INTRODUCTION xv 



Different kinds of spiders mature and breed at different 

 times of the year, most of them living only one season. Those 

 that mature late, like Agalcua ncevia and Argiope, pass the 

 winter as eggs, while those that mature early, like Epeira 

 sclopetaria and Lycosa nidicola, pass the winter half grown. 

 Some species, like Theridium tcpidariorum (p. 112), breed sev- 

 eral times in the year, and old and young are found at all 

 seasons. 



The spiders are naturally divided into two groups of families: 



(1) the hunting spiders, which run on the ground or on plants, 

 catching insects wherever they find them, or waiting among 

 leaves and flowers until insects come within their reach ; 



(2) the cobweb spiders, which make webs to catch insects and 

 live all the time in the web or in a nest near it. 



The hunting spiders include: (1) the Dysderidse (p. 22), a 

 few species with six eyes only and w r ith four breathing holes at 

 the front end of the abdomen ; (2) the Drassidae (p. 1), or 

 ground spiders, which live among stones and dead leaves or 

 among plants, making tubular nests and flat egg cocoons but 

 no cobwebs ; (3) the Thomisidae (p. 24), the flat and crab-like 

 spiders living on plants or under bark and stones ; (4) the 

 Attidae (p. 41), the jumping spiders, with wide heads and 

 large front eyes, many of them brightly colored and active in 

 their habits ; (5) the Lycosidae (p. 67), the long-legged run- 

 ning spiders, living on the ground and, a few of them, in holes 

 and carrying about their round egg cocoons attached to the 

 spinnerets. 



The cobweb spiders include : (1) the Agalenidae (p. 91), mak- 

 ing flat webs on grass or in corners of houses, with a tube at 

 one side in which the spider lives; (2) the Therididae (p. 107), 

 round spiders with flat or irregular webs in corners and on 

 plants; (3) the Linyphiadae (p. 134), with flat webs, small 

 spiders of a great number of species living near the ground 



