120 THE COMMON SPIDERS 



chocolate brown, sometimes without any light marks on the 

 upper side, but usually there is a light line running around 

 the front half and another in the middle, extending back half the 

 length of the abdomen and usually broken into several spots. 

 The four depressed spots on the abdomen are distinctly marked. 

 On the under side there is a light stripe on each side, meeting 

 behind the spinnerets. The sexes are much alike in size and 

 color, but the palpi of the male (fig. 278) are longer than the 

 cephalothorax, and the terminal joint is very large and compli- 

 cated. The web consists of a flat sheet, held out by threads in 

 all directions, but is often so crowded into a corner that its 

 structure is hard to understand (fig. 276). 



Steatoda guttata. — Only one-tenth of an inch long. The 

 cephalothorax is high, with scattered hairs, at the base of each 



of which is a horny ridge. The cephalothorax is 

 dark brown, with the legs lighter and more yel- 

 low. The abdomen is nearly spherical and hard 

 at the front end, where there is a ring around 

 its attachment to the thorax. Sometimes the 

 abdomen is bright yellow or orange, without 

 markings on the back, but oftener it is partly 

 brown, with two or three pairs of silvery white 

 Figs. 280, 281. stea- spots (fig. 280). The males and females are alike 



toda guttata. — 280, 



female enlarged in size and color, and the palpi of the males are 



hef d IndTes vei T l ar S e > as * n borealis. They live under stones 



at all seasons and mature in April and May. 

 Steatoda marmorata. — About a quarter of an inch long. The 

 cephalothorax and legs yellowish brown. Cephalothorax smooth, 

 with a few hairs. Legs covered with fine hair. The abdomen 

 is usually nearly covered by an oblong dark spot darkened at 

 the edges, where it is bordered by silvery white (fig. 283). The 

 middle is lighter, with a central dark stripe. In some individuals 

 the dark markings are broken up into four pairs of black spots 



