those of both sexes can
be best understood by describing the male first (fig. 122). The
cephalothorax has a white middle stripe for a short distance back from
the front eyes and two distinct white stripes from the lateral front
eyes back the whole length. In the middle of the head are two small
white spots and just behind them between the posterior eyes two curved
white lines. The latter marks show indistinctly in the females. Down at
the sides of the cephalothorax are white stripes meeting in front under
the eyes. The abdomen has a white line extending entirely around it and
a middle stripe of varying width.
[Illustration: FIGS. 124, 125. Third and first legs of male Habrocestum
auratum to show differences between this species and the next.--124,
third leg. 125, first leg.]
The female (fig. 123) has only faint indications of the markings of the
cephalothorax, usually a little lighter color in the middle and at the
sides below the eyes. The white stripe around the abdomen is broken into
three pairs of oblique white markings and the middle stripe into several
spots or pairs of spots. There is nothing distinctive in the markings
of the under side or of the legs except the ornaments of the male.
The front legs of the male (fig. 125) in this species are much
ornamented. The femur has long black hairs on the under side. The
patella has long black hairs beneath, a spot of short black hairs on the
inner side, and a crest of long white hairs mixed with shorter black on
the upper side. The tibia is covered with long black hairs except at the
tip, where they are white. There is nothing peculiar about the third leg
(fig. 124). The form and general appearance can best be understood from
the figures.
At the mating time the males, as they approach the females, hold the
front legs extended sidewise and lifted a little from the ground, with
the tibia nearly horizontal and the tarsus turned downward. In this
position they advance slowly, at the same time running rapidly sidewise
from one side to the other and at short intervals jerking the abdomen
and the front legs slightly upward. They go almost close enough to touch
the female and then quickly retreat.
[Illustration: FIGS. 126, 127, 128. Habrocestum peregrinum.--128, female
enlarged six times. 126, third leg. 127, first leg.]
$Habrocestum peregrinum.$--This is about the same size as _auratum_ and
looks very much like it. The female, at any rate in alcohol, has a more
distinct light mark in the middle of the cephalothorax, curving under
the eyes and pointing forward in the middle (fig. 128). The abdomen has
light markings in the middle similar to those of _auratum_, but those at
the sides are less distinct.
The male has the white stripes in the middle and around the abdomen like
_auratum_. The cephalothorax has the same white lines at the sides under
the eyes and at the posterior end. It does not have a middle white
stripe on the head between the eyes or two white spots just behind it,
as _auratum_ has, but the marking behind the eyes is more distinct, as
it is in the female. The front legs of the male (fig. 127) are not
ornamented with long hairs like _auratum_, but the third legs have a
very peculiar shape, the patella being wide and flat, with a dark spot
in the middle of the front side (fig. 126). The shape of this joint is
best shown by the figure. When approaching the female he holds up the
front legs and draws in the third pair so that the ornamented patellæ
show from in front.
[Illustration: FIG. 129. Habrocestum splendens.--Male enlarged eight
times.]
$Habrocestum splendens.$--A little larger than the other species, with
the female distinctly marked with black and white and the male with
brilliant red and iridescent scales. The females are about a quarter of
an inch long, sometimes longer, and the males are a little smaller. The
cephalothorax of the female is covered with brown scales mixed with
black hairs. Across the middle, just behind the dorsal eyes, is a light
band that curves behind the eyes and extends forward in the middle. The
abdomen has a white band in front, one on each side, and one in the
middle, the rest being deep black. The shape of these markings varies
and the black parts are often broken into two rows of spots. The
cephalothorax of the male is covered with dark iridescent scales, with
blue, green, and purple reflections. The abdomen is covered with bright
red shiny scales mixed with fine black hairs. It is lighter in front and
at the sides, and in the middle shows indistinctly through the scales
dark markings like those of the female (fig. 129). The legs are dark
like the cephalothorax.
Mr. Peckham says that when the male approaches the female he lifts his
abdomen into an almost vertical position so that the red color shows
from in front. Then he rises on the tips of his feet and, with the front
legs off the ground and pointing forward, he dances back and forth
sidewise in front of her, gradually drawing nearer. At intervals he
stops and turns his back to her, then faces her and dances again.
[Illustration: FIGS. 130, 131. Neon nellii.--131, female enlarged
sixteen times. 130, side of cephalothorax, showing position of eyes.]
$Neon nellii.$--This is one of the smallest spiders of the family, only
a tenth of an inch in length. The general color is dark gray, darkest
toward the head. The cephalothorax is high, the highest part being a
little behind the middle, from which it curves downward to the front
eyes and slopes abruptly backward (fig. 130). The eyes are large and
prominent, the front row nearly straight and as wide as the widest part
of the cephalothorax. The posterior eyes are nearly as large as the
front middle pair and are in the middle of the cephalothorax. The
abdomen is a little longer and wider than the cephalothorax (fig. 131).
The cephalothorax is smoky gray, darker toward the front and darker in
males than females. The abdomen is gray, with yellowish markings in a
herringbone pattern through the middle. Common under stones and leaves
at all seasons.
[Illustration: FIG. 132. Zygoballus bettini.--Female enlarged eight
times.]
$Zygoballus bettini.$--This is a very beautifully colored spider, having
in life spots of white hairs and shining scales of the color of copper
and bronze. The cephalothorax of both sexes is high and wide in the
middle and slopes down steeply from the posterior eyes under the front
of the abdomen (fig. 132). The top of the cephalothorax between the eyes
is nearly square. The posterior eyes are almost the full width of the
cephalothorax apart, and the front row of eyes is nearly as long. The
cephalothorax is dark brown covered with iridescent scales. The legs are
pale, except the dark femora of the first pair and dark spots on the
ends of the joints of the fourth pair. In the male all the legs are a
little darker than in the female and without the spots on the fourth
leg. The abdomen of the female is light brown, marked with white in a
row of irregular spots. In the male the abdomen is brown, covered with
shining scales and with a white band around the front and two white
spots on each side. The mandibles of the male are much elongated and
bent apart at the ends to make room for the long claw. At the inner
angle is a large tooth, and there is another one of complicated shape on
the middle of the under side.
[Illustration: FIG. 133. Phidippus multiformis.--Female enlarged six
times.]
$Phidippus multiformis.$--This is a very common spider on plants
throughout the summer. It matures in July, and the males and females are
so little alike as to be taken for different species. The males (fig.
134) are black, with white and orange markings on the abdomen, while the
females are brown mixed with black, white, and yellow scales and small
white spots.
[Illustration: FIG. 134. Phidippus multiformis.--Male enlarged six
times.]
The usual length is about a third of an inch in both sexes. The
cephalothorax is nearly as broad as long, and the abdomen of the female
as wide as the thorax and a little longer.
The general color of the adult female is yellowish brown, with black and
white markings (fig. 133). Around the front of the abdomen is a white
band, and on the back are two indistinct longitudinal black stripes in
which are four pairs of white spots. The general brown color is produced
by a mixture of scales and hairs of various colors. The females are most
brightly colored just before reaching maturity, and then there is a
large proportion of yellow and orange scales in their covering and the
black stripes and white spots are more distinct. The hairs and scales
are of various shapes, the most common being that of slightly flattened
hairs. The yellow and orange scales are wider and less pointed, and the
white spots have short and wide scales. Under the abdomen the color is
light gray, with two parallel darker stripes. The legs are pale in the
middle of the joints and dark toward the ends and covered with gray and
black hairs. The palpi are light yellow.
In alcohol the orange color disappears almost entirely, the black and
white markings become less distinct, and all the colors browner. The
colors of the male (fig. 134) are entirely different. The cephalothorax
and legs to the end of the tibia are black. The palpi are black, with a
stripe of white scales on the upper side. Around the front end of the
abdomen is a white stripe; the sides are bright orange red and the
middle black. Between the orange and black are three pairs of white
spots. They make a bag of white silk among leaves, in which in the early
summer a male and female may sometimes be found together and in which
the female later makes a cocoon of eggs. The young hatch soon and become
half grown before winter.
[Illustration: FIG. 135. Phidippus mystaceus, enlarged six times.]
$Phidippus mystaceus.$--A stout species half an inch long, gray and
hairy, in alcohol turning brown. The abdomen is light gray at the sides
and dark in the middle, with four pairs of white spots, the third pair
largest (fig. 135). The cephalothorax is round and nearly as wide as
long. The front row of eyes is little longer than half the greatest
width of the cephalothorax. The cephalothorax is flat on top for almost
its whole length and in front about twice the diameter of the largest
eyes in height. The mandibles are large and bright metallic green in
front (fig. 118). The legs are stout and short, the fourth pair
extending little beyond the spinnerets. The first and fourth pairs are
of the same length, but the first are twice as thick as the fourth. The
legs are without markings and darker toward the head. The abdomen is
longer than the cephalothorax and as wide or wider. There is little
difference between the sexes, the males being only a little darker
colored and larger in front. Usually found under stones in a thick silk
nest.
[Illustration: FIG. 136. Phidippus tripunctatus, enlarged six times.]
$Phidippus tripunctatus.$--Black, with three bright white spots on the
back of the abdomen (fig. 136). Large females are half an inch long and
the males a little smaller. Though the general color is black, it is
modified, especially in fresh specimens, by white hairs on parts of the
body. The joints of the legs are grayish in the middle and black toward
the ends. There are white hairs on the front of the head and upper side
of the palpi and a white band around the front of the abdomen, plainest
in the males. The three large white spots on the abdomen correspond to
the second and third pairs in _mystaceus_ (fig. 135) and _multiformis_
(fig. 133), and the other pairs, though generally present, are small and
inconspicuous. On the under side of the abdomen are usually two gray
stripes. This is a common spider all over the country. It lives under
stones and sticks and passes the winter half grown in a thick silk bag.
[Illustration: FIG. 137. Plexippus puerperus.--Female enlarged six
times.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 138, 139. Plexippus puerperus.--138, male enlarged
six times. 139, front of head of male.]
$Plexippus puerperus.$--Very variable in size, from a third to half an
inch in length. The females (fig. 137) are pale, light yellow, or almost
white, with a few black spots, while the males (fig. 138) have the
cephalothorax and legs brown, sometimes almost black. In both sexes the
mandibles are large and the cephalothorax high and flat on the top as
far back as the hinder eyes. The front middle eyes nearly touch each
other. The lateral eyes are half their diameter higher than the front
ones. The middle eyes are nearer the lateral than the dorsal. In the
males the front eyes are nearly their diameter above the mandibles, and
below them is a white band and a line of white hairs from the middle of
the head down to the base of the first legs. The legs are rather slender
in both sexes and long in the males. The fourth pair are longest in
females, and in males the first and fourth are the same length. The
markings of the abdomen are much alike in both sexes, with two light
stripes, more definite in the males, bordered by a few small black spots
irregularly arranged. The stem of the abdomen is long, and the abdomen
and thorax appear farther apart than in many species. In the females the
cephalothorax is pale, with a few gray spots from the middle toward the
sides. In the males the legs are dark brown except the inner half of the
femur of the third and fourth, which is light like the abdomen. The male
cephalothorax is dark and has a square white spot between the eyes, two
white lines pointing up from the third and fourth legs each side, and
two short white lines under the dorsal eyes. The under side of the
thorax and legs is dark or light like the upper side. The underside of
the abdomen is usually darker in the middle and sometimes has a few
black spots each side. This is a common spider in the southern states
and has been found as far south as Brazil.
