133 



feet greenish brown, short. Male: Rufous all over; more 

 slender than the female. 



Observations. This spider, one of the most common in the 

 South, is familiar to every observer of nature. Its perfectly 

 regular webs, when the dew is still on the ground, are seen in 

 great numbers in the fields and gardens. The owner of each 

 web is always found in an inverted position under the horizontal 

 web, which is curved or hollowed downward. The males are 

 very common in the spring, but disappear in the fall. I have 

 observed two males on a web, fighting an obstinate battle ; they 

 strove to grasp each other with their cheliceres, and when ex- 

 hausted by the conflict, they retired at some distance to rest 

 themselves, and presently renewed the combat. I know not 

 how the contest terminated, but I believe it was without blood- 

 shed. During this, the female, who was the lady of the manor, 

 remained very quiet and apparently unconcerned. The ferocious 

 habits of spiders are [29] generally confined to the appropriate 

 sex ; for the females are so gentle that I have seen several allow 

 the males to dwell in the same tent with them, the pair living 

 decently together as husband and wife should among Christian 

 people. I saw but once a male alone in a web, and I do not 

 know whether they ever weave one themselves. It is strange 

 that I never saw the cocoon of so common a species. 



Habitat. United States, though somewhat rare in the North. 



[PI. 18, fig. 104, tropin ; pi. 19, fig. 118, lateral view. Sup- 

 plement.'] 



[?, length 4.2 mm.; ceplialothorax 1.6 mm. ; legs 6.2, 5.5, 3.6. 5.5. 

 e, " 3 mm.; » 1.4 mm. ; legs 5.8, 4.5, 3, 4. 



PI. 21, fig. 9, palpus of ?. 



Beverly, Mass., May 10, young in webs; June 23, d and ? in a large web ; 

 Aug. 13, ? only; Peabody, Mass., Aug. 29, young in webs; Sept. 22, in 

 webs in a savin bush. j. n. e.] 



2. Linyphia marmorata. 

 PI. 15, fig. 5. 



Description. Ceplialothorax rufous, with a whitish edge ; 



