56 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



Icius palmarum. — This is very common on trees and bushes, 

 and may be mistaken for Dendryphantes cestivalis, which it much 

 resembles. It differs from cestivalis in both sexes in being a 

 little smaller and more slender and in the females lighter 

 colored. In the males the head is wider, the front legs longer 

 and darker colored than in cestivalis, and the mandibles longer 

 and more nearly horizontal. 



The living female has the legs and palpi transparent white, 

 sometimes a little darker at the ends of the joints. The whole 

 body is covered with light gray or white scales mixed with fine 

 black hairs. The abdomen has a row of darker triangular spots 

 in the middle and oblique rows of small spots at the sides. In 

 alcohol the legs become yellow and the rest of the body red, 

 as in cEstivalis, afterward fading to a dirty yellow. The mark- 

 ings of the abdomen become more distinct and in some indi- 

 viduals form four large dark brown spots. 



The males have the front legs very dark brown. 



The other legs are transparent white. The cephalo- 



thorax and abdomen are dark reddish brown 



mixed with shining greenish white scales and 



sometimes copper red around the eyes. On 



each side is a white stripe the whole length 



of the body, the two meeting in front below 



the eyes. The mandibles, maxillae, and palpi 



are dark brown. Some males show indistinctly 



dorsal markings of the abdomen like the 



female. The mandibles of the male are 



longer than those of the female and more 



or less turned forward according to their 



length. In some the mandibles are only a 



little longer than those of the female, and in these the patella 



and tibia of the front legs are not much longer than the femur. 



In others, usually larger spiders, the mandibles are nearly as 



Fig. 149. Icius mitra- 

 tus. — Male enlarged 

 six times. 



