= al ve » . = s ” a - xd _ 7 ns tet 4.4 ¥ i : Ht i , ae , the Cretseeeen rh fi thee bey . ree x fs ie anoint ye “ie! oie see yh ti » ies " ; 3 i f Pear ti yas horererettih . oy piapeiaretel® ? hy a 4 f 5 ‘ ‘ahs! suite reerstis certetih, ‘ i were ee eyeres ‘i 5 , os ei 4 rigs aH tart tt ere merry th ‘ . { t : 5 ‘ Hh ! 5 ih sn ; G Hc ? j Mat reeeeres “] H 4 fa i ; rit 4 artery 5 PROF. NICHOLAS MARCELLUS HENTZ The Father of American Araneology. AMERICAN SPIDERS AND EVE Rh SIN INTING WyrOii: AcoIN GA UER Adi ees ORY ORBWEAVING SPIDERS OF THE UNITED STATES WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO THEIR INDUSTRY AND HABITS. BY HENRY @* McCOOK, D.D., 19 VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA; PROFESSOR OF ENTOMOLOGY IN THE PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, VOL: LIT. WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF ORBWEAVING SPECIES AND PLATES. PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHTA, A. D. 1893. 47? RE et ee lt AN ALLEN, LANE & SCOTT, MUO S HDLTTON: This Edition is limited to Two HunprEp anp Frrty copies, of which this set is Supscriprion No. la AuTHor’s SIGNATURE, THE PRESS OF PHILADELPHIA, THESE STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY ARE DEDICATED TO THE VENERATED MEMORY OF MY FATHER, JOHN McCOOK, M. D., A LOVER OF NATURE, A FRIEND OF SCIENCE, A GOOD PHYSICIAN, A SERVANT OF HIS FELLOW MEN, WHOSE FAITH IN THE UNSEEN NEVER FALTERED. edad elOday, Wirn profound satisfaction the author gives to the scientific public the third and last volume of a work which has engaged his thoughts for more a) than twenty years. That he has been permitted to finish a labor Finished : s : : : Work. prolonged throughout so great a period, and wrought upon amidst the many duties and burdens of a busy professional career, excites earnest gratitude. The fear that he might not finish his self im- posed task, and thus leave an incomplete work, has caused sore anxiety, especially when, at sundry times, more or less serious illness has commanded pause. Happily this apprehension is now dismissed, and the duty at last ended is herewith submitted to the judgment of fellow workers in and lovers of Natural History. In the first part of the volume six chapters are taken to consider various natural habits and physiological problems for which there was no space in the two previous volumes. These topics are in the line of those cee studies in (Ecology to which the author has heretofore especially ee given his attention. In addition thereto, and forming indeed the bulk of this volume, the second part thereof contains descriptions of many indigenous species of Orbweavers, illustrated by thirty litho- graphic plates, colored by hand from Nature. Most of these plates are of Orbweavers, the group to which the author has given special syste- matic study. But two plates are added, without descriptions attached thereto, of representative species of the other aranead groups, especially of those species whose habits have been presented in the foregoing volumes. This descriptive work has been thought necessary to complete studies which ayowedly chiefly concerned habits and industry. The general forms, colors, and proportions of spiders as they present themselves to an obser- ver’s eye in Nature are important to the accurate understanding of their habits. One cannot appreciate in full the role which these creatures have to play in Nature until he have a just conception of how they look in the midst of the scenes wherein their life energies are spent. For this reason it formed part of the author’s original purpose to present the sub- jects of his study as they appear in natural site, that his readers may have acquaintance not only with their life history but with themselves. Moreover, in studying the habits of spiders it has been necessary to identify the species, and in many cases to describe them. It has seemed (5) — ee EE — 6 PREFACE. proper, therefore, that the work thus done should be preserved to science in connection with the descriptions of the animals’ life history. But the author has to admit that this part of his work grew in his hands far beyond the bounds of his first intent, and finally shaped itself into the resolve to publish descriptions and plates not only of the Orbweavers whose habits he had described, but of all accessible American species of that group. In this matter he has been led along step by step, adding species to species, page to page, and plate to plate, by a desire to make his work yet more and more complete. Working naturalists, at least, will sympathize with and appreciate this fact. This descriptive work has made the closing volume in many respects the most difficult one of the series. To one who has to deal with small animals, scientific description