200 



THE COMMON SPIDERS 



vertical, according to the place where they are made (fig. 459). 

 The inner spiral is small and has a hole in the middle (fig. 460). 

 The spider stands in the web with the legs extended forward 



and backward close to each 

 other, except at the ends, 

 where they are turned out- 

 ward (fig. 459). On account 

 of their similar size and color, 

 the species look at first sight 

 much alike, but there are dif- 

 ferences in the arrangement 

 of the lateral eyes and the 

 length of the legs, palpi, and 

 mandibles. 



Tetragnatha grallator . — This 

 spider grows to be half an 

 inch long, with the first legs 

 an inch and a half. The 

 mandibles of the female are 

 as long as the cephalothorax, 

 and those of the male longer 

 (figs. 461, 465). In both sexes 

 they are inclined forward, so 

 as to be nearly horizontal and 

 spread apart at the ends. The 

 lateral eyes are near together, 

 so that they almost touch, and 

 the upper row when seen from above is nearly straight. The 

 palpi of both sexes are over one and a half times as long as 

 the cephalothorax, and in the males sometimes twice as long 

 (fig. 465). The patella and tibia together are nearly as long 

 as the femur. The color is sometimes light yellow, but 

 often gray, with a broken middle stripe of darker gray on the 



Fig. 458. 



Egg cncdon ot Argiope transversa 

 in marsh grass. 



