282 Hentz's Descriptions of the 
their clay nests from twenty to forty small spiders, to serve as 
food for their progeny. I once counted thirty-eight speci- 
mens of this species extracted from one cell, made by a Try- 
poxylon, and I have found them repeatedly in the nests of 
Sphex cyanea. There may be some difficulty in distinguish- 
ing the male of this species from the male of Theridion vere- 
cundum ; the differences are pointed out in the description of 
that species. The male of this has never been observed with 
a compound palpus ; the last joint was merely greatly enlarged 
as in the plate; but in some specimens the enlargement was 
less remarkable. Can it be that none of the very many speci- 
mens observed by me were not yet adult, and that the com- 
pound parts of the male organ appear only at a certain period ? 
It is possible that the plate representing the male of this must 
be referred to Th. verecundum. 
Habitat. North Carolina, Alabama. 
Tribe III. VENTRICOSJE. Abdomen caudate, subtri- 
angular. 
25. THERIDION ? FICTILIUM. 
Plate X. Fig. 4. , 
Description. Pale silvery on the abdomen above, yellowish 
underneath, with an abbreviated blackish band from the nip- 
ple-like projection, tapering towards the apex. Legs long 
and excessively slender; 1. 4. 2. 3. 
Observations. This spider makes a web like Theridion, 
and remains motionless in an inverted position. The projec- 
tion of the abdomen is capable of bending over nearly double. 
The markings of the male and female are alike. It is closely 
related to T. intentum. 
Habitat. Alabama. July — September. 
26. THERIDION ? PULLULUM. 
Plate X. Fig. 5. 
Description. Animal yellow, with a longitudinal, forked, 
median brown line on the thorax; sides and the central line 
