Superfamily Argiopoidea 



however, is often seen in the North, being brought here with 

 tropical fruits. It is the so-called tarantula found in bunches of 

 bananas, and which periodically gives rise to sensational news- 

 paper stories. 



While these spiders resemble the Thomisidae in the form of 

 the body and the attitude of the legs, they differ from that family 

 and resemble the Clubionidae in the structure of the chelicerae, 

 the lower margin of the furrow being distinct and armed. In 

 this respect they resemble the Selenopidas; but they differ from 

 the members of that family in the arrangement of the eyes. In 

 the Heteropodidae the eyes are arranged in two rows of four each. 



The two genera of giant crab-spiders represented in our 

 fauna can be separated as follows: 



TABLE OF GENERA OF THE HETEROPODID/'E 



A. Anterior median eyes smaller than the anterior lateral 



eyes; clypeus high, at least as high as the diameter of 



the anterior lateral eyes. P. 552. Heteropoda 



AA. Anterior median eyes equal to or larger than the anterior 



lateral eyes, clypeus very low, about half the diameter of an 



anterior median eye. P. 554. Olios 



Genus HETEROPODA (Het-e-rop'o-da) 



This genus includes a large number of tropical. species; but 

 the following is the only one whose range extends into our territory. 



The Banana Spider, Heteropoda venatoria (H. ve-na-to'ri-a). 

 -One often hears of a "tarantula" emerging from a bunch of 

 bananas in a fruit store in the North; but I know of but few in- 

 stances in which a true tarantula has been found in such a place. 

 The spider that causes consternation among clerks and customers 

 of fruit stores is usually this giant crab-spider; although, more 

 rarely, it may be the Selenops described on an earlier page. 



The banana spider is a large yellowish spider, with a band of 

 white hairs on the clypeus, and a similar transverse band near 

 the hind margin of the cephalothorax. The male is represented, 

 natural size, by Fig. 622, and the female, also natural size, by 

 Fig. 623. 



This species is found in all tropical regions, its range extending 

 clear around the world. It is very abundant in all tropical 



552 



