20 



AMKKJCAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



in species as the Epei'roids; in brilliancy and variety of colors they sur- 

 pass both these and other families of spiders, and may even be compared 

 with the showy families of Coleoptera. 1 



Great as is the weight which this justly distinguished arachnologist car- 

 ries toward the Attoi'ds, I am inclined, in consideration of both instincts 

 and structure, to place the Lycosids at the head of the order. 

 Superior- r^^ Q organization of this family is, to say the least, but little 

 * y . , inferior, if at all, to that of the Attoi'ds ; and in their spinning 

 ' habits I have no hesitation in pronouncing them to be superior. 

 Indeed, the Saltigrades are by no means remarkable for their spinning- 

 work, in this respect scarcely equaling the 

 Tubeweavers, perhaps the lowest of the 

 spiders. The Citigrades, however, exhibit 

 most interesting industries; and especially 

 in the personal care of their young, from 

 the egg cocoon to the period when the 

 spiderlings can shift for themselves, the 

 Lycosids seem to me to show a higher 

 order of instinct than the Attoi'ds, certainly 

 one as high. The whole subject, however, 

 is one which in- 

 cludes difficulties 

 too numerous and 

 serious to allow a 

 full discussion in 

 these pages. 



The Orbweavers have their nearest rela- 

 t tions in the Lineweavers, whose snares of 

 netted lines are familiar in the 

 Orbweav- an gi es o f our houses, forming 



largely the domestic " cobwebs." 

 In most cases the two tribes can 

 be distinguished by a practiced 

 eye by the general form. But they can 



FIG. e. citterade Spider, Lycosa" scutuiata most easily be separated thus : The Epei'- 

 roids have a low forehead, not transversely 



impressed ; from the margin of the clypeus to the middle front pair of 

 eyes the distance is less, or at any rate not greater than the distance be- 

 tween the middle front and middle rear eyes. In the Uetitdaria', on the 

 contrary, the distance from the margin of the clypeus to tin 1 middle front 

 eyes is greater than that from the middle front to the middle rear eyes. 2 



FIG. 7. Lineweaving Spider, Therid- 

 ium tepidariorum. (Marx, del.) 



era and 

 Line- 

 weavers. 



1 European Spiders, page 40. 



2 Then- are exceptions in the case of some Kpei'roid males with strongly project in<_' fore- 

 head, and in the genus Tapiimpa. among the Retitelari;e. 



