8 4 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



of the cephalothorax is narrower. The middle stripe of the 

 abdomen is narrower and brighter at the front end. The 

 femora are distinctly marked with four rings, and the other 

 joints less plainly. In the male the ends of the legs are pale, 

 without rings, and the rings of the femora are broken into spots 

 except on the front legs, where the femora are black. The 

 palpi (fig. 206) have the femora black and the patella white. 

 The tibia is dark, and the tarsus is dark at the base and white 

 toward the tip. 



Pirata piraticus. — A small and active spider living in short 

 grass in summer and under leaves in winter. The colors and 

 shape of the body are much like Lycosa pratensis (fig. 168), but 

 the legs are proportionally larger and longer, and the colors 

 brighter. The length is about a quarter of an inch. The 

 front and second rows of eyes are of the same length, those 

 of the \ second row large and their diameter apart (fig. 209). 

 The eyes\ of the upper row are nearly as large as those of the 



and twice as far apart. The color is pale 



yellow, with gray or black markings. The 



cephalothorax has a narrow light line in 



the middle and one on each side (fig. 208). 



In the middle of the front of the abdomen 



is a light stripe with dark edges, which 



tapers into a line or row of spots behind 



the middle. At the sides of this are light 



stripes that unite behind, and outside of 



these are dark markings becoming smaller behind. 



The legs have conspicuous dark spines, especially 



the hinder pair, and are faintly marked with rings 



Figs. 208, 209 

 Pirata pirati- 

 cus. — 208, 

 female en- 

 larged three 

 times. 209, 

 front of head 



or sometimes are without markings. 



Dolomedes and Ocyale differ in many respects from the 

 other Lycosidae. They are more flattened, have the head lower, 

 and the eyes all more nearly of the same size. The front row 



