<J. H. Eriierton — New England Epeiridm. 303 



Epeira SClopetaria (Clerck) Thorell, Menge. 

 E. sericata Blk. 



Plate XXXIII, figure 4. Plate XXXV, figure 10. 



Large female, from Salem, 15""" long; 1st leg, 24""". Average 

 female, Essex Bridge, Salem, 11""" long; 1st leg, IS""". 



The wliole body is covered Avith light gray hairs which obscnre the 

 color and markings of the skin. When wet in alcohol the dark 

 markings appear dai-k brown, and tlie lighter parts dull yellow. 

 The cephalothorax is dark brown or gray without markings. The 

 legs are marked with light and dark rings. The femur has the inner 

 half light and the outer half dark. The patella is darkest toward 

 the tip. The tibia and the metatarsus are dark at both ends and 

 have a dark ring near the middle. The sternum is dark brown with 

 a roundish light spot in the middle and the coxa^ liglit. The top of 

 the abdomen is dull yellow with dark brown or black markings. 

 The folium has a distinct dark and light line around the scollo])ed 

 edges, broken on each side between the first and second segments. 

 These breaks are usually distinct and distinguish this spider from 

 patogiata^ stria- and other related species in which the edge of the 

 folium is usually entire. The median dark spot at the front of the 

 abdomen is large and plain in this species and is followed by a line 



Epeira in FAirope and America. It lives in barns and windows of liouses and on 

 fences, and between the timbers of wharves and bridges, but is rarelj' found on plants 

 or away from houses. Ep. patagiata is occasionally found about houses in the same 

 way in both countries and also on plants. It appears to be a northern species and is 

 not found, as far as I kuow, south of New England nor in southern Connecticut. Ep. 

 strix is an American species usually found on plants but sometimes about houses hke 

 sclopetaria. The colors and markings of these three species are usually distinctive, 

 but occasional individuals of sclopetaria and patagiata resemble each other very 

 jlosely. In sclopetaria the colors are gray inclining to yellow. The edges of the 

 folium are broken on the first segment, whicli is not the case in the other species. 

 The colors of E. patagiata. incline to red, especially in alcohol. The abdomen is usu- 

 ally flatter than in sclopetaria and the folium wide and unbroken at the edges. In 

 strix the colors are more as in sclopetaria, the abdomen very oval, the folium narrow 

 and the sides of the abdomen much lighter colored. The legs of sclopetaria are the 

 longest and those of strix shortest. The males can be easily distinguished by their 

 palpi. In sclopetaria the fork at tlae base of the palpal organ is slender and the ter- 

 minal hook long and blunt. In strix the fork is also slender, the outer tooth longer 

 than in sclopetaria and the terminal hook is stouter but with a sharp point. The fork 

 in patagiata is short and twice as thick as in the other species, both teeth turned up 

 at the ends, and the terminal hook is long like sclopetaria but pointed at the tip. The 

 finger of 'the epigynum ot piatagiata is flat and widened at the tip, while in sclopetaria 

 and strix it is round as usual. 



Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. VI. 39 Sept., 1884. 