is always a laborious service. Descrip- When it is impossible to mount these animals in any satisfac- oe tory way, as is the case with spiders, and one is compelled to : labor with alcoholic specimens, many of which are minute and mutilated, and often with unique examples in hand which may not be broken up for convenient study, the ordinary difficulties are much in- creased. Nevertheless, the work has not been an unpleasant one; for there is a fascination about studies in classification which every true naturalist has felt. Dry and uninteresting as the details usually are to the general public, to the specialist they have peculiar interest. The comparison of species with species and genus with genus; the task of separating on this side and on that; of solving the numerous problems that are constantly arising, and other duties of a like kind, bring into play some of the most pleasing faculties of the intellect, and contribute largely to the enjoyment of the systematic naturalist. Nevertheless, to one who can only labor at odd hours, and who is thus apt to lose the connection established by long and careful comparisons, the pleasure is much marred. This has been the author’s estate, and will add to the satisfaction which he will feel should it be judged that he has wrought with reasonable accuracy. In this connection it is proper to say that the increased cost of printing text and plates made it necessary two years ago to notify the public that the original price of ten dollars per volume, or thirty dollars Cost of for the entire set, including plates, must be i d to fift the Books, 10" the en , including plates, must be increased to fifty dollars the set. All subscribers at the original price will be served with Volume III. without additional charge, but others must pay the advanced price. The author feels compelled to make this statement here in order to relieve himself from the painful duty of refusing requests, of which some have already come, to sell the work at the first named price. Even at the price now named, subscribers will receive the work at less than its actual cost; a statement which is made not in the way of complaint, for which there is no reason at all; nor to excite sympathy, which is neither required nor desired, but to give a plain and honest reason for a Growth of the Work. PREFACE. 7 change which ought to be explained. For further business notice those interested therein are referred to the advertisement at the close of the book. The most agreeable part of a preface to an author is his acknowledgment for kindly aid rendered by colaborers and friends. First of all, I express my gratitude to Dr. George Marx, of Washington, for the friendly and Personal . . ; ects! valuable service which he has given me throughout many years. With a rare generosity and singleness of eye to the advancement of science, he placed at my disposal the Orbweavers in his notable collection. Not only so, but on all occasions he has cheerfully and freely given me the benefit of his advice and judgment. He has thus laid under lasting obliga- tion, not only the author, but all who are interested in his work. I have also to thank others, in different parts of the country, who have contributed specimens and information. Among these are Professor and Mrs. George W. Peckham, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose joint studies of the Attidee have given to Araneology some of its most attractive and valuable chapters. Messrs. Oreutt, Davidson, and Blaisdell, and the late Mr. John Curtis, of California; Miss Rosa Smith, now Mrs. Eigenmann, and her mother, Mrs. Louisa Smith, of San Diego, California; Professor Orson Howard, of Utah, Mr. Thomas Gentry, of Philadelphia, and Messrs. Charles H. Townsend and Nathan Banks, of Washington, have contributed material that has entered into this work. Among European naturalists I am indebted to Mr. F. M. Campbell, of Herts, England, for many courtesies; Mr. Thomas Workman, of Belfast, Ireland, and Mr. Frederick Enock, of London, have sent me specimens. To Professor Waldemar Wagner, of Moscow, Russia, and Mr. Eugene Simon, of Paris, I am especially indebted for copies of their valu- able papers and books, and for permission to engrave and use some of the figures with which they are illustrated. To the veteran araneologist, Pro- fessor Tamerlane Thorell, whom I gladly acknowledge as “ magister,” I am indebted for advice from time to time rendered. I add an expression of my obligations to one who, unhappily for the in- terests of Science, no longer lives to prosecute his faithful and distinguished labors, the late Count Keyserling, of Germany. His descriptions of American Spiders have been of great service in determining indigenous species, and many specimens personally examined and identified by -him have passed through my hands in the course of these studies. The posthumous volume of his noble work, “ Die Spinnen Amerikas,” Part IV., edited by Dr. Marx, and which relates to the Epeiride, was not issued until a large part of my descriptions were already in print. For this reason some species here appear as new which are described by him in his last work, and have priority, inasmuch as their publication antedates my own. The names, how- ever, are the same, inasmuch as the specific titles given in litteris by Count Keyserling to the examples in Dr. Marx’ collection haye been preserved by me. These discrepancies I have corrected as far as possible in the plate titles. 