112 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



length of the body. The male (fig. 259) is shorter and has 

 longer legs. The color varies from dirty white to almost black. 

 The cephalothorax is yellow brown, and the legs light yellow, 

 with brown or gray rings at the ends and the middle of the 

 joints. In the males the legs are orange brown, darker at the 

 ends of the joints. The abdomen is high in front and narrows 



toward the spinnerets. In dark 



and well-marked specimens the 



abdomen has, on the hinder part, 



six transverse black marks curved 



upward, thicker in the middle, and 



partly connected by black spots 



at the ends (fig. 260). These 



marks are most sharply defined 



on the hinder edge, where they are 



bordered by silver white. The upper 



mark often forms a conspicuous black 



and white spot in the center of the 



abdomen. In light individuals all the 



markings are smaller and less definite. 



Figs. 258, 259, 260. ^ makes a large web in the corners 



Theridium tepida- f rooms, under furniture, and in the 



258, fe- ' ' 



angles of fences and between stones 



riorum. 



male. 259, male. 



260, abdomen of 



female 



behind. 



/from ( fi §- 2 55). It usually stands in the 



260 



most sheltered part of the web, where 

 a part of it is more closely woven than 

 the rest, but not enough so to conceal the spider. It occasion- 

 ally makes the web in an open place where there is no shelter 

 above, and then it sometimes carries a piece of leaf into the 

 web and hides under it, as is the usual habit with some allied 

 species. The webs of the young are usually more regular in 

 form than those of adults (figs. 256, 257). A male and female 

 often occupy the same web for a long time. The eggs are 



