l62 THE COMMOxX SPIDERS 



Epeira sclopetaria has a nest in a convenient situation, he will 

 make the web near it and have a thread direct from the nest to 

 the center of the web, as is the usual habit in some other 

 species. The eggs of sclopetaria are laid in the early summer 



Fig. 386. Egg cocoon of Epeira sclopetaria under the edge of a clapboard. 

 Natural size. 



in large, round, white cocoons (fig. 386). fastened in sheltered 

 places on the walls of houses and covered with a loose mass 

 of silk threads. 



The Annulate Epeiras. — E. angulata (fig. 389), silvatica 

 (fig. 390), Hordmaniii (fig. 387), cinerca (fig. 391), and corti- 

 caria (fig. 392) all have the humps on the front of the abdo- 

 men, and in young spiders this is the widest part. Angulata, 

 silvatica, and cinerca grow to a large size. Cinerca is light 

 colored and lives in great numbers about houses and barns 

 in northern New England. Angnlata and silvatica are found 

 amons: trees and are dark colored like bark. Anzulata has a 



