THE EPEIRID/E 



179 



41^ 



Figs. 416, 417, 418. Markings of the 

 abdomen of Epeira parvula, en- 

 larged twice. 



Epeira parvula. — A common spider all over the country, with 

 the abdomen wide in front and bluntly pointed behind, gray 

 and brown colors and a great variety of markings. The length 

 is quarter to three-eighths of an 

 inch, with the abdomen two-thirds 

 as long and as wide across the 

 front. The abdomen is as high 

 behind as it is in front, and the 

 pointed end is sometimes turned a 

 little upward, as it is in conica. The 

 front of the head is narrow, not more than half as wide as the 

 back of the thorax. The front legs are half longer than the 

 body. The cephalothorax is gray, darker at the sides, and 

 sometimes with a few black spots. The legs are irregularly 

 marked with rings and spots, and the femora are dark toward 

 the end. The abdomen is commonly gray, with a tapering 

 scalloped middle stripe and a distinct dark middle spot and 

 two large light spots at the front end (fig. 416). Sometimes 

 there is a middle narrow dark stripe 

 ^ the whole length of the abdomen (fig. 

 418), and sometimes all the middle is 

 white or light yellow. The males have 

 the head a little narrower and more 

 pointed, the legs longer, and the second 

 tibiae slightly thickened, but not curved. 

 The webs are in low bushes. 



Epeira stellata. — A brown spider, a 

 quarter to a third of an inch long and 

 nearly as broad, with pointed humps 

 around the abdomen. The cephalotho- 

 rax is wide in front, and the lateral eyes are on the outer sharp 

 corners. The legs are short and usually drawn up and partly 

 concealed under the abdomen. The abdomen has a sharp point 



Fig. 419. Epeira stellata, 

 enlarged four times. 



