xii INTRODUCTION 



almost always at the ends of the joints. Besides these common 

 markings there are in some spiders strong contrasts of color, 

 such as bright red or yellow spots on a black ground. In the 

 males, especially among the Attidse, there are often shining 

 scales that reflect different colors in a bright light, and tufts of 

 black or white hairs about the head and front legs. 



Spiders live in all kinds of places. Certain species are 

 attached to houses and seldom found far from them, and many 

 of these occur over a large part of the world. The light webs 

 in the corners of rooms are chiefly the work of Theridium 

 tepidariorum (p. 112), occasionally of Steatoda borealis (p. 119) 

 and Steatoda triangulosa (p. 121). In cellars the thin webs 

 about the stairs and shelves are those of the long;-le2f2fed 

 Pholcas phalangioides (p. 129) or of Linyphia nebulosa or minuta 

 (pp. 144, 145), and the thick flat webs in corners and between 

 the beams are those of Tegenaria derhamii (p. 96). On the out- 

 side of houses live two jumping spiders, the most common being 

 Epiblemum scenicum (p. 60), a small gray species the color of 

 weathered wood, and the other, Marptusa familiaris (p. 61). 

 Some of the round-web spiders live in great numbers about 

 houses. The three brown species, Epeira sclopetai'ia (p. 160), 

 patagiata, and strix, hide in cracks and at night make their 

 round webs in porches, barns, and bridges. In the northern 

 part of the country Epeira cinerea (p. 165) has the same habit. 

 Epeii'a globosa (p. 174) is often found on the outside of houses, 

 and so are Zilla atrica and Zilla x-notata (p. 185). Amaurobius 

 ferox (p. 215), a large imported species, is sometimes found 

 in cellars, and several Dictyna (p. 206) live in great numbers 

 on the outside of houses, in corners of windows, under the 

 edges of shingles, or in cracks of walls, spreading their webs 

 wherever there is room for them and gathering dust so that 

 they often make a distinct spot on the wall. In the southern 

 states Filistata hibernalis (p 220) is one of the most common 



