Agalenidm and Dysderidm. 199 



point tui'iied inward toward the tarsns. A third variety, shown in 

 fig. 1(7, occurs less often but on spiders of all sizes and from differ- 

 ent parts of the country. The spiral here hardly makes more than 

 one turn and is so small as to be covered entirely by the tarsus. At 

 the tip the tube is twisted so as to turn the opening downward. 

 This is the form named Agalena americana by Keyserling, in 1877, 

 from Illinois ; there is one in the Cambridge museum, from Penikese 

 Island, Mass., named by Keyserling " var. americana,'''' and I have 

 seen specimens from Indiana, from Providence, R. I., New Bedford, 

 Mass., and Brooklyn, N. Y., in N. Pike's collection. These three 

 varieties seem to be distinct and I have seen no intermediate forms. 

 Fig. le is a palpal organ from Providence, R. I., having an unusually 

 large tube ; fig. l/'is the palpus of a small spider from Jaifrey, N. H., 

 in which the tube is slender and the spiral unusually small. 



The shape of the external opening of the epigynum is even more 

 variable than that of the palpal organ. The most common variety 

 is shown in fig. \h, taken from a female found in copulation with the 

 'male from which the palpus fig. \a was drawn. Figs, l^, \j, \Jc, 

 show a slight variation from this form by short teeth on the front 

 edge of the opening. Figs. \l, 1/h, Iw, have these teeth united and 

 extending backward across the opening nearly dividing it into two. 

 The three last are all fi'om large dark colored spiders like those hav- 

 ing palpi as in fig. Ih. 



Comparison of a large number of specimens from the neighbor- 

 hood of Boston, Mass., showed that 69 males had palpi like fig. la, 

 and 5 like fig. \h ', 98 females had the oval epigynum, fig. \h, and 37 

 the partly divided epigynum, figs. 1/, \m, \n. 



The web of this species consists of a flat sheet, shaped accord- 

 ing to the supports to which it is fastened, from one side of 

 which extends a tube at the mouth of which the spider usually 

 stands. The tube is open at the lower end, from which the spider 

 escapes if the web is entered by too large an enemy. 



The webs are made in all kinds of places. In early summer great 

 numbers are made on short grass, but large webs are seldom made 

 in such situations and it is probable that spiders that do not find 

 more favorable places as they grow lai'ger, never live to become 

 adult. The largest webs and the best developed spiders are found 

 among stones and shrubs where there are convenient hiding places 

 and supports for the web, Avhich in a good situation is enlarged as 

 the spider grows until it becomes a foot or more wide and propor- 

 tionally thick and strong. The long spinnerets are used in making 



