THE EPEIRID/E 



165 



Fig. 391. Epeira cinerea. — 

 Back of female enlarged 

 twice. 



numbers, usually in the woods, sometimes in webs hung 



between trees high above the ground. 



Epeira cinerea. — This large spider is common in the northern 



part of New England, from Maine to New York, where it lives 



in great numbers about barns and houses. 



It grows to three-quarters of an inch in 



length, with the abdomen proportionally 



larger than augulata and with two small 



humps on the front part (fig. 391). The 



color is dirty white, with grayish markings 



and long white hairs scattered all over the 



body. The cephalothorax is a little dark- 

 ened at the sides, but has no distinct stripes. 



The legs have gray rings at the ends and 



middle of each joint, which are hardly visible 



in some individuals and almost black in others. The markings 



are like those of augulata, but paler and often indistinct. The 



sternum is brown, and the under side of the abdomen has a 



central dark stripe bordered by curved yellow 

 markings. The epigynum is small, as in augu- 

 lata, but the finger is flattened and turned up 

 at the end. The male is colored like the 

 female, with the hairs on the legs coarser 

 and darker. The tibia of the second legs of 

 the male is not thickened or modified as it 

 is in augulata. The webs resemble those 

 of E. sclopetaria, and the spider has similar 

 habits, standing in the web at night and 

 usually leaving it in the daytime ; and it has 

 no special thread from the web to the nest. 

 Epeira corticaria. — This is a small species about quarter of an 



inch in length, with the abdomen angular in front, where it is 



as wide as long (fig. 392). The colors are generally lighter and 



Fig. 392. Epeira corti- 

 caria. — Back of female 

 enlarged eight times. 



