Superfamily Argiopoidea 



Wxxia edypa (W. ec'ty-pa). — The female measures a little 

 less than one third inch in length and the male is of same size. 

 The cephalothorax is a long oval; high, truncated, and indented 

 at the base. The abdomen is ovate, greatly elevated in front 

 (Fig. 481) and contracted into a prominence, which is bifid at 

 the top. 



This species occurs in the Southern States, and its range 

 extends far south of our border. It is the Epeira injumata of 

 Hentz. 



Genus A RAN E A (A-ran'e-a) 



The cephalothorax is moderately arched and is without horny 

 outgrowths. The median furrow of the thorax of the female is 

 transverse, straight or recurved, and prolonged at each end by a 

 stria, which extends backward and outward (Fig. 482); these three 

 lines bound in front a smooth area, 

 which is covered by the overlapping 

 abdomen; this area is sometimes 

 marked by a median longitudinal 

 furrow; in a few cases the median 

 furrow is a circular pit. In the male, 

 of all of the species examined by me, 

 the median furrow of the thorax is 

 a pit with prolongations extending 

 forward, backward, and to each side. 

 The patella of the pedipalp of the 



male is armed with two spines at CE phalotho^ 2 *of aranea 

 its apex. The anterior and posterior 



median eyes are slightly unequal in size; the median ocular area 

 is not much longer than wide. The lateral eyes of each side are 

 contiguous or nearly so and widely removed from the median 

 eyes. The clypeus is narrower than the median ocular area. 



The genus Aranea is a very large one, in the United States 

 alone nearly fifty species belonging to it have already been 

 described.* 



This genus has been commonly known under the name Epci Ira; 

 this, however, is a much later name than Aranea. which was pro- 

 posed by Linnasus in his Systema Naturce (Ed. X., p. 619). It had 



•B.tnks in his CataloRue lists fifty-seven species, under the name Epetra; twelve of these 3JX l 

 are placed in other genera in this book. SeeJCaira, Verrucosa, Wixia, Veoscona, Eriopkora, and 



£«s/ti/j. 



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