26 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



thoroughwort. They stand among the flowers, holding by the 

 hind legs, with the front legs extended or bent in stiff and 

 awkward positions, and wait for insects to alight on the flowers 

 within their reach. Whether spiders prefer flowers colored 

 like themselves is an unsettled question ; at any rate, Misu- 

 menas of all colors and both sexes have been found on white 



flowers. Occasionally individuals are 

 found on flowers of exactly the same 

 color as themselves ; for 

 example, deep yellow J/. 

 aleatoria on the wild indigo, 

 Baptisia tinctoria, and the 

 reddish J/, aspcrata on the 

 flowers of sorrel, Rumcx 

 acctosella. The adult fe- 

 males of vatia and aleatoria 

 are easily mistaken for 

 each other. Both vary in 

 color from white to deep 

 yellow, and grow to a large 

 size, but they can be dis- 

 tinguished by the differ- 



larged four times, q^^q J^ the shapC of the 

 78, male enlarged four _ 



times. head. Aspcrata is perhaps 



the most common species. 

 The female seldom grows as large as the others, and does 

 not lose entirely the red markings of the abdomen and legs. 

 The scattered stiff hairs also distinguish it from the others. 

 The males of the different species are distinct enough one 

 from the other, though they differ widely from the females. The 

 shape of the head and the markings around the eyes are much 

 the same in both sexes, and by these males and females of the 

 same species may be recognized. 



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