184 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 216 



ate specimens are not rare. Many males, however, are often difficult 

 or impossible to determine with certainty. 



Specimens (84 cT, 2059): From Connecticut (Lyme); District of 

 Columbia (Washington) ; Florida (2 miles W. of Archer and Gaines- 

 ville) ; Iowa (Dickinson Co. and Webster Co.) ; Kansas (Douglas Co. 

 and Franklin Co.) ; Maine (near Bethel) ; Maryland (Hagerstown, 

 Hughesville, Hyattsville, Plummers Island, and Takoma Park) ; Mas- 

 sachusetts (Holliston and Lexington) ; Michigan (Bay Co., Crawford 

 Co., East Lansing, Gladwin Co., Ionia Co., Iosco Co., Kalkaska Co., 

 Lake Co., Livingston Co., Mecosta Co., Midland Co., Portage Lake, 

 and Saginaw Co.) ; New Jersey (Edgewater, Moorestown, Ridgewood, 

 Short Hills, and Tabernacle) ; New York (Babylon, Barker, Dix 

 Hills near Huntington, Farmingdale, Flatbush, Ithaca, Lake Mohonk 

 in Ulster Co., Milford Center, Poughkeepsie, Rockaway, and Syra- 

 cuse) ; North Carolina (Murfreesboro and Raleigh) ; Ohio (Columbus, 

 Dayton, Montgomery Co., and Ross Co.); Ontario (Ingersoll, Leam- 

 ington, Simcoe, and Wellington) ; Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, New 

 Cumberland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Wilkes-Barre) ; Rhode 

 Island (Charleston and Westerly) ; South Carolina (Greenville) ; Texas 

 (Austin) ; and Virginia (East Falls Church, Falls Church, Glencarlyn, 

 Norfolk, and Vienna) . 



Collecting dates are from spring to late fall, with most of the 

 specimens taken during the summer and few before June or after 

 August. The earliest and latest dates of capture are: April 1 at 

 Raleigh, N. C; April 20 at Greenville, S. C; May 3 at Falls Church, 

 Va.; October 4 at East Lansing, Mich.; October 20 and November 

 15 at Takoma Park, Md.; November 1 at Charlottesville, Va.; and 

 November 25 in Franklin Co., Kans. 



It has been reared from the egg sacs of spiders as follows: 8 rearings 

 from Argiope aurantia, 2 from A. aurantia?, 1 from A. trifasciata, 3 

 from "Epeira" sp.; and 3 from "spider eggs." We have several 

 times found the larvae or cocoons in the egg sacs of Argiope aurantia 

 and occasionally reared it out. A large number of individuals mature 

 from these large egg sacs. Overwintering is as cocoons within the 

 spider egg sac. In collecting, we find the adults usually among bushes 

 and rank weeds in overgrown fields or the edges of woods, in the same 

 habitat that is occupied by Argiope aurantia. 



This subspecies occurs in the Austroriparian and Carolinian faunas. 

 It is adult throughout the growing season. The usual host is the egg 

 sacs of Argiope aurantia, while the subspecies ovivora attacks smaller 

 egg sacs. In habitats, where the two subspecies are sympatric, this 

 subspecies is in brushy places and overgrown fields, while typical 

 ovivora is usually in the rank undergrowth of moist woods. 



