172 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



sometimes light yellow, and the same individual will change 



from light color to dark. The usual markings are four white 

 spots and a middle row of smaller spots, with several 

 oblique rows still smaller. All trace of the usual 



middle stripe is wanting except in very 

 young individuals. The under side of 

 the abdomen is dark brown, and the 

 usual semicircular yellow marks are 

 absent except in the young. The 

 males (fig. 404) are not more than half 

 as long as the females and slender and 

 light colored. The markings are like 

 those of the female, but less distinct. 

 The tibiae of the second legs are not 

 thickened or modified in shape as they 

 are in the male insularis. Trifoliiim 

 makes a large web in bushes, but sel- 

 dom stands in it. It has near by a 

 tent above the web (fig. 402) made of 

 leaves, drawn together and lined with 

 silk, connected with the center of the 

 web by a strong thread, and it usually 

 remains in this tent 

 with one foot on the 

 thread, so that it feels 

 when anything is 

 caught. The spiders 

 mature in September, 



when the males may sometimes be seen about 



the nests of the females. In October they 



lay their eggs and all die before winter. 



Epeira displicata. — Large females are quarter of an inch long, 



but they are usually smaller. The cephalothorax and legs are 



Figs. 403, 404. Epeira trifolium, 

 enlarged twice. — 403, female. 

 404, male. 



Fig. 405. Epeira dis- 

 plicata, enlarged four 

 times. 