[Illustration: FIGS. 140, 141. Dendryphantes militaris.--140, female.
141, male. Both enlarged six times.]
$Dendryphantes militaris.$--This spider resembles in many ways the next
species, _Dendryphantes æstivalis_, but is one-half larger and has a
shorter and wider cephalothorax. The general color is brown, covered
with gray and black hairs. The abdomen of the female is brown, with
white at the front end and four pairs of oblique white marks in the
middle and four at the sides (fig. 140). In the male the cephalothorax
has a white band on each side under the eyes and a white band around the
abdomen, with a dark middle area (fig. 141). The dark parts of the legs
and cephalothorax are darker than the same parts in the female. The
palpi are slender in both sexes, and in the male the palpal organs are
small for so large a spider. The mandibles of the male are widened at
the end and have a strong projection with two teeth on the inner
corners.
[Illustration: FIGS. 142, 143, 144. Dendryphantes æstivalis.--142, male.
143, dark variety of female. 144, light variety of female. All enlarged
six times.]
$Dendryphantes æstivalis.$--One of the most common Attidæ, on all kinds
of bushes and small trees, and one of the most variable in size and
color. Large females are from a fifth to a quarter of an inch long, and
the males are smaller. The females are of two varieties, which run into
each other. The light variety (fig. 144) has the light parts white or
light yellow and the dark parts dark brown covered with white hairs and
scales. The cephalothorax is dark brown, thinly covered with scales, so
that the dark color shows between them in places. The legs are light
yellow and translucent, indistinctly ringed with brown at the base and,
near the tip of each joint, all covered with greenish white hairs. The
palpi are light and without rings except on the femur and patella. The
abdomen is brighter yellow than the thorax, with four pairs of purplish
brown spots, the second pair largest, connected with a paler brown
middle marking. The abdomen has beneath a purple brown stripe in the
middle and oblique brown marks at the sides. Sternum, maxillæ, and
mandibles light brown. The dark variety (fig. 143) is generally smaller
and covered with longer hairs and scales. The legs and palpi are more
distinctly ringed with brown. The dark spots on the abdomen are larger
and more closely connected, so that the markings appear as light spots
on a dark ground.
In alcohol they become bright red and afterward fade to a dull red color
that remains for a long time, both varieties in this condition looking
much alike.
The males (fig. 142) differ, at first sight, extremely from the females.
The legs are ringed as in the female and the brown parts are wider and
less obscured by white hairs, while the white parts are whiter. The
cephalothorax is dark brown, with a white stripe on each side under the
eyes bending toward each other but not connected. The front of the head
is also white and covered with long white hairs. The palpi have the
femur dark brown at the base and white at the end. The patella and tibia
are brown, and the tarsus is brown, with white hairs on the upper side.
The abdomen is white in front and around the sides. The middle is dark
brown, with a few yellow and greenish scales. The brown area is often
notched at the sides in four points and sometimes indistinctly divided
into four pairs of spots, as in the female. The male palpi are large for
the size of the spider, and the palpal organ extends back beyond the
tibia.
[Illustration: FIGS. 145, 146, 147, 148. Icius palmarum.--145, male.
146, female. Both enlarged six times. 147, front of head of male. 148,
abdomen of female to show a variety of marking.]
$Icius palmarum.$--This is very common on trees and bushes, and may be
mistaken for _Dendryphantes æstivalis_, which it much resembles. It
differs from _æstivalis_ in both sexes in being a little smaller and
more slender and in the females lighter colored. In the males the head
is wider, the front legs longer and darker colored than in _æstivalis_,
and the mandibles longer and more nearly horizontal.
The living female has the legs and palpi transparent white, sometimes a
little darker at the ends of the joints. The whole body is covered with
light gray or white scales mixed with fine black hairs. The abdomen has
a row of darker triangular spots in the middle and oblique rows of small
spots at the sides. In alcohol the legs become yellow and the rest of
the body red, as in _æstivalis_, afterward fading to a dirty yellow. The
markings of the abdomen become more distinct and in some individuals
form four large dark brown spots.
The males have the front legs very dark brown. The other legs are
transparent white. The cephalothorax and abdomen are dark reddish brown
mixed with shining greenish white scales and sometimes copper red around
the eyes. On each side is a white stripe the whole length of the body,
the two meeting in front below the eyes. The mandibles, maxillæ, and
palpi are dark brown. Some males show indistinctly dorsal markings of
the abdomen like the female. The mandibles of the male are longer than
those of the female and more or less turned forward according to their
length. In some the mandibles are only a little longer than those of the
female, and in these the patella and tibia of the front legs are not
much longer than the femur. In others, usually larger spiders, the
mandibles are nearly as long as the cephalothorax and extend forward
horizontally, the maxillæ are longer, and the first pair of legs have
the patella and tibia one and a half times as long as the femur. The
female is longer in proportion to its width than in _æstivalis_ and has
the front legs stouter. The epigynum has two small anterior openings
directed forward instead of toward each other, as in _æstivalis_. This
and the next species live on low bushes all summer.
[Illustration: FIG. 149. Icius mitratus.--Male enlarged six times.]
$Icius mitratus.$--This species closely resembles _Icius palmarum_,
differing mainly in color. The legs are all white in both sexes, and the
mandibles of the male are white and not long and horizontal, as in
_palmarum_. The females resemble _palmarum_ so closely that it is
difficult to tell them apart. The cephalothorax is a trifle wider, and
the abdomen narrower, and the front legs longer than in _palmarum_. The
general color is whiter, and the spots on the abdomen are more distinct,
as in fig. 148. The male has the legs white or a little greenish, with
long white hairs, those on the front legs longer than the diameter of
the legs. The rest of the body is white, except a light brown stripe in
the middle of the cephalothorax and abdomen, covered with light yellow
hairs, through which three or four dark spots show indistinctly on the
abdomen (fig. 149). When fighting with other males, or when approaching
the female, the hairy front legs are straightened and extended sidewise.
[Illustration: FIGS. 150, 151. Icius elegans.--150, female. 151, male.
Both enlarged six times.]
$Icius elegans.$--A little bronze green spider, from a sixth to a
quarter of an inch long. The cephalothorax is two-thirds as wide as
long, with the sides nearly straight and parallel in the female but
widened behind the middle in the male. The abdomen of the female is oval
and nearly twice as long as wide. The color is bronze green, changing in
some lights to copper red. The legs are yellow, with longitudinal dark
stripes, except the front femora, which are dark brown. The males are
much more brightly colored. The legs are orange, darker toward the ends,
with fine dark longitudinal stripes. The ends of the front tibiæ are
dark brown and have long brown hairs on the inner and upper side. The
palpi are orange, darker toward the end. The sides and hinder part of
the cephalothorax are orange, and there is a white line over the coxæ.
The upper part of the cephalothorax and abdomen is covered with greenish
yellow scales. On the front of the head are two tufts of long hairs,
yellow mixed with black, pointing forward and a little inward between
the middle and lateral eyes. On the hinder end of the abdomen is an
iridescent purple spot. The abdomen is green on the under side, and the
sternum and coxæ are orange. In alcohol all the colors become dull. The
mandibles are slender, and the claw short and strongly curved inward
toward the point. In the male the mandibles are a little longer and
hollowed a little on the inner side. The male has the first pair of legs
much longer and larger than the others. In the female the fourth legs
are longest.
[Illustration: FIG. 152. Mævia vittata.--Female enlarged six times.]
$Mævia vittata.$--This is a brightly colored spider about a third of an
inch long and with unusually long legs for this family,--the fourth pair
longest in the females and the first and fourth of equal length in the
males. The female (fig. 152) has the legs and palpi translucent yellow
or greenish white. They are marked with indistinct light gray rings and
black spots at the base of the hairs and spines. The cephalothorax is
dark brown between the eyes and translucent like the legs in the
thoracic part. There is a fine black line in the middle and one on each
side and a few gray marks radiating from the dorsal groove. The whole
top of the cephalothorax is covered with greenish yellow scales mixed
with gray hairs. The eyes are black, and sometimes there is a red stripe
under the eyes at the sides. The abdomen is covered with scales which in
the middle and at the sides are gray and mixed with black hairs. There
are two longitudinal bands of light red and indistinct angular marks of
the same color in the middle of the hinder half. On the under side the
colors are light gray and yellow, with spots of darker gray on the
abdomen.
[Illustration: FIGS. 153, 154. Mævia vittata.--Males enlarged six times.
153, dark variety with long hairs on front of head. 154, light variety
colored like the female.]
The males are of two very different colors. One kind (fig. 154)
resembles the female. The red bands on the abdomen are broken up into
rows of spots connected with the middle angular markings. The gray and
black spots on the legs and cephalothorax are larger, and there are
several black marks on the front of the abdomen. The palpi are bright
orange yellow, with the tibial hook black and a black spot on the inner
side of each joint. The size of the black spots varies in different
individuals, and so this passes into the other variety (fig. 153), in
which the cephalothorax and abdomen are entirely black and the palpi
black, except a few orange hairs on the outer side. The black
cephalothorax and abdomen are covered with dark greenish shining scales.
The legs in this variety are transparent white except the hairs, and on
the front of the head are three tufts of long hairs which are wanting in
the light-colored males.
[Illustration: FIGS. 155, 156. Epiblemum scenicum.--155, female. 156,
male. Both enlarged six times.]
$Epiblemum scenicum.$--This is the common gray and white spider that
lives on houses and fences (fig. 155). It is about quarter of an inch
long, the cephalothorax half longer than wide, and the abdomen a little
wider and longer. The front of the head around and above the eyes is
white. There is a white stripe on each side of the cephalothorax, and in
the middle two white spots, one each side of the dorsal groove. On the
abdomen there is a white stripe across the anterior end, and two oblique
marks on each side. The legs are gray, with white rings not very
distinctly marked, and the palpi white. On some individuals the white
marks are more definite than on others, the gray ground having but few
white scales mixed with it. In others yellow and white scales are
largely mixed with the gray, and so the contrast with the white spots is
less. The males (fig. 156) differ but little in size, color, or markings
from the females, but the male mandibles are much larger and extend
horizontally in front of the head, sometimes two-thirds as long as the
cephalothorax. This is a common European, as well as American, spider.
It is occasionally found on the ground or on plants, but commonly on and
about houses.
[Illustration: FIG. 157. Marptusa familiaris.--Female enlarged six
times.]
$Marptusa familiaris.$--This is another common species on fences and the
outside of houses (fig. 157). When full grown it is half an inch long.
The whole body is much flattened, and both the cephalothorax and abdomen
are widened in the middle. The cephalothorax is rounded at the sides and
three-quarters as wide as long, and the abdomen is half as wide as it is
long. The legs are long and stout, the fourth pair one-half longer than
the abdomen.
The general color is gray, with long gray and white hairs. The
cephalothorax has a dark brown band along the edge on each side, which
is larger and darker in the males. The abdomen has in the middle a
yellowish white marking covering half its width, the front half straight
and the hinder half notched at the sides. The legs are darker at the
ends of the joints and light in the middle. The under side of the
abdomen has a dark middle stripe.
[Illustration: FIG. 158.--Hyctia pikei, enlarged eight times.]
$Hyctia pikei.$--A slender species a quarter to a third of an inch in
length, with the abdomen twice as long as the cephalothorax, and in
general appearance like a seed or piece of straw (fig. 158). The whole
body is covered with silvery white hairs mixed with a few longer black
ones. The markings of the back in the male are a dark middle stripe on
the abdomen, partly divided by notches into four spots and a fine middle
line and two less distinct side lines on the cephalothorax. In the
female the stripe on the abdomen is less definite and is broken up into
spots, and in young spiders the whole body is pale yellow or greenish.
