40 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
Remarks. This species, the Dolomedes fontanus of 
Emerton, is clearly figured by Hentz: It is the only species of the 
genus with the abdomen marked with transverse, W-shaped, white 
lines although this pattern is approximated by D. tenebrosus. 
The markings of the cephalothorax are likewise distinctive, being 
much more prominently developed than in the related species. Hentz 
specimens, taken in March, were immature and on such individuals 
the wedge-shaped patches of dark hair on the cephalothorax are 
often indistinct (obsolete) ; even mature specimens when rubbed 
lose these spots. [Emerton (1885) correctly figured the male palpus 
under the name D. fontanus; he described the female and fig- 
ured the epigynum as that of D. tenebrosus but later (1909) 
he called attention to the error and corrected it. Montgomery 
(1902) described the female under the name D. urinator and 
from the several specimens of both species before him selected one 
of D. urinator to figure the epigynum. Banks (1892) records 
the species from Ithaca but in his revision he states that his speci- 
mens were the young of D. tenebrosus. ‘These specimens 
are in the Cornell collection and are typically marked specimens of 
D. scriptus. Banks (1891) pointed to the right determination 
of the species when he wrote: “ What I feel sure is D. scriptus 
H. has the epigynum as figured by Emerton (1885) for D. tene- 
brosus.” 
Habits. Dolomedes scriptus is the commonest species 
of the genus in the north. The hundred or more specimens col- 
lected were all found in the vicinity of water where they fre- 
quent old docks and boathouses or hide beneath stones and rub- 
bish along the shores of ponds, lakes or streams. The females 
are most easily found and captured when burdened with their egg 
sacs or guarding the young in the nurseries; at such times they — 
seldom try to escape and attack vigorously anything thrust within 
reach. The males reach maturity a month or so before the females, 
which are ready to mate about July Ist in the latitude of New York. 
In August the egg sacs are made and carried about in the chelicera 
until the young are ready to emerge; the sac is then attached to 
a convenient weed top or fastened to the side of a rock crevice be- 
tween the strands that compose the nursery. The young moult at 
least once within the sac, escape through an opening at the bottom 
made by the mother, and shortly after moult again. For several 
days they may remain clustered about the deserted sac but if dis- 
turbed, they flow out along the strands of the nursery like a puff 
of smoke, a protective reaction to reduce mortality when attacked. 
