THE THERIDID^E 



129 



about three times as long as wide and nearly straight at the 



sides unless full of eggs. The cephalothorax is nearly round 



and flat behind. Around the eyes the head is raised and in 



the males separated at the sides from the rest of the head. 



The middle pair of eyes are not higher than the tops of the 



lower lateral eyes. The mandibles are nearly as high as the 



front of the head, and in the males they have a small conical 



tooth near the base. The color is pale brown, covered with 



fine gray hairs, and the whole body and legs are translucent. 



The head is a little darker 



around the eyes, and there 



is a large gray patch in the 



middle of the cephalothorax. 



The abdomen is marked only 



by a translucent middle line 



over the dorsal vessel. This 



is a house spider, common 



in America and Europe, and 



probably imported. It lives 



in cellars where there is but 



little light and makes large, 



loose, flat webs, horizontal 



where there is a convenient 



place, or irregular to fit into 



surrounding objects (fig. 308). 



The spider hangs in the web 



with the abdomen directed 



upward, and when alarmed 



swings itself around rapidly 



so that it can hardly be seen. 



The egg cocoon is so thin that it does not conceal the eggs 



and is carried about in the spider's mandibles until the young 



hatch out. 



Figs. 306, 307. Pholcus 

 phalangioides. — 306, 

 female and male natu- 

 ral size, and cephalo- 

 thorax of female much 

 enlarged. 307, mandi- 

 bles of male. 



£-j|*^5> 



307 



