THE THOMISID/E 



35 



THE GENUS PHILODROAIUS 



In these spiders there is less difference in length between 

 the front and hind legs than in Misumena or Xysticus. The 

 legs are long and slender, the 

 second pair longest, and the 

 body is small and flat, and 

 the abdomen pointed behind. 

 The colors are brown and gray, 

 and the whole body is often 

 covered with fine flattened hairs 

 that in the males are iridescent. 

 P/nlodro7)U(s vulgaris lives usu- 

 ally on houses and fences, but 

 the other species on plants. 



Philodromus vulgaris. — About 

 cjuarter of an inch long, the legs of 

 the female spreading over an inch 

 and those of the male an inch and 

 a quarter (figs. loi, 102). They 

 often stand with all the legs extended 

 sidewise, flat against a wall or fence 

 which they closely resemble in color. 

 When freshly molted they are cov- 

 ered with fine gray hairs of the color 

 of weathered boards, that obscure 

 most of the markings. Older spiders 

 or those wet with alcohol are covered 

 with small gray spots forming a 

 stripe in the middle of the front of 

 the abdomen and a herringbone 

 pattern on the hinder half. The edges of the back of the 

 abdomen are dark and form a sharp line against the light 



102 



Figs, ioi, 102, 103, 104. Philodromus 

 vulgaris. — loi, male. 102, female. 

 Both enlarged four times. 103, tibia 

 of the male palpus. 104, one of the 

 feet. 



