TYPICAL GROUP 



3199 



snares. The first tribe of these, the Laterigradce , derives its name from the fact that its 

 members walk with a side, crab-like gait, a power which they owe to the rotation of 

 their legs backward in such a manner that the lower surf ace is turned forward and the 

 front upward. The two first pairs of legs are longer and stronger than the others; the 

 tarsi have but two claws, and the eyes are arranged in a double row. Of the fami- 

 lies the so-called crab spiders ( TAomiszdce) include small squat-looking forms, with 

 the two hinder pairs of legs weaker than the two front pairs. The carapace is 

 broad and often biangulate in front, and the abdomen frequently wider behind than 

 in front. These spiders are mostly sluggish and noticeable for their protective 

 coloration. Those frequenting flowers for the purpose of seizing the insects that 

 visit them possess the power of changing their tints to suit that of the blossom in 

 which they take up their abode. The egg cocoon is sometimes rolled in a leaf, 

 sometimes left uncovered; but after constructing it the female forsakes her wander- 

 ing life to watch over her offspring. The Heteropodidce differ in having the 

 mandibles more strongly toothed. The family is represented in Europe by a few 

 spiders of medium size (Sparassus, etc.}, but in the Tropics by many of large size. 

 One of the best known is the tropical house spider {Heteropoda venatoria), a large, 

 long-legged species, introduced almost all over the hotter parts of the world. The 

 female carries her lenticular cocoon tucked to the lower surface of the cephalo- 

 thorax. The annexed figure of a South-African spider (Palystes} shows the 

 characteristic size and structure of the members of this family. 



Passing over certain unimportant groups, we reach the running spiders, 

 Citigradcc, which live on the ground, and capture prey by speed of foot. The 

 legs are strong, not very unequal in length, and armed with three claws; the 

 carapace is high, with the head compressed, and bearing on each side two pairs of 

 large eyes belonging to the hinder row, and in front the four smaller eyes of the 

 first row in a straight or 

 curved line. The typical 

 members of the tribe belong 

 to the family Lycosidce^ or 

 wolf_ spiders, of which a 

 number of small forms are 

 found in England, and the 

 north and central parts of 

 Europe. In summer these 

 may be seen darting swiftly 

 about among stones and 

 grass, the female often carry- 

 ing her cocoon attached to 

 her spinning mammillae. 

 This cocoon is a spherical 

 or more or less compressed 

 sac, consisting of an upper 



and lower- plate, fastened at SOUTH- AFRICAN SIDE WALKING SPIDER, Palystes. 



the edges. The mother (Natural size.) 



