THE CRIBELLATE SPIDERS 147 



tropical in distribution that press northward in small numbers into 

 the temperate zone. Within the limits of the United States are 

 found representative species, many of which are remarkable for 

 their physical appearance and strikingly resemble bits of dried leaves, 

 twigs, thorns, buds, scales, and similar natural objects. The common 

 name of "stick spider" has been applied to some of them; the name 

 characterizes the whole group rather well, even though not all are 

 elongate. All do hang downward from a more or less intricate web, 

 and in their movement on silken lines parallel closely such aerial 

 ecribellates as the orb weavers and tangled web weavers. By some 

 students these spiders are regarded as closely allied to their ecribel- 

 late cousins, but the extensive use of the hackled band sets them 

 apart and indicates only a distant relationship. The third tarsal claw 

 is present, modified to suit the needs of confirmed sedentary types. 

 In this series of species have been developed some most ingenious 

 devices for capturing prey. The ogre-faced spiders have perfected 

 a method of expanding and hurling a sticky net over flying insects. 

 Not to be outdone by their cousins, the uloborids construct a splen- 

 did orb web rivaling in excellence that of the orb weavers of the 

 family Argiopidae. The triangle spider, Hyptiotes, has abandoned 

 all the orb save a single sector of four rays. Even more niggardly 

 is the tropical stick spider, Miagrammopes, which employs but a 

 single line on which it spins a band of sticky silk. 



Ogre-Faced Stick Spiders. The name "ogre-faced spider" is 

 applied appropriately to species of Deinopis (from the Greek, mean- 

 ing "terrible appearance") because of their weird aspect and the 

 enormous size of their posterior median eyes, which, projecting 

 forward like great headlights, render inconspicuous the remaining 

 six. The habits of these spiders, particularly their nocturnal net 

 casting, would seem to demand good night vision, and this doubt- 

 less accounts for the development of such large eyes. The American 

 species of Deinopis is quite rare, uncommon even in the extreme 

 southeastern portion of the country and is apparently the only mem- 

 ber of the family reported from the United States. Quite a number 

 of species, many with grotesquely formed heads and humped and 

 lobed abdomens, are known from the tropical region all around the 

 world. Nothing has been published on the habits of our ogre-faced 

 spider, but it seems certain that it will be found to perform in the 

 same way as the species of Menneus and Deinopis in Africa and 

 Australia. 



