Superfamily Argiopoidea 



South. It is found under stones and pieces of wood on the 

 ground, about stumps, in holes in the ground, and about out- 

 buildings. It spins an irregular web like that of Theridion but 



Fig. 361. 



LATRODECTUS MACTANS, 



VENTER OF FEMALE 



Fig. 360. LATRODECTUS MACTANS, FEMALE 



Fig. 362. 



LATRODECTUS 



MACTANS, MALE 



of much coarser silk; in fact its web can be recognized, in most 

 cases, at a glance by the coarseness of the thread. 



Although it is essentially a Southern species, it occurs in 

 Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and doubtless 

 other of the Northern states. I base the New Hampshire record 

 on the presence in the collection of Dr. W. H. Fox, now in the 

 museum of Cornell University, of fifteen immature females taken 

 at Mollis, Hillsborough Co., N. H., from a nest of Sphex; it also 

 occurs in California. 



358 