8 PREFACE. I count it a duty as well as a pleasure to place among the number of those entitled to my public thanks the name of Miss Elizabeth F. Bonsall, who has made the original drawings for nearly all the plates contained in the atlas. Her faithful and successful work has not always been correctly reproduced by lithographers and colorists, but for the most part it speaks for itself in the admirable rendering from life of the species which she has figured. As the frontispiece of this volume I have printed a portrait of Professor Nicholas Marcellus Hentz, M. D., who may justly be regarded as the father of American Araneology. John Abbot was indeed before him in the field, and during the early part of this century made per- sonal studies in South Carolina and Georgia of our American spider fauna. The results of these studies remain in the descriptions of Walckenaer and in the beautiful manuscript drawings now preserved in the Library of the British Museum of Natural History in Kensington, London, and to which fuller reference is made in the pages which follow. Some interesting notes upon the life of Professor Hentz, written by the late Mr. Edward Burgess, may be found in the preface to “The Spiders of the United States,” published by the Boston Society of Natural History. I am indebted to Professor Henshaw, the Secretary of that Society, for a photograph of the likeness from which the phototype plate of Professor Hentz has been made. It has been reproduced as faithfully as the age and condition of the original photograph would allow. 5 In reviewing this book it falls out as a matter of course that I note imper- fections therein. Most of these, it may be said in all fairness, are due to the peculiar circumstances under which the work has been wrought. Some of the plates were finished, printed, and even colored, awaiting their place in the volume, as many as ten years ago. In the progress of study my views of certain species were modified, thus compelling some modification of the printed results. But this, as expressed in the plates, could not be done without rejecting and remaking the plates, a loss I did not feel it necessary to bear. Corrections and modifications have therefore been made in the text and in the plate descriptions, and no practical disadvantage need be felt by the student. Moreover, the detached manner in which all my work has been done, taking an hour here and there, or a week or so from a summer vacation, and the inabil- ity, because of professional obligations, to give close and connected over- sight to the work of artists, lithographers, copyists, and colorists has resulted in some blunders which have indeed been easily corrected in the text, and would attract but little attention from the ordinary observer, but which none the less to an author are a blemish upon his work. Nevertheless, the author has at least the satisfaction of believing that he has honestly, faithfully, and impartially endeavored to meet every ques- tion, whether in the life habits or classification of spiders, to which he has Professor Hentz. Errors and Blemishes. PREFACE. 9 directed his attention. He indulges the hope that he may at least have cleared the way for others to follow, in a field where the difficulties are undeniably great, but where the rewards to an earnest seeker The after Nature’s secret ways are abundant. They are had not only Creator’s . nee . : , Works, » 12 the gratification of such pleasant toil, and in the conscious- ness of having added to human knowledge and enjoyment, but in the higher satisfaction of having contributed somewhat to man’s knowl- edge of the works of his Creator. The author would count himself faithless to truth as well as to duty were he not to add that the last named consideration has been to him a continuous stimulus and support. He believes thoroughly in Author’s that view of Divine Providence taught him by beloved parents Chief : - ; ; ; Bs by : MiGive, 2 his childhood which makes it to be God’s “most wise and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions.” The smallest creatures and the lowliest adventures