156 



'Observations. Found usually under stones. 

 Habitat. Alabama. 



Genus Spintharus Mihi. 



Characters. Oheliceres very slender ; maxillce slightly inclined 

 towards the lip, widest at base, obliquely truncated above; lip 

 short, ivider at base, slightly emarginaie ; eyes eight, equal, dis- 

 posed in the form of an ellipse open towards the base, two external 

 eyes touching ; feet long, slender, fourth pair longer than the first, 

 the third being the shortest. 



Habits. Araneides sedentary, probably making an irregular 

 web, composed of threads crossed in all directions, suspending 

 themselves from a single thread, and thus capturing insects. 

 Cocoon unknown. 



Remarks. The species which serves as the type of this new 

 subgenus could not be referred to Theridion. This will be 

 obvious, when it is observed that its characters all depart from 

 those of that natural subdivision, particularly its maxilla, which 

 approaches the form of that organ in Epeira ; by the position of 

 its eyes, and the respective length of its feet, this spider would 

 seem to approach wandering Araneides. It may ultimately be 

 located among these. [284.] 



Spintharus flavidus. 

 PI. 17, fig. 8. 



Description. Yellowish : abdomen orange yellow, edge 

 white, disk with a yellow margin, and spots surrounded and 

 crossed in two places by a scarlet line, orange yellow, spotless 

 beneath ; feet, first and fourth pair with the antepenultimate 

 joint tipped with orange, 4. 1. 2. 3. 



Observations. This spider was found hanging by a thread 

 from a tree thirty or forty feet high. It had secured, while 

 thus suspended in the air, a wasp (Vespa), which, though 

 many times larger than itself, was safely bound up for a repast. 



Habitat. Alabama. September, October. 





