218 



AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 





separated from MF by 2.5 to 3 times the diameter of the latter, which, however, are much 

 elevated above it; the eye space is yellowish brown, the tubercles and ocular quad glossy, 

 black, corneous, with a few curved bristles placed along the margin of the clypeus, strongest 

 at the base of the quad ; front row slightly procurvcd, rear row greatly procurved. 



LEGS: 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows: 52, 49, 42, 31.5 mm.; stout at the thighs, but gradually 

 tapering to the tarsus, which is thin, as is also the metatarsus ; in many adult females the 

 last two joints, and frequently the last three joints, also including the patella, are glossy 

 black, the thighs alone showing at the bases a bright yellow hue ; in the younger specimens 

 the leg is striped with brown and yellow (see Fig. 4) ; the whole surface is covered with 

 short hairs, yellow on the femora and dark on the other joints; femora-I are usually 

 darker, and specimens will be found in which they are almost black, a peculiarity which 

 extends to the third leg; surface thickly covered with bristles, and less abundantly with 

 short dark spines; the palps are colored and armed like the legs, but in some specimens 

 are entirely yellow; mandibles conical, dark brown, and glossy with yellowish tips. 



ABDOMEN : An elongated oval, narrowed or broadened according to the maturity or age 

 of the individual ; its width is usually about two-fifths its length, broadest about the 

 middle, slightly tapering towards the apex, which overhangs the spinnerets; it also narrows 

 somewhat towards the base, which is marked by two well developed conical processes, 

 which project rather forwards than sideways, as in the case of Epeira. They show 

 decidedly in half grown specimens, and more or less in adults not gravid, when the 

 abdomen is distended with eggs; the dorsal field is marked by a broad irregular median 

 band of blackish brown, flanked on either side by an irregular broken band of yellow 

 spots ; the median blackish brown band is marked by four to six, usually the latter, patches 

 or spots of yellow, arranged symmetrically along the median line ; four longitudinal brown- 

 ish stripes, which are often indistinct, pass from the middle of the dorsal field along the 

 folium to the apex; the surface is somewhat freely covered with short, silvery white hairs, 

 and the skin is reticulated; the venter has a broad brown 'band, compressed towards the 

 spinnerets, with eight circular yellow spots arranged symmetrically on the median line, 

 and a broad ribbon of bright yellow along either margin, which passes to the base of the 

 brown spinnerets, encircles the same in a broken band. The epigynum (Plate XVI., Figs. 

 5, 5b, 5c) has a low, wide, yellow atriolum, subtriangular in form, but little separated from 

 the venter ; the scapus is brown, glossy, corneous, widest at the base, and curved along the 

 . lower side, short, terminating in a wide, notched tip, which is hollowed on either side ; 

 when removed from the venter, and the under part is viewed, this organ is seen to be 

 quite hollow ; it is covered with short, curved, black bristles. 



MALE : Plate I., Figs. 5 and 6. The male of this species is about one-fourth the size 

 of the female, being 6 to 8 mm. in body length. The cephalothorax is yellowish brown, 

 covered, but less densely than the female, with white and yellowish white hairs, which 

 also sparsely clothe the caput, and are found within the eye space. The eyes are arranged 

 nearly as in the female. The MF are about 1 to 1.5 diameter removed from the margin of 

 the clypeus, and are separated from SF by a space a little greater than that which divides 

 themselves. The rear eyes are on tubercles, propinquate, SF slightly the smaller. The front 

 row is arranged in a nearly straight line, the rear row much procurved. The legs are 

 brownish yellow, with faintly marked annuli, and well provided with spines, bristles, and 

 hairs. The abdomen is a long oval, widest at the top, where at each corner the base 

 presents a slight conical process, and is marked by a cluster of long bristles. Along the 

 middle of the dorsum extends a wide dentated band of brown color, interspersed with 

 yellow, on either margin of which along the sides is a zigzag band of white, sprinkled 

 with silver hairs, corresponding with the interrupted zigzag bands on the sides of tne 

 female. The mandibles do not extend beyond the border of the eye space, and the head 

 on either side projects beyond them. The humeral, cubital, and radial joints of the palp 

 are yellowish white, the two last named being short and irregularly rounded, the last one 

 particularly having a number of radiating bristles. The digital joint is bright brown, inter- 

 mingled with yellow color, and may most readily be distinguished by three projections 

 extending from the outer side, of which two are relatively long, and the third, or shorter 



