444 J. H. Emerton—New England Spiders of 
Tuse in the same sense, transferring it from the Epeiride to this 
family. 
Several of the spiders described by Hentz under the name of 
Theridion are probably Dictyna. Of these, 7. sublatuwm, morologum, 
and foliaceum belong to this genus without much doubt, though I 
cannot identify them with any species here described. 
Blackwall mentions among spiders from Canada, Ergatis (Dictyna) 
diligens, var. annulipes, Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., 1871. 
B. G. Wilder describes the webs and habits of Hyptiotes cavatus 
under the name H. Americanus, in Popular Science Monthly, 1875. 
E. Keyserling has described in Transactions of the Zool. Botan. 
Gesellschaft of Vienna, 1881 to 1884, the following species: Dictyna 
sedentaria, Baltimore, Coll. of L. Koch. D. volupis, Museum, Cam- 
bridge, Mass. D. volucripes, Museum, Cambridge, Mass. DD. foli- 
ata, Colorado, Vienna Museum, J vittata, Washington, D. C., War- 
saw Museum. D. arundinaceoides, Cation City, Colorado, Coll. of 
G. Marx. 
Dictyna Sundevall. 
The genus Dictyna is composed of small spiders that live in loose 
webs of various shapes on fences and on plants, especially on the 
ends of stalks and among the flowers of Solidago, Spirea, and 
other slender plants with clusters of small flowers. 
The head is generally high, but not so wide as in Amaurobius- 
The sternum is very wide and convex and the labium large, often 
nearly as long as the mandibles. The trache are large and the 
opening generally distinct. The difference between the sexes in 
most species is very great. The male palpi are very large and the 
palpal organs conspicuous. The tibial joint of the male palpi has on 
the outer side a process with two short spines. The mandibles of 
the males are bowed outward (Plate 1x, fig. 2d) and are much longer 
than those of the female. They are bent forward at the tips, and at 
the base of each mandible is a short tooth projecting forward. 
Plate 1x, fig. 20. 
The colors are usually dull yellow and brown covered with white 
or gray hairs. The cephalothorax is usually lighter in front and 
dark at the side, and the abdomen has a double row of light mark- 
ings in the middle on a dark ground, but these markings are ex- 
tremely variable even in the same species. PI. 1x. 
The webs of Dictyna usually radiate irregularly from a hole or 
hiding place where the spider hangs. Some species, living on walls, 