of their humble lives are within the care of the Good Father of all, the Lord of spiders as well as the God of men. To bring all knowledge uncovered from the secret places of the natural world, and lay it devoutly before the world’s Creator as a tribute of worship and a token of spiritual fellowship, has been the chief motive which has urged the author to, has guided him through, and sustained him in, this work of twenty years, now happily ended. Ei CEMct: THe Mansre, PHILADELPHIA, JuLy 3d, A. D. 1894. aD OF CON TENES ORV Oriw Mir; bl PART I—GENERAL HABITS, BIOLOGICAL MISCELLANY, AND ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. CHAPTER I. TOILET, DRINKING, BURROWING, AND SOCIAL HABITS. Toilet Habits of Spiders—Toilet Implements—Hair Dressing the Feet—Combing ag Washing the Head—Tarantula’s Toilet—Toilet Habits compared with Ants— Argiope Cleansing her Feet—Tidy Housekeeping—Clearing away Rubbish—Fating the Web—Penalty of Untidiness—Shamrock Spider—Purseweb Spider—Drinking Habits—Tarantula Drinking—Zillas Drinking—Feeding Habits—Dolomedes—Water Habits—Rafting Spiders—Long Submergence—Burrowing Methods—Lycosa Ti- grina—Maternal Ingenuity—Lycosa—Turret Spider's Building—Flinging Dirt Pellets —Secretiveness— Tunnel of Atypus—Tunnels of Mygalidee— Tarantula Digging her Burrow —Carrying Dirt—California Trapdoor Spiders— Repairing Doors—Branch Nests—Site Mimicry of Cteniza Californica—Tarantula opifex— Professor Wagner, of Moscow— Trapdoor Making Lycosid —Territelarian Archi- tecture—Lycosid Architecture—Comparative Views of Industrial Habits—Young Spiders—Baby Communities—M. Eugene Simon’s Discoyeries—Incubating Nest— Sociable Epeiras—Cocooning suspends Pugnacity—Mothers with many Cocoons— Social Theridioids—Tenting Commons of Spiderlings—Uloborus Republicanus— Guarding Cocoons—Orbweaving Neighborhoods—Gregarious Saltigrades. . . . . 15-48 CHAPTER II. MEMORY, MIMICRY, AND PARASITISM, Intelligence and Memory—Cotton Utilized for Doors—Turret Spiders—Memory of Epeira Trifolium—Sense of Location—Insect Memory—Color Mimicry—Mimicry of Bird Excreta—Ornithoscatoides decipiens of Cambridge—Anthropomorphism— Evolution of Mimicry—Method of Ovipositing—A Parasitic Larva—John L. Curtis—The Dictyna Parasite—Parasite on Epeira strix—Parasites in Cocoons— Egg Parasites—Mr. Howard’s Studies of Hymenopterous Parasites—Table of Para- sites and Patasitized Spiders—Generalizations—Relations of Spinning Habits to Parasitism—Cocooning Habit and Parasitism .... . He Ate fc ake. 16 Sok fo 44-62 CHAPTER III. BIOLOGICAL MISCELLANY. Spider Enemies—Wasps Pursuing Spiders—Tube Making Orbweavers—Sitting in the Hub—Fish Killing Spiders—Counterpoise in Web Weaying—Spider Poison—Pro- fessor Bertkau’s Experience—Tigrina’s Courtship—Mending Snares—Nocturnal and Diurnal Spiders—A Wind Wrecked Web—Mending Foundation Lines—Patching Tubeweavers—Trapdoor Spiders—Intelligence in Locating Nest—Mode of Enter- ing Nest—Mimicry of Site—The Tarantula Hawk—Enemies Influencing Architec- ture—Mimicry—Baby Spiders. ........ Rowe ts aN Guy aah Paece octet Mare WOO 10. 12 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. WEATHER PROGNOSTICATIONS, SUNDRY SUPERSTITIONS, COMMERCIAL VALUE OF SPIDER SILK. PAGES Weather Prognostication—Stories and Traditions —The Popular Notion— Notes of Weather and Webs—Orbweavers no Weather Prophets—Spider Superstitions— Money Spinners—Luck in Seeing Spiders—Spider Silk in Industrial Art—Sources of Spider Silk—M. Bon’s Pioneer Attempts—Reaumur’s Results—Abbe Termeyer’s Experiments—Reeling Silk from Spiders—Professor Wilder's Experiments—Nephila as a Silk Producer—An Englishman’s Attempt .......--++++++++-5 77-89 CHAPTER V. MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. Moulting of Young—Cannibalism—Young Epeiras—Mode of Moulting—Baby Congre- gations — Young Turret Spiders— Young Dolomedes — Theridioids — Manner of Moulting — Orbweavers’ Moulting—After the Moult— Argiope’s Moulting—Liny- phia—Medicinal Spider—Lycosids—Tarantula—Periodicity of Moulting—Modifying Agents—Effect of Insect Stings—Protective Habits—Facility in Moulting—Moulting Dangers—Limbs Lost in Moulting—Effect of Nourishment—Color Changes—Change in Males—Peckham’s Studies of Attidee—Laterigrades—Change in Tarantulas— Summary — Periodicity of Moulting— Physiological Moulting Changes— Forming New Skin—Professor Wagner’s Studies—Blood—Moulting of Hairs—Origin of New Hairs—Poison Gland—Abdominal Muscles—Legs—Spinning Organs—Summary . . 