Superfamily Argiopoidea 



black and white hairs, the sides being lighter than the back. 

 White angular lines, less distinct in front than behind, begin at 

 the front lateral eyes, point up over the small eyes, down under the 

 dorsals and then up again, but do not meet behind. Many speci- 

 mens have a scalloped black line between the dorsal eyes. The 

 pale golden region down the middle of the abdomen may or may 

 not be marked in the second half with fine white chevrons. The 

 bands on either side of the posterior central region are black, or 

 red mixed with black, and the white basal band is mixed with red. 

 In other females the surface is of a uniform pale brown with an 

 encircling band gray. The white marks behind the middle con- 

 sist of two long oblique lines, commonly bordered with black, 

 which meet at an acute angle in front, and some small black- 

 bordered chevrons further back." 'The epigynum is unique, 

 having two large anterior openings, and two other openings be- 

 hind, near the edge" (Peckham). The males measure about 

 one fifth inch in length; the females one fourth. 



This species is distributed from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



Pellenes peregrinus (P. per-e-gri'nus). — On each side of the 

 cephalothorax, there is a white stripe, which extends from the 

 anterior lateral eyes backward under the dorsal eyes, and then 

 curves inward on the first half of the thorax and then outward 

 on the second half; at the posterior lateral angle of the thorax it 

 turns forward and following the margin of the cephalothorax 

 extends to the clypeus. On the abdomen there are three white 

 longitudinal stripes. In the male the first pair of legs is fringed 

 and the third pair is modified in form, the patella being widened 

 and somewhat triangular in shape. 



The male measures about one fifth inch in length; the female, 

 one fourth inch. 



This species has been taken in the Atlantic region from Maine 

 to Florida. 



Pellenes spletidens (P. splen'dens). — 'The male, in life, is 

 one of the most brilliant of our Attidae, the cephalothorax, in- 

 cluding clypeus, being covered with iridescent blue scales, and 

 the abdomen, above and below, with iridescent pinkish red. In 

 alcohol, two white scallops appear behind the dorsal eyes, and the 

 abdomen shows light bands at the base and sides and a fleur-de-lis 

 mark in the middle, this being the pattern of the young male and 

 of the female." 



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