The front legs are as long as the abdomen in both sexes, colored brown,
and with the middle joints thickened. They are not much used in walking,
being extended straight forward and raised enough to clear the ground
while the spider walks with the other six. The other legs are pale and
slender.
The elongated shape of this spider distinguishes it from all the other
common Attidæ. The markings and the position of the legs, two pairs
pointing forward and two backward, increase the long appearance. The
basal joints of the fourth legs are brought close together, and those of
the first pair almost as close. The labium and maxillæ are a little
longer than usual and are partly covered by the first legs.
I have found this spider common on sand grass, where nothing else grows,
and the young lying lengthwise on the leaves could hardly be seen. They
mature in the middle of the summer. When the male approaches the female
he raises the front legs at an angle of sixty degrees with each other,
raises the abdomen a little, and advances by short runs, twitching the
front legs and abdomen every few moments.
[Illustration: FIGS. 159, 160. Cyrba tæniola.--159, female enlarged
eight times. 160, profile to show flatness of the back.]
$Cyrba tæniola.$--A small flat spider, nearly black, the females quarter
of an inch long, and the males a sixth of an inch (fig. 159). The
cephalothorax is one-half longer than wide, very low and flat, with the
sides parallel for half its length. The front middle eyes are large and
close together, the lateral eyes half as large and a little separated
from them. The first legs are twice as thick as the others and have the
femora flattened, but in the female the fourth legs are longest. The
abdomen is as wide as the cephalothorax and a little longer. The hairs
all over the body are short. The cephalothorax is black, smooth, and
without markings. The abdomen is dark gray, with two rows of white spots
often indistinct and perhaps sometimes absent. The legs have the femora
and patella and tibia of first and second pairs black or dark brown and
the other joints light and black at the ends. The under side is black.
The sternum is very short, so that the basal joints of the front legs
touch each other.
[Illustration: FIGS. 161, 162. Hasarius hoyi.--161, young female enlarged
six times. 162, abdomen of adult female to show difference in markings.]
$Hasarius hoyi.$--This species may be known by its peculiar colors,--the
dark portions brown or black and the light parts white and orange brown
(figs. 161, 162). These colors are, as usual, brighter and the markings
more distinct in the males. In front around the eyes the cephalothorax
is covered with white hairs. At the sides a white band extends backward
under the eyes, turning inward but not reaching the middle line. There
is a light band, part white and part orange, around the abdomen and
several angular marks in the middle, two of them in the hinder half,
sometimes united into a large spot. In alcohol, and less plainly seen
when alive, is a light band under the hairs, extending across the middle
of the cephalothorax and forward on the sides under the eyes.
In females all these markings are less distinct, but traces of them can
be found in most individuals. The colors are more brownish, and the
markings of the abdomen smaller and more uniform in shape. The markings
of the legs are dark on the middle joints and light at the base and on
the tarsi, with strong contrasts in color in the males and little in the
females. The length of this species is about a quarter of an inch for
large females. The males are smaller.
[Illustration: FIGS. 163, 164. Synemosyna formica.--163, female enlarged
eight times. 164, side of female.]
$Synemosyna formica.$--A small spider so much like an ant as to be often
mistaken for one (fig. 163). It is about quarter of an inch long and
very slender. The cephalothorax is narrowed behind and the abdomen in
front, and each has a deep depression in the middle. The stem of the
abdomen is flat, and widened behind so that it is nearly as wide as the
ends of the thorax and abdomen, which it connects. The front middle eyes
are large and cover two-thirds of the width of the front of the head,
and the rest of the eyes are small. The legs are all slender, the hind
pair longest. The general color is black, with yellowish or orange-white
markings. There is a triangular white spot in front of the dorsal
groove, and one on each side widening downward under the posterior eyes.
On the abdomen there is a white stripe extending downward from the
dorsal depression on each side and uniting in a large white patch
underneath (fig. 164). In pale individuals the whole front half of the
abdomen is light yellow or orange brown. The second legs are entirely
white, the others partly black. The male has the head higher and is
darker colored and more slender.
This spider not only resembles an ant in form and color but moves like
an ant. It does not jump like most Attidæ, though it can do so, but
walks and runs irregularly about and lifts its first legs high like the
antennæ of ants.
[Illustration: FIG. 165. Lyssomanes viridis, enlarged six times.]
$Lyssomanes viridis.$--A bright green spider common in the southern
states. The arrangement of the eyes differs from that usual in the
Attidæ by the front lateral eyes being higher and closer together, so
that they are over and behind the front middle pair (fig. 165). The
cephalothorax is narrow in front,--not much more than half as wide as it
is across the middle. The abdomen is narrower than the thorax and more
than twice as long as wide. The female is a third of an inch in length,
and the male quarter of an inch. The legs are long and slender, the
first pair longest and thickest, in the male half an inch in length and
in the female a little shorter. In the female the mandibles are vertical
and about as long as the height of the head. In the male they are as
long as the cephalothorax, curved apart, and extended almost
horizontally in front of the head. The color is light transparent green,
sometimes without any markings. Usually there are four pairs of small
black spots on the abdomen, and there are black spots around the eyes,
except around the front pair, where there is a little orange color. They
live on low bushes and mature early in the summer.
THE LYCOSIDÆ
The Lycosidæ are among the commonest spiders, or, at any rate, those
most often seen. Most of them live near the ground and move actively
about without attempting to conceal themselves. Their colors are black
and white or the colors of the ground, stones, and dead leaves,
sometimes nearly uniform all over the body, in other kinds arranged in a
distinct pattern, with strong contrasts between the light and dark
parts. In some species the markings are brighter and more characteristic
on the under side than on the back. The legs are long, the fourth pair
longest. The spines on the legs are long and often darker colored than
the skin, and when the spider is active they stand out from the legs and
make them appear larger. The first and second legs are more covered with
fine short hairs and have the spines shorter and less easily seen than
the third and fourth. The feet have three claws, the under one small and
covered by the surrounding hairs. The eyes have a peculiar arrangement,
the front row being small and nearly straight, the middle pair of the
upper row just above them and much larger, while the lateral eyes of
this row are carried back and upward on the sides of the head so that
the eyes are really in three rows of four, two, and two (fig. 170). In
those species with low heads, like Dolomedes, the upper row of eyes is
less curved and smaller, and the whole arrangement resembles that in
Tibellus and others of the Thomisidæ. The body is usually long and the
head high, the abdomen about as long and as wide as the cephalothorax
and as thick as it is wide.
Our largest spiders belong to this family. The females carry their eggs
in round cocoons attached to their spinnerets, and the young for a
short time after coming out are carried about on the back of the mother.
Dolomedes and Ocyale carry their cocoons in the mandibles and spin a
loose web in bushes, where the young live for a time after leaving the
cocoon. The young of most species pass the winter half grown and mature
the next summer. Most of the little spiders seen spinning their threads
on the tops of plants and fences in the Indian summer are young
Lycosidæ.
Most of these spiders belong to two genera, Lycosa and Pardosa, the
first including the larger species, with the eyes covering only a small
part of the front of the head and the front row about the same length as
the second; the other, Pardosa, consisting of comparatively small
species, with the four upper eyes very large and covering the whole top
of the head and the front row much shorter than the second.
THE GENUS LYCOSA
The genus Lycosa includes spiders that differ greatly in the proportions
of different parts of their bodies. In general, they are large and stout
and their legs short compared to those of Pardosa and Dolomedes, the
front legs being not much longer than the body. In the short and stout
species, like _pratensis_ (fig. 170), the eyes cover only a small part
of the head, while in the longer legged and more slender species, like
_communis_ (fig. 181), they are larger and spread farther apart. The
head is highest behind and rounded downward in front, but less so in
those species with large eyes. The spines of the legs are comparatively
small and on the two front pairs concealed by the surrounding hairs. The
fine flattened hairs on the front feet sometimes form a thick brush on
the under side, extending up from the claws as far as the tibia. The
colors are all shades of brown and gray.
[Illustration: FIGS. 166, 167. Lycosa nidicola.--166, female enlarged
twice. 167, under side of abdomen.]
$Lycosa nidicola.$--When full grown three-quarters of an inch long; the
legs short, the longest an inch in length. The color is dull yellow or
greenish brown. On the cephalothorax there is a narrow yellow stripe in
the middle and one on each side (fig. 166), and on the front of the
abdomen the usual pointed stripe, dark at the edges and bordered by
lighter bands. On the hinder half of the abdomen are indistinct cross
marks. The legs are without markings, and the spines short and hardly
visible. The under side of the abdomen (fig. 167) is light in the middle
and darker at the sides and marked with small brown spots. The males and
young are lighter and more plainly marked than the adult females. This
spider lives under stones and other shelters in the woods in a shallow
nest, lined with silk, where the female may be found with her cocoon of
eggs early in the summer.
[Illustration: FIGS. 168, 169, 170. Lycosa pratensis.--168, female
enlarged three times. 169, side of cephalothorax. 170, front of head and
mandibles.]
$Lycosa pratensis.$--A small species, four-fifths to half an inch long,
yellowish brown, with indistinct light and dark markings. The
cephalothorax has a middle light band as wide as the eyes, narrowed a
little in front of the dorsal groove and broken in the middle by two
brown spots (fig. 168). The sides of the cephalothorax near the edge
are faintly lighter than the rest. The abdomen has a pointed middle
stripe, dark at the edges, extending back half its length, and behind
this four or five dark cross stripes. The legs are darker toward the
ends; the femora are marked with two broken dark bands, and the patella
and tibia of the third and fourth legs have faint dark rings. The spines
are small and, on the two front pairs of legs, hardly visible among the
other hairs. The under side is light colored, with the ends of the legs
darker. The epigynum is short and wide. The males differ little from the
females. This does not seem to be a very active spider and is commonly
found under stones.
[Illustration: FIG. 171. Lycosa polita, enlarged three times.]
$Lycosa polita.$--This is a short-legged species resembling in size and
color _Lycosa pratensis_. The hairs are very short and often entirely
absent from the cephalothorax, which is smooth and shining. The eyes are
very close together, especially the two of the middle row, which is much
shorter than the front row (fig. 171). The cephalothorax and legs are
often light brown without any markings, but in some individuals there
are irregular dark marks along the sides of the thorax and broken rings
on the legs. The abdomen is gray, light in the middle, with dark
transverse marks behind and closely placed dark spots at the sides, much
as in _Tegenaria medicinalis_ and Amaurobius. The abdomen is light
underneath, with a darker middle line and irregular oblique rows of
spots at the sides.
[Illustration: FIG. 172. Mouth of hole of Lycosa nidifex in sand, and
footprints of the spider where it ran out from the hole and back again.
One-third the real size.]
$Lycosa nidifex.$--This spider lives in sandy regions,--the females in
holes ten or twelve inches deep, the adult males on the surface of the
ground. The males (fig. 174) are half or five-eighths of an inch long
and spread two inches. They are colored like the sand,--a little redder
sometimes in the middle spots and on the femora, and gray at the sides.
There is a spot in the middle of the abdomen edged with black and a
black band on each side of the head divided in front, the branches
extending to the lateral eyes of both rows. The ends of the palpi and
the spinnerets are black. The mandibles are black, except in the middle,
where they are covered with bright yellow hairs. On the under side (fig.
