DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. a ted 
corselet. The corselet is oval, somewhat longer than wide. It is ordinarily closely furred 
with metallic white hairs, that give it a silvery appearance. The Sternum is somewhat 
longer than wide, and is often marked with prominent sternal cones. The labium and 
maxillee are substantially as in Epeira, though the latter are rather longer than wide. The 
eyes are divided into three groups, usually placed upon decided eminences. The eye rows 
are both procuryed, the anterior row slightly, the posterior row decidedly. The legs are 
in order of length 1, 2, 4, 3; sufficiently stout, armored with hair, bristles, and spines, the 
two terminating joints being usually attenuated in size, and the metatarsal joint of greater 
relative length. The abdomen is commonly longer than wide, cylindrical or subeylindri- 
cal, or a lengthened oval; in some species the dorsal base is marked by shoulder humps, 
in others the posterior margin and sides by tubercles. The colors are brilliant, sometimes 
metallic. The skin is soft and thickly covered with hairs. Some of the largest species of 
both American and exotic spider fauna are found within this genus. The males usually 
differ much from the females, and are relatively small. The orbicular snare is frequently 
decorated with ribbons of white silk, symmetrically arranged. 
No. 71. Argiope cophinaria (Watckrnarr). Plate XV, Figs. 1-6; Pl. XVI, Figs. 5, 6; 
Pl. XVI, Figs. 1, 2. 
| 1837 
Epeira cophinaria, WALcKENAER . Ins. Apt., ii., 109; Appor’s Ga. S., No. 151. 
1837. petra ambitoria, WauckrNArrR . Ins. Apt., ii, p. 112. 
1839. Nephila vestita, Koch... .. Die Arachniden, y., p. 35, pl. 153, Fig. 358. 
1847. Hpeira riparia, Henvz ..... J. B.S, v., 468; Sp. U. S., p. 106, xii., 5. 
1882. <Argiope riparia, McCook . . . . Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., p. 256. 
1884. Argiope riparia, Emerton. . . . N. E. Ep., p. 329. 
1888. Argiope cophinaria, McCook. . . Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila. p. 1; and Amer. 
Spiders and their Spinningwork throughout. 
1889. Argiope cophinaria, Marx. . . . Catalogue Described Aranez, p. 541. 
Fremste: Total length, 20 to 28 mm.; cephalothorax, 11 mm. long, 8 mm. wide; 
abdomen, 18 mm. long, 11 mm. wide. The size of the adult female varies greatly, but the 
above measurement gives one of the largest, although at times a gravid female is found 
with eyen a much larger abdomen. <4 
CrrHALotnHorax: A long oval, thin, flat on top; fosse a deep rounded pit in the centre 
thereof; corselet covered uniformly with grayish or silvery white hairs. A lighter band of 
yellowish hue girdles the margin; the caput is low at the base, flat on top, the skin 
beneath, like that of the corselet, yellowish brown, mottled with yellow, but so thickly 
covered with silvery white hair as to disguise the color thereof. These hairs extend to the 
eyes, and entirely encompass the forehead surrounding the upper part of the eyes. Sternum 
shield shape, much wider at the base, and pointed at the apex; strong sternal cones, a 
particularly large one at the apex; flattened in the middle; color dark brown to blackish, 
with a broad bright: yellow median band the entire length; covered, particularly at the 
margins, with white pubescence, intermingled with long, dark, spinous bristles. Labium 
subtriangular, less than half the height of the maxille, which are gibbous, somewhat 
longer than wide, brown, with yellowish tips, and provided with strong, black, curved 
bristles, 
Eyes; Ocular quad on a squarish elevation, which much projects in front, the rear eyes 
at the base thereof; length much greater than width, the front narrower than rear; eyes 
not greatly different in size, but MF are somewhat larger, situated on triangular projections 
from the corner of the quad; separated by about 2.5 diameter; MR separated by 1.5 to 2. 
Side eyes on strong black tubercles, separated by about one diameter of SR, which is 
slightly larger than SF; the space between SF and MF is about 1.3 the area of the latter, 
or not more than 1.5 the separating space; the distance between SR and MR is 1.8 to 1.5 
times greater than that which separates SF and MF; the clypeus is rather high, the margin 
