Superfamily Argiopoidea 



the family, and several of them build more or less conspicuous 

 webs. 



The sternum is longer than wide; the posterior eyes are 

 widely separated; the median ocular area is not at all or barely 

 longer than wide; the posterior median eyes are not closer to 

 the posterior lateral eyes than to each other, and not much larger 

 than the other eyes. The endites of the pedipalps are longer than 

 their width at the base; squarely or obliquely truncate, the 

 lateral margin forming a more or less acute angle (Fig. 399). 



This is a large genus; it is represented by more than a score 

 of species in the United States, in fact I have nearly twenty species 



before me as I write; but only a 

 few of the more common ones can 

 be described here. 



The Bowl and Doily Spider, 

 Liny phi a communis (L. com-mu'nis). 

 — The female of this species meas- 

 ures about one sixth inch in length, 

 usually a little less, but sometimes 



more. At first sight it resembles 



Fig. 399. PEDIPALP OF LINYPHIA 

 PHRYGIANA, FEMALE 



the filmy dome spider; but it 



differs in having the cephalothorax 



of a uniform, light, brownish yellow, 



and in that the dorsal band of 



the abdomen extends its whole 



length as seen from above; but on the hind end of the abdomen, 



a short distance before the spinnerets, it is either reduced to 



a narrow line or is entirely cut in two by the light colour. 



The male is smaller than the female, measuring from one 

 tenth to a little more than one eighth of an inch in length. The 

 markings on the abdomen are much less distinct than in the female. 

 The central feature of the web of this spider (Fig. 400) is 

 a fingerbowl-like cup beneath which is stretched a nearly hori- 

 zontal sheet. 1, therefore, propose as a common name for the 

 species the term the bowl and doily spider. 



The webs are built on low bushes, sometimes quite near the 

 ground, in other cases, three or four feet above the ground. In 

 the cavity of the bowl and extending several inches above it is 

 a maze of threads. The maze and the bowl are suspended by 

 strong foundation lines extending to neighbouring twigs. The 



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