THE EPEIRID.E 



I8 5 



Fig. 431. Female 

 Zilla atrica, en- 

 larged four times. 



underneath. 



middle pairs than they are from each other. The mandibles 



are large and thickened in the middle toward the front. The 



epigynum and the spinnerets are both small. The color 



of all the species is gray, with sometimes a little yellow 



or pink in the lighter parts. The cephalothorax has 



usually, but not always, a dark border at the 



sides and a middle dark line that widens and 



becomes lighter toward the eyes. The abdomen 



has a wide middle stripe like Epeira, scalloped at 



the sides and crossed at the hinder end by two 



or three pairs of transverse spots. In front it is 



almost white or tinted with pink or yellow, and 



narrows almost to a point, with a much darker 



spot each side. The sides of the abdomen are 



marked with oblique dark marks that extend 



The sternum has a light middle stripe. Under 



the abdomen is a dark middle stripe, with light each side of it. 



The legs are pale, with nar- 

 row gray rings at the end 



and middle of each joint. 



These three species seem to 



be the same as three found 



in Europe, — Z. atrica, Z. 



x-notata, and Z. montana. 



Atrica is found at Ipswich 



and Salem on the coast of 



Massachusetts, x-notata at 



Woods Hole on the south 



coast of Massachusetts, and 



montana in the White Moun- 



tains and Adirondacks. 



Wherever found they are in large numbers, atrica and x-notata 



living on the outside of houses, and montana in trees and rocks. 



Fig. 432. Middle of web of Zilla atrica with 

 the open segment and thread to the nest at 

 the left. 



