Superfamily Argiopoidea 



markings of the abdomen. The more common ones are the 

 following: 



Euryopis junebris (E. fu-ne'bris). — The hind part of the 

 abdomen is bordered with a silvery white stripe. The length of 

 the body of the female is about one eighth inch. This is our most 

 common and most widely distributed species, occurring over the 

 larger part of the United States. 



Euryopis scriptipes (E. scrip'ti-pes).— - This is a larger species 

 than the preceding, the female being one fifth inch in length and 

 the male one sixth inch. Like that it has a silvery margin on the 

 abdomen; but this completely surrounds an irregular, triangular, 

 dark spot in the middle of the back. The specimens before me 

 are from Colorado, and have been given the above specific name 

 by Mr. Banks. 



Euryopis argentea (E. ar-gen'te-a). — There are five or six 

 pairs of white spots along the middle of the abdomen and others 

 at the sides. Only immature individuals have been described. 

 The species is distributed from New England to Florida. 



Euryopis quinquemaculata (E. quin-que-mac-u-la'ta). — There 

 are five spots on the abdomen above, a pair near the base, a pair 

 near the middle, and a single one at the tip just above the spin- 

 nerets. The length of the body is a little less than one eighth 

 inch. The species has been found at and near Washington, D. C. 



Genus THER1DION (The-rid'i-on) 



The lateral eyes of each side are contiguous (Fig. 339). The 

 sternum is longer than wide, except in some small aberrant species, 

 and ends in an obtuse, generally narrow point between the hind 

 coxae, which, as a rule, are but little separated, but there are many 

 exceptions to this. The endites are more than twice as long 

 as the labium, nearly parallel, being but slightly convergent at the 

 tip. The lower margin of the furrow of the chelicerae is furnished 

 with a very small tooth or with none. Stridulating organs are 

 absent. 



This is the largest of all genera of spiders. Simon states 

 that nearly 320 species have been described; and forty are known 

 to occur in North America; this is more than one third of our 

 representatives of the family Theridiidas. Among our species 

 is our most familiar house-spider, and several that are very com- 



344 



