INTRODUCTION xiii 



spiders about houses. Its webs often make a round spot of 

 dust a foot or more in diameter. Stones and sticks lying on 

 the ground furnish shelter for a great number of spiders. 

 Steatoda borealis (p. 119), marmorata (p. 121), and guttata 

 (p. 120) and Asagena amcricana (p. 122) are found in such 

 places, and so, especially in the South, is Latrodectus mactans 

 (p. 122). The large jumping spiders, PJiidippus mystaceus 

 (p. 50) and tripunctatus (p. $1), make large nests of white 

 silk under stones near the ground. The ground spiders, 

 Drassus saccatus (p. 6), Gnaphosa conspersa (p. 2), and Pros- 

 tJicsima atra (p. 5), run on the ground and hide under stones. 

 Lycosa nidicola (p. 69), Lycosa communis (p. 75), Lycosa pra- 

 teiisis (p. 69), polita (p. 70), and cinerea (p. 74) are often found 

 under shelters of this kind. The crab spiders of the genus 

 Xysticus live under stones, but oftener under bark farther 

 from the ground. 



In the summer, plants of all kinds from grass to trees are full 

 of spiders. The Lycosas (pp. 68 to 84) run among the short 

 grass. The small species of Linyphia (p. 134) and Erigone 

 (p. 148) make their flat webs close to the ground among small 

 plants. Linyphia marginata, communis, coccijiea, and phrygiana 

 make theirs among plants and rocks, a foot or two above the 

 ground. The Theridiums (p. no) live between leaves and on 

 the ends of twigs, covering them with webs that only show 

 when the dew is on them. Agalena ncevia (pp. 91 to 95) makes 

 its flat webs on the grass and anywhere else where it can find a 

 place to fasten them. The jumping spiders (p. 41) run about 

 for their prey on plants, and some of them have silk nests 

 among the leaves. The Misumenas (p. 25) live among flowers 

 and wait for insects to alight within reach. The webs of 

 Dictyna (p. 206) are commonest on the ends of grass and 

 twigs, and are known by the dust that they gather. The 

 round-web spiders mature in the middle of the summer, and 



