62 J. H. Emerton — ISTeto England IVierididce. 



tlireads above. There is often an imperfect sheet of web below, 

 which I suppose to be an abandoned web and not a necessary part of 

 the one in use. The threads of this web often look purple in the sun- 

 light. This is one of the most common spiders in the woods, making 

 its webs among the underbrush, a foot or two from the ground. It 

 also spins among rocks and in stone walls. 



Common all over New England. Hentz found both marmorata 

 and scripta in Alabama. It is also common in Europe. 



Linyphia communis Hentz, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. vi. 

 Plate XVIIl, figure 2. 



The sexes of this spider dilFer greatly in size and color. The 

 female is 3 '5™"' to 4'"'" long. Longest legs, 6""". The cephalothorav, 

 mandibles, and sternum are yellowish brown. Legs and palpi dull 

 yellow. Abdomen chocolate-brown above and below, with five 

 pairs of white markings on the sides. The cephalothorax is high in 

 front. The abdomen is proportionally larger than in marmorata and 

 similarly truncated behind. The male is 2*5""" long with legs as 

 long as those of the female but more slender. The cephalothorax, 

 mandibles and palpi are bright orange-brown, but the sternum is 

 darker, like the female, as is the under side of the abdomen. The 

 back of the abdomen is light yellow-brown, with indistinct markings 

 on the sides similar to those of the female. 



The web of this species consists of a net of irregular threads one 

 foot or more high, under which is a closer flat- sheet 4 to 5 inches 

 wide, and convex below, where the spider stands. Below this, at a 

 distance of 1 inch, is another similar sheet of web held in place by 

 threads running in all dii-ections. Small insects flying into the upper 

 part of the web strike their wings against the threads and fall gradu- 

 ally down to the close web at the bottom, where they are caught and 

 drawn through by the spider, as in the concave web of marginata. 

 What the use of the lower sheet of web is, I have not seen. Males 

 and females are found in the web together in July. The upper part 

 of the web is often occupied by Argyrodes trigomim. 



This spider is found from Mt. Washington, N. II., to New Haven, 

 Conn. Ilentz says it is common in the South. 



Linyphia Clathrata 8uud. Tlior. Sjmonyms European Spiders. 

 Plate XVIII, figure 3. 

 This species is 3""" long. The cephalothorax is yellowish brown, 

 with a darker strii)e on llie middle. The legs are yellow or orange 



