DESCKIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 187 



those of the European examples. The clj'peus of the American specimens appears to be 

 somewhat higher. 



Ceph.\lothorax : A rounded oval ; the fosse semicircular ; skin glossy ; color dark 

 brown, with yellow patches on the caput base; corselet grooves rather indistinct; cephalic 

 suture distinct ; covered with yellowish-white hairs. Sternum cordate ; sternal cones not 

 very prominent, except one in front of the labium; skin glossy, covered freely with gray 

 hairs; dark brown color, with yellow median band. Labium subtriangular at the tip, 

 rounded at the sides; maxilloe broad as long. 



Legs: Stout; 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows (a large specimen); 35, 31, 26, 19 mm.; another 



e.xamplc measures 31.9, 30.2, 27.9, 19.8 mm.; joints strongly annulated, both at tips and 



middle; lieavily clothed with yellow spines with brown bases, and with dark bristles; palps 



stout, yellow, with brown annuli. Mandibles conical, parallel ; dark brown, with yellow 



fronts. 



Eyes: Ocular quad elevated; length about eciual to width; broader in front than rear; 



jVIF somewhat larger than MR, and .separated by about or less than 1.5 their diameter; MR 



separated by about one diameter. Side eyes on tubercles; separated by about their radius; 



SF slightly larger than SR. Space between SF and MF about 1.5 area of the latter, or at 



least three times intervening space of MF; both eye rows slightly procurved; clypeus 



margin distant from MF 3 to 3.5 diameter of latter. 



Abdomen: Subtriangular; wide at the ba.se across the shoulder humps; front subtri- 

 angular, overhanging the cephalothorax ; color grayish yellow or yellow with velvety brown 

 markings ; the surface dotted over with numerous short, whitish, thick hairs among the 

 pubescence. On the high basal front is a yellow pattern, often assuming the shape of a 

 lyre or the letter U. The folium is shield shaped, with scalloped edges, forming in the 

 middle part a scalloped band of yellow, which unites with a broad band of like color across 

 the dorsal base and the posterior face of the shoulder humps. Wide scalloped bands of 

 yellow, mottled with brown, extend from the shoulder humps, narrowing toward the apex, 

 from which brownish belts, mottled with yellow, extend to the venter. The ventral pattern 

 is a broad trapezoid of brown, with yellowish margins, and three dark, rounded, yellowish 

 spots along either side of the marginal line at the corners and middle ; spinnerets distal, 

 though slightly overhung by the high apical aI)dominal wall. 



In the epigynum (Plate XL, Figs. 4b, 4c, and Figs. 4d, 4e) the atriolum is <listinguislied 

 by a high tubular pedestal; the scapus is long, subcylindrical toward the basal part, which 

 is about equal in length throughout, and beyond the middle part widens slightly into a 

 long spoon shaped tip, whose bowl in some species appears to be more decidedly marked 

 from the shaft than in others. 



Male: Resembles the female in color and markings (Plate XL, Figs. 2, 3); is 6 mm. 

 in length. The tibia of the second leg enlarged, and armed with rows of black, short, 

 clasping spines ; underneath the femora, especially femur-I, are ruws of long acute spines. 

 The abdomen bears the shoulder tubercles, and has a folium reseml>ling that of the female. 

 A specimen from Russia (Professor W. Wagner) is somewhat longer, but <itherwise resembles 

 the American specimen (Plate XL, Fig. 3) collected in Connecticut. 



Distribution : This species is one of the largest and, in certain parts, the most common 

 of our spider fauna. Along the Pacific Coast and in Texas it reaches enormous proportions, 

 one specimen from Texas having an abdomen which measures 18 mm. in length and a 

 cephalothorax 12 mm. long and 9 mm. wide. I have specimens from various parts of Cali- 

 fornia (Jlrs. C. R. Smith, Mrs. Eigenmann, 'Mr. Orcutt, Drs. Blaisdell and Davidson); have 

 collected it in the Adirondack Mountains and the AUeghenies of Pennsylvania, as well as 

 in New England. Tlie collection of Dr. !Marx has specimens as far to the Northwest as 

 Portland, Ore. ; I have specimens from Wisconsin (Professor and Mrs. Peckham) ; it may 

 therefore be considered as inhal>iting the entire United States. Its distribution throughout 

 Continental Europe is quite general, and it probably inhabits the northern shores of Africa, 

 Palestine, and other parts in Asia. It is thus one of the most cosmopolitan of our orb- 

 weavers. It appears to have experienced little change in form and general characteristics, 

 but is substantially the same in all climates and environments. 



