Superfamily Argiopoidea 



common species mature late in the summer, and make their egg- 

 sacs at this season. 



This subfamily is represented in our fauna by four genera; 

 the females of these can be separated as follows: 



A. Anterior median eyes nearer to each other than to the an- 

 terior lateral eyes; adult females large. 

 B. Vulva of female divided by a septum into a pair of equal 

 concavities. 

 C. Abdomen scalloped or lobate on the sides. P. 442. 



Argiope 

 CC. Abdomen more or less evenly rounded on the sides. 



P. 438. Metargiope 



BB. Vulva of female not divided by a septum; but the atrio- 



lum of the epigynum is extended into a broad, convex 



process, with a single cavity beneath it. P. 434. Miranda 



AA. Eyes of the anterior row almost equidistant; both sexes 



small. P. 443. Gea 



Genus MIRANDA (Mi-ran'da) 



The cephalothorax is flat; the head is small; the second row 

 of eyes is so strongly procurved that the posterior lateral eyes are 

 almost as far forward as the anterior median eyes. The vulva of 

 the female is not divided by a septum; but the atriolum of the 

 epigynum is extended into a broad, convex process, with a single 

 cavity beneath it. The two sexes differ greatly in size, the males 

 being small while the females are very large. The following is 

 a very common species. 



TheOrange Garden Spider, Miranda aurantia (M.au-ran'ti-a). 

 — This is a spider that often attracts attention on account of its 

 large size, bright colouring, and the beauty of its web. The adult 

 female frequently measures an inch or more in length, and is 

 marked with spots and bands of bright orange (Fig. 443). The 

 cephalothorax is covered with silvery white hairs. The abdomen 

 is oval, with a pair of humps at the base. The ground colour is 

 black marked with bright yellow or orange spots. On each lateral 

 margin of the abdomen the yellow spots form an almost continu- 

 ous band. In the black band between these two rows of spots 

 there are from one to three pairs of yellow spots. 



434 