175) the two front pairs of legs, sternum, and mouth parts are black,
the hinder legs and abdomen light sand color, like the back. The female
(fig. 173) is larger,--three-quarters of an inch or more in length. The
color is more gray or slate color, darker in front and lighter behind,
as in the male. The cephalothorax has a light gray band in the middle,
and the abdomen a middle dark band broken at the sides by three or four
pairs of light spots. The front two pairs of legs are thicker than the
others and more closely covered with hair in both sexes.
[Illustration: FIG. 173. Lycosa nidifex.--Female enlarged twice.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 174, 175. Lycosa nidifex.--174, back of male. 175,
under side of male. Both enlarged twice.]
In August the males wander about on the sand and are easily caught.
Though their color is much like the sand, the marks of the back and legs
make them more easily seen than _L. cinerea_ (fig. 177) and other sand
spiders. The females live in holes three-quarters of an inch wide and
ten inches or more deep. The sand is held together by silk, which is
very thin below but thicker toward the opening. Sometimes bits of sticks
and straw are fastened around the hole, but as often it is entirely
clean and not concealed in any way. The females keep near their holes
and drop into them at the least fright. As one walks across the
neighborhood no spiders are to be seen, only open holes. After a short
time they come to the surface, at first slowly, but sometimes, as they
see the place clear, with a sudden jump, and stand over the hole ready
to drop back into it. The color of the females is more gray or slate
color than that of the males. The markings of the abdomen are larger and
more distinct, but the black on the thorax and front legs is less marked
than in the males.
[Illustration: FIG. 176. Lycosa carolinensis.--Under side of female to
show the black markings.]
$Lycosa carolinensis.$--This is one of the largest spiders living in the
northern states, and it resembles in size and color the famous Tarantula
of southern Europe (fig. 175). The female is sometimes over an inch in
length, with the fourth legs an inch and a half long, so that it spreads
over three inches. The males have the legs as long but more slender, and
the body is smaller, measuring three-quarters of an inch. The color is
gray mixed with brown, like the fur of a mouse, the males lighter than
the females.
On the under side the whole body is black, including the first and
second joints of the legs and the maxillæ. The legs are light gray, with
dark bands at the ends of the joints. The mandibles are brown, with
orange-yellow hairs on the front. There is sometimes a little yellow on
the ends of the first and second legs and palpi of the male.
The female makes a hole, but not a deep one, and hides in it with her
eggs, but is often found running about on the ground.
[Illustration: FIGS. 177, 178. Lycosa cinerea.--177, female enlarged
four times. 178, maxillæ.]
$Lycosa cinerea.$--A common spider on beaches and sandy fields all over
this country and in Europe (fig. 177) The general color is dirty white
covered with small black and gray marks, so that, when it lies flat on
the sand, it can hardly be distinguished from it. The body is half an
inch long, and the fourth legs nearly an inch. The under side is white
or gray, and the whole body covered with white and gray hairs. The legs
are marked with indistinct dark rings, two or three to each joint. On
the cephalothorax the spots radiate irregularly from the dorsal groove;
the space between the eyes is dark, and the mandibles are dark brown.
The markings of the abdomen are broken up into small spots, so that
there is little of the usual figures. The male palpi are long and
slender and the ends very small.
[Illustration: FIGS. 179, 180. Lycosa kochii.--179, female enlarged
twice. 180, epigynum.]
$Lycosa kochii.$--This is a common species in the woods, and is colored
brown and gray, like dead leaves (fig. 179). It is half an inch long
when full grown, and the fourth legs three-quarters of an inch. The
upper eyes are larger than in _pratensis_ and _nidicola_, and cover half
the width of the head, as in _communis_. The cephalothorax is light gray
in the middle and dark at the sides and around the front of the head.
The legs are gray, lighter toward the body and darker toward the ends,
marked with indistinct rings, two or three to each joint. The abdomen is
gray, with broken darker gray markings forming indistinctly a row of
transverse marks in the middle. The sides are darkest toward the front
end, where there are two black spots. The under side is lighter than the
back. The epigynum (fig. 180) differs from that of the related species,
having the middle lobe narrow in front and wide and triangular at the
end.
[Illustration: FIGS. 181, 182. Lycosa communis.--181, female enlarged
three times. 182, front of head showing eyes.]
$Lycosa communis.$--This is a common spider in pastures, running in
grass or hiding under stones. It varies in color from light gray to
almost black, but the markings are almost always the same and distinct.
On the thorax there is a middle stripe extending forward to the eyes,
and a narrower one between the eyes to the front of the head (fig. 181).
At the sides are light stripes nearly as wide as the middle one
extending under the eyes to the front of the head. On the abdomen the
front pointed stripe is large. The light stripes at the side of it are
wide and distinct, uniting on the hinder half of the abdomen into a
middle stripe, broken sometimes into a row of four or five spots. In
dark individuals this light marking is yellow and more strongly defined
than in lighter ones. On the thorax, especially in light
colored-spiders, there are usually two or three light marks radiating
from the dorsal groove. The legs, except the ends of the first and
second, are marked with rings at the ends and middle of the joints,
indistinct in light spiders and brighter in dark ones.
The length is two-fifths to half an inch. The legs are long, the fourth
pair three-quarters of an inch in length. The second row of eyes is a
little wider than the first, and the second eyes are large and their
diameter apart (fig. 182). On the under side of the abdomen are two dark
stripes meeting at the spinnerets so as to form a horseshoe-shaped
figure, but in some very dark individuals the whole under side of the
abdomen behind the epigynum is dark colored. There is little difference
between the sexes. The females carry eggs in June and July.
[Illustration: FIG. 183. Lycosa scutulata.--Female enlarged twice.]
$Lycosa scutulata.$--This is a large and well-marked species, over half
an inch in length and with hind legs over an inch long (fig. 183). The
legs are yellowish gray without markings. The cephalothorax is dark
gray, with a light middle stripe and one on each side extending under
the eyes to the front of the head. There is also a narrow light line on
the edge of the thorax at the sides. In the middle of the abdomen is a
dark stripe, with five or six pairs of light spots, those of the front
pair being only partly inclosed by the stripe. At the sides of the
middle stripe are narrower light bands, and beyond these fine light and
dark oblique lines. On the under side the whole body is light gray.
In the males the front legs are a little longer and much darker colored
than the others. The male palpi are slender, and the tarsi small for so
large a spider. The second row of eyes is a little wider than the front
row.
[Illustration: FIGS. 184, 185. Lycosa ocreata.--184, female enlarged
eight times. 185, cephalothorax and front legs of male.]
$Lycosa ocreata.$--The female may easily be mistaken for young _L.
kochii_ (fig. 179) or _communis_ (fig. 181), but the male is conspicuous
on account of the dark head and front legs and especially the thick
covering of black hairs on the tibiæ of the first pair. The
cephalothorax has a distinct light middle stripe, narrower and
straighter in the male (figs. 184, 185). The middle of the abdomen is
yellow, with the pointed stripe only a little darker and marked with
black spots around the edges. At the sides the abdomen is brown, broken
in spots, and in the middle of the hinder half are three or four cross
marks. The legs are yellowish and ringed with gray in the females. In
the males the femora and the sides of the thorax are much darker brown,
and the tibiæ of the front pair dark and thickly covered with hairs. The
male palpi have the patella and tibia thickened and about as wide as
long. The front legs are plainly thicker than the second in both sexes.
The second row of eyes is wider than the first. The length of either sex
is a little over quarter of an inch. The legs are slender and thinly
covered with long fine hairs. The longest leg is about half an inch.
THE GENUS PARDOSA
Pardosa consists of comparatively small spiders, all of them long legged
and slender. The head is high in front, and the four upper eyes large
and spread over the whole front of the head (fig. 200). The front row of
eyes is plainly shorter than the second row. The colors are generally
dark, often black, and with white markings. The spines of the legs are
long, even on the front pairs, and the whole body is often covered with
long hairs. To show the comparative size of the different species of
this genus, all the figures are made on the same scale, four times the
real size.
[Illustration: FIGS. 186, 187, 188. Pardosa lapidicina.--186, female
enlarged four times. 187, side of cephalothorax. 188, epigynum.]
$Pardosa lapidicina.$--Four-fifths of an inch long and with long legs,
the fourth pair three-quarters of an inch long. The color is black, the
whole body being covered with black hairs that obscure the few light
markings (fig. 186). When looked at closely, especially after being wet,
the legs appear a little lighter colored toward the ends, and the
femora faintly marked with light rings. In the middle of the
cephalothorax there is a large light spot, widest just in front of the
dorsal groove, and at the sides are rows of irregular light spots. On
the abdomen are three or four pairs of light spots near together in the
front half, and behind are two rows of spots meeting over the
spinnerets. On the under side the color is a lighter gray than on the
back. The color, as in all spiders, varies according to age, the young
and freshly molted having a deeper black color, while older ones are
gray. The epigynum is shown in the figure (fig. 188), and is quite
constant in shape. It distinguishes this species from _greenlandica_
(fig. 189), for which it is most likely to be mistaken. The male differs
little from the female. This spider lives among gray stones in the
hottest and driest places from Connecticut to Labrador.
[Illustration: FIGS. 189, 190. Pardosa greenlandica.--189, female
enlarged four times. 190, epigynum.]
$Pardosa albomaculata$ or $greenlandica.$--This species resembles
_lapidicina_ (fig. 186), but is a little larger and not quite as long
legged. It has longer hairs and is marked with bright white spots on a
black ground. There are two rows of white spots on the abdomen, and
others along the sides of the cephalothorax and on the legs (fig. 189).
Wet in alcohol it shows similar irregular markings on the abdomen as
_lapidicina_, but the light spots on the thorax are smaller, the middle
one extending forward only to the dorsal groove. The epigynum (fig. 190)
is large and distinct. Its outline has been compared to that of a
decanter, narrow in front and rounded out at the sides behind. There is
a long narrow middle lobe, generally widened at the end, but varying
much in shape. At the front end of the epigynum are two small
depressions. It resembles the epigynum of _glacialis_ (fig. 192), but is
always longer and narrower and has the middle lobe straighter and more
distinct. White Mountains, on bare stones. Rocky Mountains, Canada, and
Greenland.
[Illustration: FIGS. 191, 192. Pardosa glacialis.--191, Female enlarged
four times. 192, epigynum.]
$Pardosa glacialis$ or $brunnea.$--One-third of an inch long. Color dark
brown with some light markings. In the middle of the cephalothorax is a
light stripe, widening and fading out toward the eyes and divided by a
dark middle line, widest in front and extending back as far as the
dorsal groove (fig. 191). On each side is a light stripe extending under
the eyes to the front of the head. The abdomen has the middle pointed
stripe light colored, and sometimes there are four or five pairs of
small spots of white hairs on the hinder half. In alcohol there are
obscure cross markings and black spots. The legs are marked with
longitudinal dark and light lines. On the under side there is usually a
light middle stripe on the front of the sternum, and the middle of the
abdomen is lighter than the rest. The whole body is hairy; there are
long black hairs on the front of the head, and the spines are long and
colored like the legs. The epigynum (fig. 192) has a narrow middle lobe
transparent at the end so that it is difficult to see, and dark brown
pieces at the sides, with the outer ends turned forward. The shape can
best be understood from the figure. The epigynum varies, but
distinguishes this species plainly from _greenlandica_ (fig. 190), with
which it is likely to be associated. The male palpi are large and black
at the ends, the tarsus oval and pointed, and the tibia short and as
thick as long. This spider has been found all over Canada and as far
north as Greenland. It is common in the White Mountains and has been
found as far south as Connecticut.
