THE THERIDID^ 



119 



along the edges. The legs are orange, lighter in the female 

 and darker in the male, with the first and second pairs in the 

 male much stouter. The sternum is orange, with black edges. 

 This spider makes a web, like the other small species, among 

 small leaves and winters under dead leaves on the e:round. 



THE GENUS STEATODA 



Steatoda has the legs shorter and stouter than Theridium, 

 The abdomen is oval and often a little flattened on the back. 

 It is smooth and shining, the hairs being fine and scattered so 

 as to be hardly visible. The thorax is thick and hard, and in 

 some species marked with hard 

 projections and depressions. The 

 head is generally narrow, and the 

 front middle eyes are in several 

 species larger than the others and 

 farther forward and wider apart. 

 In other species all the eyes are 

 about the same size. The webs 

 consist of a flat sheet supported 

 and held down by threads. 



Steatoda borealis. — This is a dark 

 reddish-brown spider, quarter of fk 

 an inch long, living among stones 

 or in the corners of fences and 

 window frames, generally well 



concealed by its web or nest. The cephalothorax is orange 

 brown and covered with short stiff brown hairs. The head is 

 one-third as wide as the thorax and a little higher, the eyes near 

 together, with the front middle pair projecting forward beyond 

 the mandibles (fig. 279). The legs are brown, with faint darker 

 rings, and are thickly covered with hairs. The abdomen is dark 



iGS. 277, 278, 279. Stea- 

 toda borealis. — 277, fe- 

 male. 278, male. Both enlarged 

 four times. 279, eyes. 



