122 



THE COMMOxN SPIDERS 



borealis. The legs are light yellow, with slightly darker rings 

 at the ends of the joints. There are thickened brown spots at 

 the base of the hairs all over the body. The abdomen is light 

 yellow, with two irregular brown stripes partly 

 broken into spots and sometimes connected 

 together (fig. 286). The palpi of the male are 

 as long as the femur of the second legs and 

 are small at the end. This spider lives in 

 houses, around 

 window frames 

 and similar 

 Fig. 287. Asagena places, like bore- 



americana. — Back 



of female enlarged ullS. 

 eight times. 



The ^g^ 

 cocoons are 

 white and hang in the web. 



Asagena americana. — This re- 

 sembles Steatoda, but the abdo- 

 men is longer and flatter, and 

 the whole appearance more like 

 some of the Drassidae. Like 

 Steatoda, it is usually found 

 with its web under stones. It 

 is about a sixth of an inch long. 

 The cephalothorax is dark red- 

 dish brown, slightly rough in the 

 females and with sharp points 

 along the sides in the males. 

 The legs are yellow brown and Figs. 288, 289, 290, 291. Latrodectus mac- 



tans. — 288, female enlarged twice. 289, 

 m the males have two rows of under side of abdomen. 290, back of 



small teeth under each femur. abdomen of young female with four red 



spots. 291, markmgs of abdomen of male. 



They are stout, as in Steatoda 



marmoi'ata, and differ little in length. The abdomen is oval 



and dark brown in color, with two white spots across the 



