174 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



The front half of the abdomen is nearly covered by four white, 

 yellow, or pink spots, partly united into a rectangular figure 

 surrounded by an irregular black line (fig. 407). The hinder 



half has three or four pairs of black spots. 

 The general color is light brownish yellow. 

 The cephalothorax has a fine middle line 

 from the eyes to the dorsal groove and indis- 

 tinct dark marks at the sides of the head. 

 The first and second legs have slightly darker 

 Fig. 407. Epeiragio- rings at the end and middle of each joint, the 

 bosa, enlarged four ^{ Y ^ anc j fourth pairs at the ends of the joints 



times. x J 



only. The male is marked like the female and 

 has the tibia of the second legs slightly curved and thickened 

 with large spines on the inner side. 



This spider makes a very large tent, out of which a strong 

 thread runs to the center of the round web (fig. 406). From 

 the tent a loose and irregular web extends downward, some- 

 times covering half of the round web (fig. 406). Opposite the 

 thread leading to the tent, a segment of the round web is left 

 open or partly open without any sticky threads. 



Epeira labyrinthea. — This spider makes a large 

 irregular web in which is a tent connected by a 

 thread with the small round web below, much as 

 in Epeira globosa. The female is a fifth of an inch 

 long. The abdomen is oval and not unusually 

 large, as it is in globosa (fig. 408). The cephalo- 

 thorax is long, dark brown in the middle and 

 lighter at the sides, and almost white in front 

 around and behind the eyes. The legs are white, with narrow 

 dark brown rings at the ends of the joints and wider yellow 

 rings on patella and femur of the first and second pairs. The 

 abdomen is marked with four long white spots in front and 

 a dark brown middle band behind. At the sides the abdomen 



Fig. 408. Epeira 

 labyrinthea, en- 

 larged four 

 times. 



