Chapter II: Part 2

$Clubiona excepta.$--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.

$Trachelas ruber.$--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.

$Chiracanthium viride.$--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.

$Dysdera interrita.$--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.

$Ariadne bicolor.$--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

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.

$Misumena vatia$ 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.

$Misumena aleatoria.$--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.

$Misumena asperata.$--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.

$Synema parvula.$--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).

$Xysticus stomachosus.$--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.

$Xysticus limbatus.$--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.

$Xysticus gulosus.$--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.

$Xysticus nervosus.$--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.

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$Xysticus triguttatus.$--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.

$Xysticus quadrilineatus.$--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.

$Xysticus (Coriarachne) versicolor.$--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.

$Philodromus vulgaris.$--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.

$Philodromus ornatus.$--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.

$Philodromus lineatus.$--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.

$Philodromus pictus.$--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.

$Ebo latithorax.$--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.

$Tmarus caudatus.$--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.

$Thanatus coloradensis$ 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.

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.

$Attus palustris.$--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.

$Saitis pulex.$--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.

$Habrocestum auratum.$--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.

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.

$Habrocestum peregrinum.$--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.

$Habrocestum splendens.$--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.

$Neon nellii.$--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.

$Zygoballus bettini.$--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.

$Phidippus multiformis.$--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.

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.

$Phidippus mystaceus.$--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.

$Phidippus tripunctatus.$--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.

$Plexippus puerperus.$--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.

$Dendryphantes militaris.$--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.

$Dendryphantes æstivalis.$--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.

$Icius palmarum.$--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.