184 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



When an old web is torn down this band of rubbish is left in 

 place, and the new web made across it. A peculiarity of the 

 web of this spider is that the inner spiral has one, and some- 

 times two, loops in it, making it wider than it is high (fig. 430). 



Fig. 430. Half-finished web of young Cyclosa conica, showing sticks and rubbish across 

 the lower half. The inner spiral has a loop in the left side. 



THE THREE SPECIES OF THE GENUS ZILLA 



We have three species of Zilla, the females of which are so 

 much alike that it is almost impossible to tell them apart. 

 The males also resemble each other closely except in their 

 palpi, which are distinctly different in the different species. 

 They are of moderate size, the largest about three-eighths of 

 an inch long, and in general appearance resemble the genus 

 Steatoda of the Therididae (p. 119). The abdomen is large 

 and oval and a little flattened. The legs are slender and of 

 moderate length, like those of Epeira. The head is rounded in 

 front, and the lateral eyes are not separated farther from the 



