62 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



VV 



' ' Hi 



the males. The abdomen has in the middle a yellowish white 

 marking covering half its width, the front half straight and the 

 hinder half notched at the sides. The legs are darker at the 

 ends of the joints and light in the middle. The under 

 side of the abdomen has a dark middle stripe. 



Hyctia pikei. — A slender species a quarter to a third 

 of an inch in length, with the abdomen twice as long 

 as the cephalothorax, and in general appearance like 

 a seed or piece of straw (fig. 158). The whole body 

 is covered with silvery white hairs mixed with a few 

 longer black ones. The markings of the back in 

 the male are a dark middle stripe on the abdo- 

 men, partly divided by notches into four spots 

 W and a fine middle line and two less distinct side 

 lines on the cephalothorax. In the female the 

 stripe on the abdomen is less definite and is 

 broken up into spots, and in young spiders the 

 whole body is pale yellow or greenish. The 

 front legs are as long as the abdomen in both 

 sexes, colored brown, and with the middle joints 

 thickened. They are not much used in walk- 

 ing, being extended straight forward and raised 

 enough to clear the ground while the spider 

 walks with the other six. The other legs are 

 pale and slender. 



The elongated shape of this spider distin- 

 guishes it from all the other common Attidae. 

 The markings and the position of the legs, two 

 pairs pointing forward and two backward, 

 increase the long appearance. The basal joints of the fourth 

 legs are brought close together, and those of the first pair 

 almost as close. The labium and maxillae are a little longer 

 than usual and are partly covered by the first legs. 



Fig. 1 58. Hyctia 

 pikei, enlarged 

 eight times. 



