THE AERIAL WEB SPINNERS 187 



one fourth as long, and mature much earlier than do their mates. 

 In midsummer they are often found in tiny, imperfect webs near 

 the snares of immature females; later they lurk in the threads of the 

 barrier webs of mature, greatly enlarged females. 



Three well-marked species, widely distributed in both North 

 and South America, are almost the only members of this striking 

 group that have penetrated into the New World from their head- 

 quarters in the Oriental and Australian regions. The silver argiope, 

 Argiope argent at a (Plate XVIII), is a comon and characteristic 

 spider of the American tropics, and reaches to our southern states, 

 where it is locally abundant from Florida to California. The center 

 of its web is provided with a two-banded stabilmentum forming a 

 cross of white silk; the spider, mostly metallic silver and yellow, 

 with the abdomen divided behind into rounded lobes, lies with legs 

 stretched out in pairs to cover this zigzag cross. 



Orange Argiope aurantia (Plates 2 and 21; Plate II), the females 

 of which have bodies running to more than an inch in length, is 

 mostly black; the abdomen, with a pair of low humps at the base, is 

 marked above with bright yellow or orange spots. The legs of 

 young females are conspicuously ringed in black and white, but in 

 adults they are usually all black. The large webs, often two feet 

 in diameter, are placed upon shrubs or herbaceous plants along 

 roadsides, in gardens, and around houses, also in meadows and 

 marshes. The spiders usually remain in the center of their webs 

 even during the hottest and sunniest days. Many flying insects are 

 captured in the snare, but a favorite food is grasshoppers, which 

 abound on the web sites. The large, pear-shaped egg sacs (whose 

 spinning has been described) can be seen tied to shrubs in the fall 

 or early spring. 



The banded argiope, Argiope trifasciata (Plates 14, 19, and 20; 

 Plates I and XXIV), rivals the previous species in abundance, espe- 

 cially in the West, but not in size. The abdomen is evenly rounded, 

 oval in shape, without humps, and usually silvery white or yellowish 

 and crossed by narrow, darker lines. A very beautiful spider, 

 trifasciata, lives in essentially the same locations as Argiope aurantia, 

 but may often be found in drier situations. The snares are very 

 similar, and placed to entrap the same kinds of insects. The egg sac 

 is cup-shaped, with a flattened top. 



The spiny-bodied spiders of the subfamily Gasteracanthinae are 

 brightly colored creatures whose hard, leathery abdomens are orna- 

 mented with prominent spines. The spinnerets are located at the 

 tip of a conspicuous elevation. Several of these spiders occur in the 



