Superfamily Argiopoidea 



In a very common variety of this species, which has been 

 named the spectacled spider, Aranea gigas conspicellata, the 

 abdomen is marked as shown in Fig. 494. There is a brown 

 folium, enclosing a central yellow band or a series of yellow spots; 

 the folium is outlined on each side by a wavy yellow stripe; on 

 each side of the abdomen there are several bright yellow, oblique 

 bars, enclosed more or 

 less completely by darker 

 bands in which there are 

 many small yellow spots. 



Fig. 494. ARANEA GIGAS CONSPICELLATA 



Fig. 403- ARANEA GIGAS 



A third variety is 

 light, grayish brown, 

 lighter on the dorsum, 

 where the muscle impres- 

 sions are very distinct, and 

 there are darker gray oblique lines on the sides of the abdomen. 



The form of the epigynum varies somewhat; but the same 

 variations in form occur in the different varieties of the species 

 described above. The most distinctive' features are the division 

 of each lateral half of the atriolum by deep oblique furrows (Fig. 

 495), and the greater length of the scape than is the case in the 

 following species. In some individuals the scape tapers gradually 

 from base to tip; in others, it is stout throughout the basal two 

 thirds of its length, then suddenly narrowed, and finally slightly 

 enlarged at the tip. 



476 



