128 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



nearly as wide in the middle as it is long, and tapers to a point 

 behind. The general color is black or dark gray. The cephalo- 

 thorax is yellowish under the abdomen and black in front. The 

 abdomen has a bright silvery stripe around the hinder half, 

 and inside this the color is black, broken by light spots in the 

 middle. The legs and palpi are light yellow, with dark rings on 



the ends of the joints. The fourth 

 legs are longest. It is shaken 

 from bushes in summer, or from 

 dead leaves on the ground in 

 winter, and its web is unknown. 

 It is found from the White 

 Mountains to Alabama. 



Theridula sphaerula. — This is a 

 very distinct and easily recog- 

 nized species, although it is less 

 than a tenth of an inch long 

 (fig. 304). The cephalothorax is 

 yellow, with a wide black stripe 

 in the middle. The abdomen is 

 high and round and wider than 

 it is long ; it is yellowish gray, 

 with a greenish white spot in the 

 middle and a black spot on a 

 slight elevation at each side. There is also a black spot 

 around the spinnerets. The legs are light yellow. In the 

 male the light parts of the cephalothorax and legs are orange 

 color, and the markings of the abdomen less distinct than in 

 the female. It lives on bushes all over the country. 



Pholcus phalangioides. — This is a large pale spider, with legs 

 so long that it is often confounded with Phalangium, under the 

 nickname of " daddy longlegs." The body is quarter of an 

 inch long, and the longest legs two inches. The abdomen is 



Fig. 305. Pholcus phalangioides. — A 

 young female in a natural position 

 hanging in its web. 