[Illustration: FIGS. 193, 194, 195, 196. Pardosa tachypoda.--193, female
enlarged four times. 194, cephalothorax and palpus of male. 195,
epigynum. 196, palpus of male.]
$Pardosa tachypoda$ or $montana.$--This is a Canadian and White Mountain
spider found as far south as Massachusetts (fig. 193). It is smaller
than either _greenlandica_ or _glacialis_ and larger than _nigropalpis_
and _albopatella_. The colors are more like the last two species, but
the legs are darker and more distinctly ringed. The light markings of
the cephalothorax and abdomen are less distinct and more broken and
irregular. The epigynum (fig. 195) has a characteristic shape different
from any of the allied species, the two anterior depressions being wide
apart and the middle ridge narrow and rounded at the end. The male palpi
(fig. 196) are rather slender, as in _lapidicina_, and uniformly
colored, and all the differences between the sexes are less strongly
marked than in _nigropalpis_ and _albopatella_.
[Illustration: FIGS. 197, 198, 199, 200, 201. Pardosa pallida.--197,
female enlarged four times. 198, under side of female. 199, back of
male. 200, front of head. 201, end of palpus of male.]
$Pardosa pallida.$--One-fifth of an inch long and brightly marked with
black and brown on a light yellow ground (figs. 197, 199). The
cephalothorax is narrower than in most species. The cephalothorax has
two wide gray stripes and a fine black line on the edge at each side.
The abdomen has the middle pointed stripe light brown with a broken
black edge. On each side is a black band, made up of spots closer toward
the middle and more scattered toward the sides. The legs are light
yellow, with a few black spots near the body. The spines of the legs are
long but not dark colored. On the under side there are dark spots on the
sternum near the base of each leg, and sometimes two rows of spots or
two bands nearer the middle. On the under side of the abdomen are two
black stripes, sometimes connected behind. In the males (fig. 199) the
colors are darker and the dark markings larger. The ends of the palpi
are large and covered with black hairs.
In one freshly molted young male there was hardly any trace of the spots
on the sternum. The male palpi were dark gray with black hairs, except
the tarsus, which was light colored, with a dark spot in the middle and
a few black hairs. The markings of the abdomen were very indistinct, and
the light color brownish, while the thorax and legs are slightly green.
The first femora were black toward the end.
[Illustration: FIGS. 202, 203, 204. Pardosa nigropalpis.--202, female.
203, male. Both enlarged four times. 204, end of palpus of male.]
$Pardosa nigropalpis.$--About quarter of an inch long. Black and gray.
The male with head and palpi black (fig. 203). In the female the
cephalothorax has a large light middle stripe, widest between the eyes
and the dorsal groove, and a narrow light stripe on each side (fig.
202). The abdomen is light in the middle for its whole length in an
irregular stripe partly divided by faint cross lines of gray. The sides
are darker and spotted with black. The legs are faintly marked with
darker rings. In the male the contrast between the light and dark
markings is greater, the markings of the cephalothorax are smaller and
brighter, and the head and palpi are black and covered with black hairs.
[Illustration: FIGS. 205, 206, 207. Pardosa albopatella.--205, female.
206, male. Both enlarged four times. 207, end of palpus of male.]
$Pardosa albopatella.$--Smaller than _P. nigropalpis_, but resembling it
in shape and color (figs. 205, 206). The middle stripe of the
cephalothorax is narrower. The middle stripe of the abdomen is narrower
and brighter at the front end. The femora are distinctly marked with
four rings, and the other joints less plainly. In the male the ends of
the legs are pale, without rings, and the rings of the femora are broken
into spots except on the front legs, where the femora are black. The
palpi (fig. 206) have the femora black and the patella white. The tibia
is dark, and the tarsus is dark at the base and white toward the tip.
[Illustration: FIGS. 208, 209. Pirata piraticus.--208, female enlarged
three times. 209, front of head.]
$Pirata piraticus.$--A small and active spider living in short grass in
summer and under leaves in winter. The colors and shape of the body are
much like _Lycosa pratensis_ (fig. 168), but the legs are proportionally
larger and longer, and the colors brighter. The length is about a
quarter of an inch. The front and second rows of eyes are of the same
length, those of the second row large and their diameter apart (fig.
209). The eyes of the upper row are nearly as large as those of the
second, and twice as far apart. The color is pale yellow, with gray or
black markings. The cephalothorax has a narrow light line in the middle
and one on each side (fig. 208). In the middle of the front of the
abdomen is a light stripe with dark edges, which tapers into a line or
row of spots behind the middle. At the sides of this are light stripes
that unite behind, and outside of these are dark markings becoming
smaller behind. The legs have conspicuous dark spines, especially the
hinder pair, and are faintly marked with rings or sometimes are without
markings.
Dolomedes and Ocyale differ in many respects from the other Lycosidæ.
They are more flattened, have the head lower, and the eyes all more
nearly of the same size. The front row of eyes are small and near
together. The upper row is about twice as long and strongly curved, and
the eyes are nearly equal in size and twice as large as those of the
front row (figs. 214, 216). In Dolomedes the lower eyes are about half
as high as the top of the head. In Ocyale they are lower and farther
apart, and the head resembles still more Tibellus of the Thomisidæ. Both
Ocyale and Dolomedes resemble this family in their flattened body and
wide thorax.
[Illustration: FIGS. 210, 211, 212. Dolomedes sexpunctatus.--210, female
enlarged twice. 211, under side of cephalothorax. 212, one of the feet,
showing three claws.]
$Dolomedes sexpunctatus.$--Dark greenish gray or, in young spiders,
yellow, with a silvery white line each side the whole length of the
body, meeting in front under the eyes and reaching back to the
spinnerets (fig. 210). In the middle of the cephalothorax is a narrow
light line. On the hinder half of the abdomen are four pairs of small
white spots, and sometimes another pair near the front end. On the under
side the general color is lighter, and there are six dark spots on the
sternum (fig. 211). The cephalothorax is three-quarters as wide as long,
but looks narrower on account of the white stripes. The abdomen is
proportionally longer than in _tenebrosus_ (fig. 213). The full-grown
female is six-tenths of an inch long, with a spread of an inch and
three-quarters. In winter and spring the half-grown young are very
common everywhere. It lives near water and runs easily on it, each foot
making a depression on the surface without becoming wet.
[Illustration: FIGS. 213, 214. Dolomedes tenebrosus.--213, female
enlarged twice. 214, front of head.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 215, 216. Ocyale undata.--215, female enlarged
twice. 216, front of head.]
[Illustration: FIG. 217. Nest of the young of Ocyale undata in a
wild-rose bush. One-third the real size.]
$Dolomedes tenebrosus.$--This is one of our largest spiders, spreading
its legs over four inches. The color is light and dark gray. The legs
are indistinctly marked with light and dark rings and have long dark
spines (fig. 213). The thorax is dark in the middle and lighter toward
the eyes. On each side are light bands that extend around under the eyes
and meet in front. The abdomen has three pairs of transverse dark
stripes, each with a light border on the hinder edge. The cephalothorax
is four-tenths of an inch long and three-tenths wide, half as wide in
front, and nearly straight on the front edge. It is rounded in the
middle, but not very high, and just behind the eyes is nearly flat. The
under side of the thorax and legs is light colored, without markings,
the abdomen a little darker. The abdomen is as long as the thorax,
widest across the middle, and a little pointed behind. The male has
longer legs and is more slender and strongly marked; under the fourth
femora near the end is a bunch of stiff hairs. The male palpi are long,
with large tarsi and palpal organs and a long hook on the outer side of
the tarsus. They live near water, on the ground or low bushes. The
female carries her cocoon in her mandibles and makes a large bunch of
silk in the bushes, in which the young live for some time after
hatching.
$Ocyale undata.$--When full grown over half an inch long, the thorax
quarter of an inch, and the first and fourth legs an inch long. The
thorax is almost as wide as long, and the head not much more than half
as wide (fig. 215). The abdomen is long and narrower than the thorax and
a little pointed behind. The color is a light brownish yellow, with a
wide darker and browner band on the middle of both thorax and abdomen.
This band is bordered by a white line a little curved in and out toward
the tail. In younger spiders the color is lighter and yellower; the
middle stripe has the edges more undulating, and in very young ones it
is serrated or even broken up into spots. The legs, which are plain in
adults, are sometimes marked with rings in the young. The front end of
the stripe is sometimes divided into two. These spiders live on bushes,
without any web, until they have young. In the latter part of summer the
females carry their flat cocoons under them, holding on with the
mandibles. When the young are about to hatch the female builds a mass of
web (fig. 217) three or four inches through, in which she leaves the
cocoon, and the young come out and live for a time together in the web.
[Illustration: FIGS. 218, 219. Oxyopes salticus.--218, female enlarged
six times. 219, front of head.]
$Oxyopes salticus.$--The eyes are in three rows, the front one of two
small eyes, the second of four eyes, and the upper of two. The head is
wide and less separated from the thorax than in Lycosa and very high in
front. The cephalothorax is two-thirds as wide as long and rounded both
in front and behind (fig. 218). The abdomen of the male is smaller than
the cephalothorax, but that of the female is wider and longer. It is
widest in the middle, rounded in front, and pointed behind. The legs are
slender, the first pair longest, but all nearly of the same length and
with very long spines. The colors and markings are very variable. The
legs are white or pale yellow, with black spines. The light parts of the
body are the same color, with brown and black markings. There are
usually four brown stripes on the cephalothorax from the eyes backward,
and two black lines in front from the lower eyes down the front of the
mandibles (fig. 219). The most constant mark of the abdomen is a pointed
middle spot extending as far as the middle of the back. This is
generally surrounded by light color, and at the sides are narrow oblique
brown marks. There are sometimes fine black lines on the under sides of
the femora and a wide black middle stripe under the abdomen. The males
are sometimes colored like the female, and vary from this to black
abdomen and palpi, with the rest of the body pale. A very common species
in the southern states in the early summer, running on low bushes. There
is another Oxyopes about the same size that has been found a few times
as far north as New England.
[Illustration: FIG. 220. Oxyopes viridans.--Young female enlarged four
times.]
$Oxyopes (Peucetia) viridans.$--This is a common and conspicuous spider
in the South. It is a bright transparent green, with red spots and black
spines. It grows to a length of three-quarters of an inch, but is found
in great numbers early in the summer, when it is only a quarter of this
size (fig. 220). The head is narrower than in _O. salticus_, and the
lateral eyes so high that they appear to belong to the upper rather than
the middle row. The abdomen is the same width as the back part of the
cephalothorax and tapers a little toward the spinnerets. The first pair
of legs is longest and the second next. The general color is green, with
the space between the eyes red, red spots and black spines on the legs,
and two rows of red spots on the abdomen, sometimes united into a
stripe, with pairs of white spots surrounded by red.
THE AGALENIDÆ
[Illustration: FIG. 221. Web of Agalena nævia in long grass, seen from
above. One-third the real size.]
[Illustration: FIG. 222. Web of Agalena nævia in short grass on the side
of a hill, seen from the side. The spider stands in its usual place at
the mouth of its tube. Half the real size.]
The larger Agalenidæ are the makers of the flat wide cobwebs that are so
common on the grass and in the corners of barns and cellars. They
resemble some of the Drassidæ, especially Agrœca and Anyphæna (pp.
