108 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 
47, but I have usually been able to determine it, when found without an 
occupant, by the following features: The sheeted hub is not as large and the 
tissue is not as thick, indeed it is sometimes expressed by only a faint puff, 
or simply by a serrated or nodulated cord, as at Fig. 99, i. In short, a well 
defined shield seems to be a permanent characteristic of the Basket Argiope’s 
orb, while Banded Argiope rather inclines to omit it or express it by zigzag 
cords. These cords are often thrown in ares around the hub as at Fig. 99, 
ii and iii, and give a pretty and striking effect to the web. However, I must 
confess that my confidence in these distinctions is not very great; and to 
the untrained observer the differences between the two webs would hardly 
be apparent. 
It is significant, as illustrating the community and persistence of habit 
in a genus, however widely separated, that a spider (Epeira mauritia Walck.) 
closely allied to our Argiope 
argyraspis is found in the is- 
lands of Mauritia, 
ao Réunion, and Mada- 
gener. gascar (Africa), with 
precisely the same 
habits. Vinson! describes the 
snare of this aranead with its 
peculiar zigzag decorations, 
with the X-like position of 
the legs as she hangs upon 
her snare, and the cocoon in 
its site, in language which 
might be used with equal pro- 
priety of Argyraspis. With 
slight change the figure of the 
African Argiope as given by 
Vinson might stand for a draw- 
ing of our American species. 
A third species of Argiope, which appears to be the Argiope argentata? 
P of Koch, is found abundantly in the extreme Southwest of the 
Argiop® Jnited States. I have many specimens from Southern Califor- 
argen- : : Se Ale far : 
pate nia, where it abounds, spinning its large, beautiful webs eyery- 
where in the neighborhood of San Diego. It extends southward 
through Mexico, is widely distributed thoughout the states of South Amer- 
Fic. 100. A snare of Argiope argenteola. 
1 Araneides des Isles Réunion, &c., page XIII., 198, and Plate VIII., Fig. 2. 
2 Argiope argentatus, Koch, “Die Arachniden,” t. 5, page 38, pl. 154, Fig. 360. Also 
A. fenestrinus, id., Fig. 155. The Epeira argentie (KE. argentata) of Walckenaer, figured 
Pl. 18, Fig. 3, Atlas, Apterés, is with little doubt the same spider or a close variety 
thereof. Vol. IL., Apterés, page 115. I first introduced this species to the Philadelphia Acad. 
Nat. Sci. as new under the name of Argiope argenteola. It is possible that the spider will be 
found specifically different from A. argenta when specimens can be had for comparison. 
