KEY TO FAMILIES OF SPIDERS. 247 



low plants, occasionally seen running across sidewalks; 

 quick in movements. Most of them brightly colored, 

 colors change when spider is wet. Body short and 

 stout; cephalo-thorax large, wide in front. Eyes eight, 

 in three rows, middle two of first much the largest; two 

 eyes of second row very small; two eyes of third row far 

 back on head. Length of legs varies with different 

 species, often front pair longest; feet with two claws and 

 thick brush; walk backward or sidewise. Make no webs, 

 but a tube or bag to hibernate in. 



Lycosidae. — Running Spiders ; our commonest spiders ; 

 live near ground; do not hide. Colors black and 

 white or colors of ground, stones, or leaves, sometimes 

 uniformly arranged, sometimes in patterns. Fourth pair 

 of legs longest ; spines on legs long, stand out in running ; 

 feet with three claws, under claw small and covered by 

 hairs. Eyes in three rows, four eyes in the lowest row, 

 two big eyes in the middle row, and two small eyes farther 

 back and wider apart for the third row. Body long in 

 most species; head high; abdomen about the width of 

 the cephalo-thorax, and as thick as wide. 



Agalenidse. — Larger ones make flat webs common on 

 grass, horizontally, and in comers of barns and cellars. 

 Head large and marked off from thorax by shallow 

 grooves, contracted behind eyes. Mandibles large, swol- 

 len at base (female). Eyes like Drassidae. Upper spin- 

 nerets longest. Feet with three claws and a brush. 

 Males have longer legs, smaller abdomen. Palpi large 

 and complicated. 



Therididae. — Loose irregular webs, no flat sheet, but a 

 loose tent in which the spider stands; in upper room- 

 comers, on fences, between rocks, on leaves and branches 

 of low trees. Body small, soft, light-colored; abdomen 