1-14). The head is large and marked off by shallow grooves from the
thorax, and is often contracted behind the eyes, so that it is narrower
there than in the front. The mandibles are large and, in the females,
much swelled at the base in front. The arrangement of the eyes differs
little from that in the Drassidæ. The upper spinnerets are longer than
the others and have the terminal joint narrowed toward the end, with the
spinning tubes on the inner side. The feet have three claws, like the
Lycosidæ, and do not have the brush of hairs common in the Drassidæ. The
males and females differ little in size, but the males have longer legs
and smaller abdomen and large and complicated palpi.
[Illustration: FIGS. 223, 234. Agalena nævia.--223, female enlarged
twice. 224, front of head.]
[Illustration: FIG. 225. End of palpus of male Agalena nævia.]
[Illustration: FIG. 226. Newly made edge of web of Agalena nævia,
showing arrangement of the threads.]
[Illustration: FIG. 227. Web of Agalena nævia in a plant of golden-rod
two feet above the ground, showing upper threads. One-fourth the real
size.]
$Agalena nævia.$--This spider is known everywhere by its web, which it
makes on grass, among stones and weeds, and in houses (figs. 221, 222).
It varies greatly in size and color. Large females may be three-quarters
of an inch long, with legs measuring an inch and a quarter, while others
may be full grown at half that size. In color some are pale yellow with
gray markings, and others reddish brown with the markings almost black.
Whatever the color, they are thickly covered with fine gray hairs. The
cephalothorax has two longitudinal gray stripes and a black line along
the edge on each side (fig. 223). The head is high and a little darker
in front. Both rows of eyes are strongly curved, with the middle eyes
highest, so that the middle eyes of the lower row and the lateral of the
upper row form a nearly straight line (fig. 224). The mandibles are
stout, not much swelled in front, and covered with hair. The abdomen is
gray or black at the sides and lighter brown in the middle, with two
rows of white or light-colored spots. The upper spinnerets are more than
twice as long as the others, and the terminal joint much longer than the
basal. The legs are large and long, the fourth pair almost twice as
long as the body. The legs are marked with dark rings at the ends of the
joints and lighter rings in the middle of femur and tibia. On the under
side the coxæ are light colored and the sternum dark, and there is a
broad dark middle band on the abdomen from the hinder legs to the
spinnerets. The males are as large as the females, with longer legs and
smaller abdomen. The male palpi have a very large black tube coiled one
and a half turns under the tarsus (fig. 225). The web (fig. 222) is flat
and shaped according to the surrounding objects to which it is fastened,
with a tube at one side in which the spider hides. The eggs are laid in
August and September in a flat cocoon, attached by one side in some
sheltered place and covered with silk, often mixed with dirt. Most of
the adult spiders die before winter, and females are often found dead on
or near their cocoons. The young hatch in the winter and leave the
cocoon early in the spring, and soon begin to build their webs among the
short grass. The webs become more distinct when covered with dew, but,
though too transparent to be seen at other times, they remain in the
same places throughout the summer and are repaired and enlarged as the
spider grows. If, however, the web should be destroyed, the spider is
able in one day to make a new one as large as the old, but thin and
transparent. The web contains many long threads crossing it from one
side to the other and nearly parallel, and these are crossed in all
directions by finer threads (fig. 226). The long threads are spun from
the lower spinnerets, the upper pair being held up over the back, out of
the way. The fine threads are spun from the upper spinnerets, which are
swung from side to side as the spider moves along. There is nothing
adhesive about the web. It serves merely as a clearing where insects may
alight to rest and the spider may have a good chance to run after them.
Where the web is made under plants or rocks a great number of threads
are carried upward from it, which may help in stopping insects (fig.
227), as they do in the webs of Linyphia. (See p. 135.)
[Illustration: FIGS. 228, 229. Tegenaria derhamii.--228, female enlarged
four times. 229, front of head.]
$Tegenaria derhamii.$--This is a common species in barns and cellars,
and has probably been imported from Europe, where it is even more
common. The head is high and wide, as in _T. medicinalis_. The mandibles
are less swelled in front and the eyes are closer together than in that
species, and cover more than half the width of the head (fig. 229). The
cephalothorax is shorter and wider across the hinder half and the
abdomen shorter than in _medicinalis_, and the legs are longer and more
hairy. The colors are lighter and the hairs of the whole body longer.
The female is two-fifths of an inch long. The cephalothorax is pale,
with two gray stripes. The abdomen is marked with a series of gray
spots, formed of a middle row more or less connected with two side rows;
the front of the abdomen often pale, with the markings faint (fig. 228).
The legs are long, the first and fourth pairs nearly twice the length
of the body. They are marked with faint gray rings at the ends and two
in the middle of each joint. The palpi are long and slender in both
sexes, and those of the male have the patella and tibia of about the
same length and each nearly twice as long as wide. There are no
processes on the patella, but two small teeth on the tibia near its end.
The tarsus is small and narrow, not as long as the patella and tibia.
[Illustration: FIG. 230. Web of Tegenaria derhamii in corner of cellar.]
[Illustration: FIG. 231. Web of Tegenaria derhamii with spider in mouth
of tube. Old cocoons hanging at the left.]
[Illustration: FIG. 232. Web of Tegenaria derhamii curving downward on
each side.]
The webs are made in all parts of cellars and unswept buildings,
sometimes forming a shelf in the corner, not as large or as flat as
those of _A. nævia_, but with a similar tube on the most sheltered side
(fig. 230) The webs more often spread under beams and floors fastened up
by threads at the sides and edges, and, as they gather dust, hang down
by its weight and become torn and tangled. Old webs are repaired and
extended until they become as thick as cloth with silk and dirt. The
tube is generally smaller and less funnel shaped where it enters the web
than that of Agalena. The web is not as flat as that of Agalena, curving
usually down from the tube and up in front of it, often turning up
abruptly at the edge. Sometimes it is fastened up in the middle of the
front edge and curves downward each side (fig. 232).
Fig. 231 shows a web of the most common form in the corner of a cellar,
with the spider standing at the mouth of the tube, and the remains of
egg cocoons hung up at the left. This web was at least a year old, and
the front edge had just been extended with clear and transparent silk,
while the middle was black with coal dust.
Fig. 232 is another web in the same cellar, with the front edge fastened
up to the boards above. It is drawn tightest in the middle and curves
down on each side.
[Illustration: FIGS. 233, 234. Tegenaria medicinalis.--233, adult female
enlarged four times. 234, cephalothorax of young female to show spots.]
$Tegenaria (Cælotes) medicinalis.$--A large gray spider living in the
woods, among rocks, in hollow trees, and under loose bark. It is half an
inch long, with the legs of the female not much longer (fig. 233). The
head is large and wide, and the eyes cover a little more than half its
width. It is a little constricted in front of the legs and raised above
the thorax as far back as the dorsal groove. The abdomen of the females
is large and oval, widest across the hinder half. The spinnerets are
small, but plainly two-jointed, and the upper pair longest. The general
color is light yellow brown, covered with gray hairs, the cephalothorax
browner, and the abdomen grayer, than the legs. The cephalothorax has
two indistinct gray stripes. The abdomen is marked with a series of gray
spots of irregular shape, smallest toward the front and larger and
darker toward the end. The legs are faintly ringed with gray, more
distinctly in the young.
[Illustration: FIG. 235. Palpus of male Tegenaria medicinalis.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 236, 237. Two forms of epigynum of Tegenaria
medicinalis.]
The males are as large as the females, with smaller abdomen and longer
legs. The palpi have the patella and tibia short, not much longer than
wide (fig. 235). The patella has a short process on the outer side near
the end. The tibia is of complicated shape, as shown in the figure. The
tarsus is twice as long as the tibia and patella together, with a long
narrow tip. The palpal organ is large and complicated, with a long fine
tube that can be seen from above, where it curves around the base of the
tarsus.
[Illustration: FIG. 238. Web of Tegenaria medicinalis in a hollow of a
rock, the front edge held up by threads running across the hollow, and
the mouth of the tube showing behind it.]
The epigynum varies in appearance according to the thickness and color
of different parts. The two figures show common varieties (figs. 236,
237). This species and _longitarsus_ are both easily mistaken for
_Amaurobius sylvestris_ and _ferox_, which are of the same size and
color and live in the same situations. Amaurobius does not have the long
upper spinnerets like Tegenaria, the eyes are lower on the front of the
head, and there are larger light-colored markings on the front of the
abdomen. The young of _Tegenaria medicinalis_ are pale, with light gray
markings, and the cephalothorax is marked with spots radiating from the
dorsal groove (fig. 234). The web of this spider is not flat like that
of Agalena, but curved in various shapes according to the place where it
is built. If there is an open level place near the nest, the web spreads
across it, but usually curves upward at the edges and is fastened to
surrounding stones and weeds. Where the spider lives in the cracks of a
wall or rock, the net spreads along the surface of the rock, held away
from it a short distance by threads fastened to projecting points on the
stone (figs. 239, 240). This species is sometimes mistaken for the
longer legged and more hairy _Tegenaria derhamii_ (fig. 228), that makes
similar webs in barns and cellars.
$Tegenaria (Cælotes) longitarsus.$--Smaller than _medicinalis_; about
two-fifths of an inch in length. The head is very wide, and the
mandibles of the female more swelled in front than in _medicinalis_, and
the eyes are smaller and cover less than half the width of the head
(figs. 244, 245). The cephalothorax is darker colored in front and does
not have the two longitudinal stripes seen in _medicinalis_ (fig. 241).
The legs are only faintly marked with gray in the middle of the joints.
The abdomen is marked with gray, in a series of dark and light spots, as
in other species, and of more regular shape than in _medicinalis_. The
epigynum is light colored, with a middle bar covered with hair and
slightly forked at the hinder end (fig. 242). The male differs in the
usual way from the female and has the palpi shorter than _medicinalis_.
The tarsus has a projection at the base that covers the tibia. The
patella has a short process on the outer side that points directly
forward (fig. 243).
[Illustration: FIG. 239. Sections of webs of Tegenaria and
Agalena.--_a_, Agalena nævia; _b_, common form of Tegenaria derhamii,
with the edge lower than the tube; _c_, Tegenaria, with the edge higher
than the tube; _d_, Tegenaria, with the edge carried up along the face
of a rock; _e_, Tegenaria, with the edge carried down as well as up.]
[Illustration: FIG. 240. Web of Tegenaria medicinalis, with the front
edge carried up along the face of a rock. See diagram (fig. 239, _d_).]
[Illustration: FIGS. 241, 242, 243, 244, 245. Tegenaria
longitarsus.--241, back of female. 242, epigynum. 243, palpus of male
seen from above. 244, head of Tegenaria medicinalis. 245, head of
Tegenaria longitarsus.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 246, 247, 248, 249. Tegenaria complicata.--246,
female enlarged four times. 247, epigynum. 248, 249, male palpus.]
$Tegenaria (Cicurina) complicata.$--A small spider, resembling the young
of the larger species of Tegenaria, found usually under dead leaves in
woods (fig. 246). It is a fifth to a quarter of an inch long, with the
longest legs one and one-half times as long as the body. The spines of
the third and fourth legs are long and stout, and there are long fine
hairs on all the legs and the abdomen. The color is pale yellowish
brown, lighter on the abdomen, which has faint gray markings. The sexes
are much alike, and both vary in size. The palpi of the males are very
large and conspicuous (figs. 248, 249). The patella is short and wide,
and the tibia is narrower at the end and wide toward the base, where it
has a short process on the outer side. On the under side of the tibia is
a long thin appendage of irregular shape that is nearly as long as the
tarsus. The tarsus itself is long and narrow, and the palpal organ
large and complicated, with a long fine tube that extends from the base
along the outer side and back to the hard appendages in the middle. The
epigynum (fig. 247) has a small, transverse, oval opening at the hinder
end, in front of which the coils of long tubes can be seen through the
skin.
