28 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



markings at the sides of the abdomen or between the eyes. 

 The head (fig. 79) is rounder than in vatia and much lower in 

 front, and there is a narrow white stripe under the eyes that 

 divides at the sides, one branch passing around over the man- 

 dibles and the other close under the eyes. The sides of the 

 cephalothorax are gray or green. The abdo- 

 men usually has no markings except a little 

 gray color in the middle, but sometimes it 

 has two rows of dark brown spots (fig. 81), 

 and in such individuals the legs are also 

 marked with brown at the ends of the joints. 

 The males are very small and strikingly col- 

 ored (fig. 82). The two front pairs of legs 

 are brown, the cephalothorax green, and the 

 abdomen yellow. The shape of the head 

 and the white under the eyes are the same 

 as in the female. 



Misumena asperata. — The males and fe- 

 males of this spider are more alike than in 

 vatia and alcatoria. The adult females are 

 always pale and sometimes white, but seldom 

 lose entirely the reddish bands around the 

 legs. Both sexes are covered with short 

 stiff hairs about their length apart all over 

 84, male enlarged four the Upper part of the body and legs. The 

 usual color is pale yellow, with dull red 

 markings. The thorax is reddish at the sides. The abdomen 

 has two red bands or rows of spots on the hinder half, meeting 

 behind. In front are a middle pair of spots and two side bands 

 that spread apart in the middle and meet again at the spin- 

 nerets. The tibia and tarsus of the front legs are marked with 

 a narrow red ring at the base and a wider ring near the end of 

 each joint. The female is a quarter of an inch long and the 



Figs. 83, 84. Misumena 

 asperata. — 83, female 

 enlarged four times. 



