144 AMERICAN SPIDERS 



hairs. Though several different groups of these small spinners are 

 known, they are all similar in appearance and in habits. Some of the 

 smallest live under debris on the ground, where they spin tiny webs 

 and are rarely noticed; others of larger size spin on the walls of 

 buildings, and on plants. Their lacy meshes are conspicuous ob- 

 jects, but, aging, become obscured with dust and lint. Since ap- 

 proximately one hundred different species of Dictyna are known 

 from North America, mention can be made here only of a few 

 species whose habits are illustrative of the whole group. 



Dictyna annulipes (formerly muraria), a small species with a 

 large oval abdomen, has its dull body quite completely masked by 

 a covering of light gray hairs, which on the carapace form three 

 distinct stripes, and on the abdomen outline a pattern of darker 

 chevrons. Favorite sites for its web are board fences and the walls 

 of buildings. A tiny crevice between boards will provide this spider 

 with an adequate retreat from which it can lay out the dry founda- 

 tion lines of its snare. These lines frequently radiate with the most 

 precise regularity, and, when crossed evenly with the thick hackled 

 bands, reveal a web as delicately spun as a lace doily. One observes 

 that annulipes often chooses the outside of a window sash as a 

 location for its snare, and lashes it to the smooth glass as well as to 

 the adjacent wood. 



Early summer is usually the pairing season for these friendly 

 little spiders, and at this season the male may been seen in the web 

 of the female. He resembles her closely in general appearance, but 

 is somewhat more slender and has longer legs. His head is aften 

 quite elevated, arching over the long, curved chelicerae. These 

 latter are provided with a stout spur near the base; they turn up- 

 ward at the tip, and curve strongly outward at the middle, leaving 

 a conspicuous opening between. In some species of this particular 

 group, the conspicuous chelicerae are known to be used to hold the 

 jaws of the female during the mating, and it may be presumed that 

 they render the same service for our own species. 



A close relative of annulipes is Dictyna valuer ipes, a slightly 

 larger spider, similarly clothed in pleasing gray raiment, which pre- 

 fers open sunny fields for its home. The usual sites are the ends of 

 weeds and grasses (Plate III), and especially the dried stems and 

 stalks left over from the previous growing season. Upon this har- 

 vest skeleton volucripes spins its characteristic mesh; the foundation 

 lines bridge from stem to stem, and over them is woven a criss-cross 

 of viscid bands, to form perfect little lattices and other pleasing 