In New England Agalenidæ Pl. VII, fig. 2 is the epigynum of this species
and not of _Cælotes longitarsus_.
[Illustration: FIGS. 250, 251. Hahnia bimaculata.--250, female enlarged
twelve times. 251, under side showing the peculiar arrangement of the
spinnerets.]
$Hahnia bimaculata.$--The Hahnias resemble Tegenaria, but are much
smaller and have the spinnerets extended in a line across the under side
of the abdomen (fig. 251). _Hahnia bimaculata_ is about one-eighth of an
inch long, with the abdomen large and oval, widest behind, as it is in
Cælotes (fig. 250). The cephalothorax is bright orange brown, and the
legs and abdomen pale yellowish with gray markings. The legs are ringed
with gray, the longer joints having two rings, and the abdomen has a
pattern of light yellow and gray spots. The spinnerets are all long and
in a nearly straight line, half as long as the width of the abdomen. The
outer or upper pair are half as long as the abdomen, and the two joints
are nearly of equal length. The tracheal opening is in the middle of the
abdomen, nearer the epigynum than the spinnerets. The sternum is as wide
as long, widest opposite the second legs. The maxillæ are straight in
front and have a slight projection at the outer corners, where there are
two or three stiff hairs. In some other species there is a longer
process at these corners.
This spider is common in winter under stones and under leaves. In summer
it makes webs close to the ground, among short and thin grass and moss.
[Illustration: FIG. 252. Hahnia cinerea, enlarged sixteen times.]
$Hahnia cinerea.$--About a twelfth of an inch long; much smaller than
_bimaculata_ (fig. 251). The color is dark gray, the cephalothorax and
legs brownish, and the legs a little lighter at the ends of the joints.
The abdomen has a row of angular light spots in the middle. The
spinnerets are in not quite as straight a line as in _bimaculata_, the
outer pair being a little higher and farther behind the next. The
tracheal opening is not as far forward as in _bimaculata_, being nearer
the spinnerets than the epigynum. The male palpi have the appendages of
patella and tibia longer than in _bimaculata_, and softer and more
curved. They are found under stones and leaves.
THE THERIDIDÆ
[Illustration: FIG. 253. Webs of Theridium in a fog, on the tops of
burnt bushes. Half the real size. These webs are too fine to be noticed
in dry weather.]
[Illustration: FIG. 254. Webs of Theridium in a fog, on the tops of
golden-rod. One-third the real size.]
The Therididæ are the builders of the loose and apparently irregular
webs in the upper corners of rooms, in fences and among rocks, and
between the leaves and branches of low trees and bushes. They are
generally small, soft, and light-colored spiders, with the abdomen large
and round and the legs slender and usually without spines. The eyes are
all about the same size and in two rows across the front of the head,
with the lateral eyes of the two rows near together and often touching
each other. The mandibles are weak and without teeth at the end. The
maxillæ are pointed at the end and turned inward toward each other. Most
of the Therididæ live always in their webs, hanging by their feet, back
downward. The webs have in some part a more closely woven place under
which the spider stands, sometimes in the middle of the web, sometimes
in a corner out of sight. Where the spider's usual standing place is
without other shelter, it is often concealed by pieces of leaves or sand
carried into the web by the spider, and sometimes made into a tent. The
outer part of the web is usually loosely made in large meshes, but is
sometimes in a distinct sheet spreading from the nest and held out by
threads in all directions. The cocoons are round and soft and hang in
the web, several being made in the same season by one spider.
[Illustration: FIG. 255. Web of Theridium tepidariorum in a dark corner.
Half the real size.]
Several of this family, like Spintharus and Euryopis, have the abdomen
smaller and flatter than usual and the fourth legs longer, so that they
are better fitted for walking. They are found on plants, and little is
known about their webs.
THE GENUS THERIDIUM
[Illustration: FIG. 256. Web of young Theridium tepidariorum in a corner
of a trellis. A little less than the real size. The spider stood in the
close part near the middle.]
The Theridiums are small soft-bodied spiders, making large and loose
webs without any large flat sheet of silk, but only a slightly closer
portion where the spider stands, or a nest or tent connected with the
web. _Theridium tepidariorum_ (fig. 258) and _rupicola_ (fig. 261) live
in houses or among rocks, making large loose webs, in which the spider
often stands without any covering. They have the abdomen high in front
and tapering a little toward the spinnerets. _Theridium globosum_ (fig.
262) has the abdomen of the same shape. The other species are all small
and have the abdomen round and brightly colored. They live in more open
places on plants, where they make nests in which they are partly hidden,
and carry their webs over the neighboring leaves and twigs (figs. 253,
254).
[Illustration: FIG. 257. Web of young Theridium tepidariorum in a crack
of a rock. Half the real size. The spider stood in the middle under the
closely woven part.]
$Theridium tepidariorum.$--This is one of the most common house spiders,
and is often found in its webs among rocks, but seldom on plants. The
females (fig. 258) measure sometimes over a quarter of an inch in
length, but may mature much smaller. The legs of the first pair are
nearly three times the length of the body. The male (fig. 259) is
shorter and has longer legs. The color varies from dirty white to almost
black. The cephalothorax is yellow brown, and the legs light yellow,
with brown or gray rings at the ends and the middle of the joints. In
the males the legs are orange brown, darker at the ends of the joints.
The abdomen is high in front and narrows toward the spinnerets. In dark
and well-marked specimens the abdomen has, on the hinder part, six
transverse black marks curved upward, thicker in the middle, and partly
connected by black spots at the ends (fig. 260). These marks are most
sharply defined on the hinder edge, where they are bordered by silver
white. The upper mark often forms a conspicuous black and white spot in
the center of the abdomen. In light individuals all the markings are
smaller and less definite.
[Illustration: FIGS. 258, 259, 260. Theridium tepidariorum.--258,
female. 259, male. 260, abdomen of female seen from behind.]
It makes a large web in the corners of rooms, under furniture, and in
the angles of fences and between stones (fig. 255). It usually stands in
the most sheltered part of the web, where a part of it is more closely
woven than the rest, but not enough so to conceal the spider. It
occasionally makes the web in an open place where there is no shelter
above, and then it sometimes carries a piece of leaf into the web and
hides under it, as is the usual habit with some allied species. The webs
of the young are usually more regular in form than those of adults
(figs. 256, 257). A male and female often occupy the same web for a long
time. The eggs are laid in brownish pear-shaped cocoons, several of
which are made in the same season by one spider and hang in the web.
This species is found all over the world.
[Illustration: FIG. 261. Theridium rupicola, enlarged eight times.]
$Theridium rupicola.$--This resembles closely _tepidariorum_ and is
easily mistaken for the young of that species. It does not grow larger
than an eighth of an inch long. The colors are like _tepidariorum_,
usually dark gray with black spots, the back of the abdomen sometimes
almost white. The legs are distinctly ringed with light and dark. In the
middle of the abdomen is a pointed hump, the front part generally black
and the hinder part white (fig. 261).
It lives under stones and among rocks, in webs like those of
_tepidariorum_, often containing grains of sand which look as if placed
there by the spider, as sand falling into such a web would go through
without sticking to the threads.
[Illustration: FIG. 262. Theridium globosum, enlarged eight times.]
$Theridium globosum.$--This is another species with a high abdomen like
_tepidariorum_. It is about a twelfth of an inch long and almost as high
(fig. 262). The abdomen is a little flattened behind and pointed toward
the spinnerets. The hinder part is white, with a large black spot in the
middle, below which is sometimes a smaller black spot. Sometimes there
is a bright white line around the light area. The front upper part of
the abdomen is yellowish gray, and the under part brown. The
cephalothorax is orange brown, except a black spot between the eyes. The
legs are orange brown.
[Illustration: FIG. 263. Web of Theridium differens in the top of a
young pine tree. Half the real size.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 264, 265, 266. Theridium differens.--264, female
enlarged eight times. 265, male enlarged eight times. 266, end of palpus
of male.]
$Theridium differens.$--Female about one-eighth of an inch long, and the
male smaller. The abdomen is round, and the middle stripe often very
brightly colored, with white or yellow at the edges and red in the
middle (fig. 264). The rest of the abdomen is reddish brown, darkest
next to the white edge of the stripe. There are no distinct marks on the
under side. In males the stripe on the abdomen is obscure, and the whole
abdomen dark reddish brown (fig. 265). Sometimes, especially in young
spiders, the abdomen is entirely yellow, with indistinct brown markings.
The cephalothorax is orange brown, often darker in the middle, but with
no distinct stripe. The legs and palpi are yellow in females and orange
brown in males, slightly darker at the ends of the joints. The epigynum
has no openings in sight. They are on the inner side in the transverse
fold across the abdomen. The palpal organ (fig. 266) has two appendages
at the end, one hard and roughened and the other soft. The web is on low
plants of all kinds, usually two or three feet from the ground (fig.
263). There is sometimes a small tent, often hardly deep enough to cover
the spider, from which the web spreads two or three inches, according to
the shape of the plant. The cocoons of eggs are white and nearly as
large as the spider, and are attached in the nest.
[Illustration: FIGS. 267, 268, 269. Theridium murarium.--267, female
enlarged eight times. 268, end of palpus of male. 269, epigynum.]
$Theridium murarium.$--Length about one-eighth of an inch, with the
abdomen nearly spherical. The general color is gray. The legs are pale,
with dark bands at the end and middle of each joint. The cephalothorax
is pale, with a dark line in the middle and one on each side, the middle
line sometimes divided into two near the eyes (fig. 267). On the abdomen
there is an undulated middle stripe, white at the edges and the front
end, and reddish in the middle. On both sides of this stripe the abdomen
is nearly black and becomes gradually lighter toward the sides. The
sternum is pale, with a black edge and black stripe in the middle. The
under side of the abdomen is gray, with a long black spot in the middle
and a smaller one over the epigynum. There is little difference in size
or color between the sexes. The epigynum (fig. 269) has two round holes,
wide apart, near the thickened edge. The palpal organ (fig. 268) is
shorter and simpler than it is in _differens_.
[Illustration: FIGS. 270, 271, 272, 273. Theridium spirale.--270, male.
271, female. Both enlarged eight times. 272, end of palpus of male. 273,
epigynum.]
$Theridium spirale.$--This is a round-bodied spider of the same size as
_differens_ and _murarium_. The cephalothorax is orange brown above and
below, with an indistinct dark stripe as wide in front as the eyes and
narrowed behind. The abdomen has a middle stripe like _differens_,
nearly as wide in front as it is in the middle (fig. 271). The rest of
the abdomen is gray, darkest toward the stripe. The legs are pale,
sometimes with faint gray rings at the ends and middle of each joint.
The middle stripe of the abdomen is sometimes reddish as in _murarium_,
but oftener gray, with a dark spot near the front end. The males (fig.
270) have the same color and markings as the female and are sometimes
more distinctly marked. The male palpi (fig. 272) are very large, and
the palpal organ has a long tube coiled on the under and outer side. The
openings of the epigynum (fig. 273) are about their diameter apart.
[Illustration: FIG. 274. Theridium frondeum.--Varieties of marking,
enlarged four times.]
