THE LINYPHIAD^ 



139 



communis. — 323, back 

 of female enlarged eight 

 times. 324, profile of 

 male. 



dark brown. The male is smaller than the female, with the 

 head higher and the abdomen narrower. The palpi of the 

 male are unusually small for the genus (fig. 324). The web of 

 cointniinis (fig. 322) consists of a horizontal sheet, convex below 

 and supported by threads above. Below this, about an inch 

 distant, is another sheet of web. Insects flying between the 

 upper threads fall down to the sheet below and are taken 

 through by the spider, as they 

 are in the dome of marginata. 



Lin3rphia mandibulata. — A little 

 larger than L. com^nunis and 

 marginata, with the head longer 

 and more distinct from the Figs. 323, 324. Linyphia 

 thorax, and the abdomen larger 

 and flattened on the top (figs. 

 326, 327). The length is about 

 a sixth of an inch. The cephalothorax is dark 

 orange brown, and the legs a lighter shade of the 

 same color. The length of the legs is about as in 

 cotmminis, shorter than viargijiata and pJirygiana. 

 The abdomen is dark brown, often almost black, 

 with several white spots, usually two across the front end and 

 several others around the sides (fig. 326), sometimes forming a 

 complete light stripe around the middle. In the males the 

 abdomen is narrow, and the only markings are usually the two 

 spots on the front end. The cei^halothorax of the male is long 

 and narrow ; the head is extended forward, and the mandibles 

 inclined backward toward the maxillae. The mandibles are 

 more than half as long as the cephalothorax and widened at the 

 ends, with four teeth on the inner corner (fig. 329). On the inner 

 side of the mandibles, near the middle, is a large blunt tooth. 



The webs are flat and near the ground, on short grass and 

 leaves and across little hollows in the sod (fig. 325). The webs 



