Superfamiiy Argiopoidea 



Fig. 575. MISUMENA VATIA, FEMALE 



States; the larger number of these are found in the Far West. 



The two following species are widely distributed, and are those 



that are most likely to attract attention. 



Misumena vatia (M. va'ti-a). — This is the most commonly 



observed member of the family, being frequently found in flowers. 



The female (Fig. 575) 

 measures, when full-grown, 

 from one third to one half 

 inch in length. It is milk- 

 white or yellow, with, in 

 many cases, a light crim- 

 son band on each side of 

 the abdomen, and another 

 in the eye-region. The 

 sides of the thorax are 

 slightly darkened. On the 

 anterior margin of the 

 epigynum (Fig. 576) there 



is a projecting plate, with a large deep notch behind in the 



middle, and on each side of this a more or less distinct notch. 



The openings of the sper- 



mathecas are one on each side 



behind the point between the 



central and the lateral notch. 

 The male is only one 



eighth or one sixth inch in 



length. The cephalothorax is 



darker at the sides than that 



of the female; the abdomen is 



marked with two parallel dark 



marks or lines of spots and 



has a dark stripe on each 



side. The embolus, although 



coiled, is short. In the unexpanded bulb it arises near the 



distal end of the alveolus and is coiled backward and outward, 



so that the tip of it is protected by the margin of the cymbium, 



which is slightly widened at this point (Fig. 577). 



The egg-sac is made upon a leaf and protected by folding a 



part of the leaf over it and fastening it down with a sheet of silk 



(Fig. 578). The specimen figured was on a leaf of milkweed 



526 



Fir. 576. 

 EPIGYNUM OF MISUMENA VATIA 