$Theridium frondeum.$--White, light yellow, or greenish white, with
black markings that are very variable (fig. 274). Usually the
cephalothorax has two fine black lines running back from the eyes and
uniting behind the dorsal groove, and black edges. The legs are usually
darkened with brown at the ends of the joints. The abdomen is large and
round, and has on the back a light undulated band bordered by brownish
translucent spaces, with two black spots just over the spinnerets.
Sometimes there are black spots in the translucent spaces, especially
toward the hinder end, and these may be united into two long black
stripes. In some individuals of either sex the black on the
cephalothorax forms a wide band in the middle, almost covering the back,
and a black stripe of similar width extends backwards on the abdomen for
half its length. These black-striped individuals have all the other
variations of color and markings. The males have all the colors and
spots brighter and the legs longer than the females. The mandibles of
the male are longer than those of the female and have at the base, in
front, a low conical point.
This species is found from the White Mountains to Alabama. In New
England it matures in July and is found on bushes all summer.
[Illustration: FIG. 275. Theridium unimaculatum, enlarged eight times.]
$Theridium unimaculatum.$--This little species differs in color and
markings from all the others, and may almost always be distinguished by
the white abdomen, with a black spot in the center of the back. The
females are a twelfth of an inch long and the males smaller. The
cephalothorax is orange yellow, with a black spot around the eyes,
extending back in a point as far as the dorsal groove, and there is also
a fine black line along the edges. The legs are orange, lighter in the
female and darker in the male, with the first and second pairs in the
male much stouter. The sternum is orange, with black edges. This spider
makes a web, like the other small species, among small leaves and
winters under dead leaves on the ground.
THE GENUS STEATODA
[Illustration: FIG. 276. Web of Steatoda borealis on the face of a
conglomerate rock in the cavity from which a pebble has dropped out.
Half the real size.]
Steatoda has the legs shorter and stouter than Theridium. The abdomen is
oval and often a little flattened on the back. It is smooth and shining,
the hairs being fine and scattered so as to be hardly visible. The
thorax is thick and hard, and in some species marked with hard
projections and depressions. The head is generally narrow, and the front
middle eyes are in several species larger than the others and farther
forward and wider apart. In other species all the eyes are about the
same size. The webs consist of a flat sheet supported and held down by
threads.
[Illustration: FIGS. 277, 278, 279. Steatoda borealis.--277, female.
278, male. Both enlarged four times. 279, eyes.]
$Steatoda borealis.$--This is a dark reddish-brown spider, quarter of an
inch long, living among stones or in the corners of fences and window
frames, generally well concealed by its web or nest. The cephalothorax
is orange brown and covered with short stiff brown hairs. The head is
one-third as wide as the thorax and a little higher, the eyes near
together, with the front middle pair projecting forward beyond the
mandibles (fig. 279). The legs are brown, with faint darker rings, and
are thickly covered with hairs. The abdomen is dark chocolate brown,
sometimes without any light marks on the upper side, but usually there
is a light line running around the front half and another in the middle,
extending back half the length of the abdomen and usually broken into
several spots. The four depressed spots on the abdomen are distinctly
marked. On the under side there is a light stripe on each side, meeting
behind the spinnerets. The sexes are much alike in size and color, but
the palpi of the male (fig. 278) are longer than the cephalothorax, and
the terminal joint is very large and complicated. The web consists of a
flat sheet, held out by threads in all directions, but is often so
crowded into a corner that its structure is hard to understand (fig.
276).
[Illustration: FIGS. 280, 281. Steatoda guttata.--280, female enlarged
eight times. 281, head and eyes.]
$Steatoda guttata.$--Only one-tenth of an inch long. The cephalothorax
is high, with scattered hairs, at the base of each of which is a horny
ridge. The cephalothorax is dark brown, with the legs lighter and more
yellow. The abdomen is nearly spherical and hard at the front end, where
there is a ring around its attachment to the thorax. Sometimes the
abdomen is bright yellow or orange, without markings on the back, but
oftener it is partly brown, with two or three pairs of silvery white
spots (fig. 280). The males and females are alike in size and color, and
the palpi of the males are very large, as in _borealis_. They live under
stones at all seasons and mature in April and May.
[Illustration: FIGS. 282, 283, 284. Steatoda marmorata.--282, 283,
markings of the abdomen of the female enlarged twice. 284, head of the
male.]
$Steatoda marmorata.$--About a quarter of an inch long. The
cephalothorax and legs yellowish brown. Cephalothorax smooth, with a few
hairs. Legs covered with fine hair. The abdomen is usually nearly
covered by an oblong dark spot darkened at the edges, where it is
bordered by silvery white (fig. 283). The middle is lighter, with a
central dark stripe. In some individuals the dark markings are broken up
into four pairs of black spots partly connected with a middle line
(fig. 282). The head is wider and the eyes smaller and farther apart
than in the other species, and the front middle eyes are the smallest.
The head is wider in males (fig. 284) than in females, and the mandibles
larger. It lives under stones and leaves at all seasons and occasionally
on bushes.
[Illustration: FIG. 285. Steatoda corollata.--Back of a small female
enlarged four times.]
$Steatoda corollata.$--This, when full grown, is a little larger than
_marmorata_ and darker colored, and the legs are shorter and stouter.
The cephalothorax is dark brown, and the legs lighter brown, with dark
rings at the ends of the joints. The abdomen is yellowish at the sides
and has four or five irregular yellow spots, or pairs of spots, along
the middle of a dark brown oval patch which nearly covers the middle of
the back. In young specimens the abdomen is lighter, with several pairs
of dark spots. The eyes are all nearly the same size, the front middle
pair slightly larger and farther forward than the others. It lives under
stones, like the other species.
[Illustration: FIG. 286. Steatoda triangulosa.--Back of female enlarged
four times.]
$Steatoda triangulosa.$--The female is a fifth of an inch to a quarter
of an inch long. The legs are longer and more slender than in the other
species, the first pair twice as long as the body. The cephalothorax is
orange brown, slightly rough in females and with short ridges at the
base of the hairs in males. The front middle eyes are not larger than
the others and are not as far forward as in _borealis_. The legs are
light yellow, with slightly darker rings at the ends of the joints.
There are thickened brown spots at the base of the hairs all over the
body. The abdomen is light yellow, with two irregular brown stripes
partly broken into spots and sometimes connected together (fig. 286).
The palpi of the male are as long as the femur of the second legs and
are small at the end. This spider lives in houses, around window frames
and similar places, like _borealis_. The egg cocoons are white and hang
in the web.
[Illustration: FIG. 287. Asagena americana.--Back of female enlarged
eight times.]
$Asagena americana.$--This resembles Steatoda, but the abdomen is longer
and flatter, and the whole appearance more like some of the Drassidæ.
Like Steatoda, it is usually found with its web under stones. It is
about a sixth of an inch long. The cephalothorax is dark reddish brown,
slightly rough in the females and with sharp points along the sides in
the males. The legs are yellow brown and in the males have two rows of
small teeth under each femur. They are stout, as in _Steatoda
marmorata_, and differ little in length. The abdomen is oval and dark
brown in color, with two white spots across the middle (fig. 287). The
front of the head is rounded and a third as wide as the thorax. The eyes
are close together and all about the same size. The males have the
cephalothorax larger and rougher, but in size and color resemble the
females.
[Illustration: FIGS. 288, 289, 290, 291. Latrodectus mactans.--288,
female enlarged twice. 289, under side of abdomen. 290, back of abdomen
of young female, with four red spots. 291, markings of abdomen of male.]
$Latrodectus mactans.$--This is the largest spider of the family. It is
sometimes half an inch long, with the abdomen round and the whole body
black, except a bright red spot underneath and one or more red spots
over the spinnerets and along the middle of the back (figs. 289, 290).
The spots turn yellow or white in alcohol. The cephalothorax is about as
wide as long, and the grooves between the head and thorax are deep. The
lateral eyes are farther apart than usual in this family. The legs of
the male are much larger than those of the female, and each joint is
orange brown in the middle and black at the ends. The abdomen of the
male has a row of red and white spots in the middle line, as some
females do, and across the front end, and along the sides four pairs of
stripes, red in the middle and white at the edges (fig. 291). The young
of both sexes are colored somewhat like the male and, when very small,
have very little black on them. The males vary much in size, some being
only a quarter as large as the female. This spider makes its nest among
loose stones, on plants, or in houses. Around its hiding place it spins
a large funnel-shaped tent that widens into a flat or curved sheet of
web, closer in texture toward the tube and more open toward the edges,
spreading two or three feet over plants and stones. It is found all over
the United States, as far north as Massachusetts and New Hampshire and
south through Florida, the West Indies, and South America, as far as
Chile. It is everywhere feared as poisonous and dangerous, probably on
account of its large size and conspicuous colors, as there is no good
reason for considering it more poisonous than other spiders.
[Illustration: FIGS. 292, 293, 294, 295. Argyrodes trigonum.--292, side
of female enlarged eight times, the dotted line showing the abdomen bent
downward. 293, tip of abdomen seen from above. 294, top of
cephalothorax. 295, cephalothorax of male.]
[Illustration: FIG. 296. Web of Argyrodes trigonum between two maple
leaves. In the middle of the web are two egg cocoons and above them the
spider.]
$Argyrodes trigonum.$--A little yellow triangular spider, with a high,
pointed abdomen (fig. 292). Large females measure an eighth of an inch
from the head to the spinnerets and nearly as much from the spinnerets
to the tip of the abdomen. Seen from above, the end of the abdomen is a
little flattened and notched in the middle (fig. 293). In the female the
part of the head around the eyes is slightly raised and the lower part
of the front of the head carried forward a little beyond it (fig. 294).
In the males there are two horns on the head, one between the eyes and
one below them (fig. 295). The color is light yellow, sometimes with a
metallic luster, as though gilded. On the back of the cephalothorax are
three light brown stripes, and sometimes there are dark spots at the
sides of the abdomen and over the spinnerets. The legs are slender,
without markings, the front pair longer than the others. The point of
the abdomen is movable and is sometimes curved downward when the spider
is disturbed in the web, as shown by the dotted line in fig. 292. They
make webs like those of Theridium, between branches of shrubs (fig. 296)
and also among the upper threads of the webs of larger spiders. They
have been found in the webs of Agalena, Theridium, and Linyphia, in the
looser parts, out of reach of the maker of the web. Hanging in the web,
they look like straws or the scales of pine buds that have fallen into
it. The cocoons of eggs hang in the web and have a peculiar shape (fig.
296), the upper part conical and the lower part contracted into a narrow
neck. The species is common in New England and is found all over the
country as far south as Florida.
[Illustration: FIGS. 297, 298, 299. Argyrodes nephilæ.--297, female.
298, male. Both enlarged eight times. 299, head of male.]
$Argyrodes nephilæ.$--This is about as large as _Argyrodes trigonum_,
with the hump silver white and the under side of the body black or dark
brown (fig. 297). The hump ends in a blunt round point. The front of the
head is more nearly vertical than in _trigonum_, and the upper part
projects forward, carrying with it the front middle eyes. In the male
there are two horns in front of the eyes, the upper one carrying the
middle eyes of both rows (fig. 299). The cephalothorax is black or dark
brown above and below. The abdomen is black on the under side, including
the spinnerets, and there is a black middle stripe extending back to the
tip of the hump. The basal joints of all the legs are white. The third
and fourth legs are light colored, with a little brown at the ends
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