94 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



twice as long as the body. The legs are marked with dark 

 rings at the ends of the joints and lighter rings in the middle 

 of femur and tibia. On the under side the coxae are light 

 colored and the sternum dark, and there is a broad dark 

 middle band on the abdomen from the hinder legs to the spin- 

 nerets. The males are as large as the females, with longer 

 legs and smaller abdomen. The male palpi have a very large 

 black tube coiled one and a half turns under the tarsus 

 (fig. 225). The web (fig. 222) is flat and shaped according to 



Fig. 226. Newly made edge of web of Agalena na;via, showing 

 arrangement of the threads. 



the surrounding objects to which it is fastened, with a tube at 

 one side in which the spider hides. The eggs are laid in August 

 and September in a flat cocoon, attached by one side in some 

 sheltered place and covered with silk, often mixed with dirt. 

 Most of the adult spiders die before winter, and females are 

 often found dead on or near their cocoons. The young hatch 

 in the winter and leave the cocoon early in the spring, and 

 soon begin to build their webs among the short grass. The 

 webs become more distinct when covered with dew, but, 

 though too transparent to be seen at other times, they remain 

 in the same places throughout the summer and are repaired 



