THE THOMISIDyE 



The Thomisidae are generally flat, short, and widened behind, 

 and have a sidewise gait and crab-like appearance. The first and 

 second legs are often much larger than the third and fourth, 

 and all the legs extend sidewise from the thorax and not for- 

 ward and backward, as they do in the Drassidae (pp. 1-2 1). The 

 feet have two claws and a thick brush of hairs. They are gen- 

 erally smooth or covered with very short and fine hair, and often 

 have coarser hairs scattered at considerable distances from each 

 other over the back. The eyes are small and in two slightly 

 curved rows, the upper one longest and often much longer than 

 the front row. The mandibles are small and narrowed toward 

 the end. The maxillae are narrow at the end and slant inward. 

 Most of the species belong to the three following genera : 



Xysticus (p. 30) is flat, with short legs, and marked with gray 

 and brown, like bark and stones. 



Misumena (p. 25) is white or brightly colored. The first and 

 second legs are much longer than the third and fourth, and 

 there is great difference between the sexes, the females being 

 large and light colored, while the males are small, and yellow 

 or green, with red and brown markings. 



Philodromus (p. 35) is generally small, with long slender 

 legs, the second pair longest. The colors are generally light 

 gray and brown, sometimes with iridescent scales. 



Besides the larger genera are several other spiders belonging 

 to this family. Tmarus caudatus (p. 38) resembles Philodro- 

 mus in color and outline, but has besides the caudate abdomen 

 a very different head and thorax, and the hind legs much shorter 



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