90-115 CHAPTER VI. REGENERATION OF LOST ORGANS AND ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. Renewal of Lost Organs—Dr. Heineken’s Observations—Wagner’s Work—Lost Limbs— Imperfect Reproduction—The Huntsman Spider—Periodicity of Regeneration— Atrophy of Old Tissues—Formation of Cicatrix—Red Blood Cells—Atrophy of Muscles—Origin and Development of a New Leg—Origin of Hairs—Anatomical Nomenclature—The Eyes—Cephalothorax—Abdomen—Epigynum and Parts—Use of Male Palps—Cymbium—Alveolus—Hematodocha—Receptaculum seminis—Blood DUCES pact tau ce ee eremicneo) eacpa = eric ten tone) cee fot oP Nain ol eraee (cern aie CRS 116-131 PART II—DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. Orbitelariz Defined—Habits and Classification—The Name of the Order—Aranee— Changes in Nomenclature—Law of Priority—The Abbot Manuscripts—Influence on the Hentzian Names—Description of Genera and Species—Epeira—Marxia— Ordgarius — Verrucosa — Kaira — Wagneria — Wixia — Carepalxis — Gea — Gastera- cantha—Acrosoma—Cercidia—A rgiope—Cyclosa—Cyrtophora— Zilla—Singa—Argyro- epeira—A bbotia—Larinia—Drexelia—Meta— Nephila—Hentzia —Tetragnatha —Eug- natha—Eucta—Pachygnatha—Uloborus—Hyptiotes —Theridiosoma—Samples, of Ab- bot’s Manuscript Drawings—Theridium—Tubeweavers—A galena—Dictyna—Trapdoor Spiders— Cteniza —Atypus — Misumena —Attoids — Phidippus — Zygobalus—Astia— Citigrades—Lycosa—Pucetia . TABLE OF CONTENTS. 13 PART III.—PLATES AND INDEX. Phototype of Professor N. M. Hentz (from a photograph in possession of the Oia. NEUEN IEHEOAVISCOEN)) « 56 oo FOO nb ooo oe ooo on Frontispiece PAGES GSS. hs Ge datclne stu eO EDR oe Selseciol >, Olid 5. Genny aceot ook Dini oma 278-284 AGW Bansal 6S 2 6o4G Genome 6.090 -0.0 Once more, in alluding to their diversified habits, he says that some species construct among the tiles or thatch of houses dens of closely woven web which resembles fine muslin in texture. From these domiciles they invade the house apartments. Others, according to Mr. Bates, build similar nests in trees.? I believe it will be found that the creatures that burrow in the earth are identical with those which spread sheeted webs among the trees. Numbers of tarantulas come to our port (Phila- delphia) in fruiting vessels, and are often found in the great pendant Atypus. Mygali- dee. 1 Bates’ “The Naturalist on the Amazon,” Vol. II., page 58. 2 Ibid., Vol. I., page 61. 3 Thid., Vol. I., page 106. bo [o) AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. bunches of bananas, to which they had no doubt resorted as a convenient field for capturing prey, and were themselves captured and shipped, hidden away among the clusters of fruit. In the case of the spider ‘“ Leidy,” described in Vol. II., page 428, the only effort made at nest building was a rude burrow which was excavated against one side of the box, and which in the course of time was extended downward to the bottom of the box, and laterally along the bottom either way, thus forming an irregular cavity. Into this it frequently de- scended, dividing its time between the cave and the outside surface. This bur- row was entirely destitute of a silken lining, although oc- casionally the opening at the surface would be overspun with a thin sheet of spin- ningwork. I have seen the same habit in other individuals of the species kept in confinement. The only attempt at a nest ever observed by me has been this burrow, with an occasional sheeted closure, and more rarely a slight silken lining of the interior of the burrow. I believe, therefore, that the popular theory that the tarantula makes a trapdoor like the Cal- ifornia Cteniza is without foundation in fact, and that its ordinary hab- itat is a plain burrow like that made by most Lycosids. The mode of mak- ing the burrow was well observed by me at vari- ous times.! In the act of digging the spider first used the two leg like palps, the digital brushes of which are well adapted for that seryice. Then the two front feet were brought into play to gather up the loose pellets of soil and scrape them into a ball. The first and second pairs of legs then closed up around and under the balled mass, compress- ing it inside the mandibles. (Fig. 10.) When the pellets had thus been gathered and squeezed into a mass, they were held within the extended Fie. 10. A tarantula (Mygale) digging out her burrow. Fic. 11. Tarantula (Mygale) carrying dirt from her burrow. 1 Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1887, page 381. BURROWING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 29 mandibles, the palps in the meantime girdling them at the side and beneath, and so were carried away from the burrow to the dumping ground. (Fig. 11.) I neyer observed any scratching and scraping the dirt backward, in the fashion of a dog digging in a rabbit burrow, which is also the action of bees and wasps when excavating the earth. Always the pellets were de- liberately loosened as I have indicated, squeezed together into a ball and earried off. During the act of digging, and indeed quite habitually during all actions such as eating, etc., tarantula kept her spinnerets curved above the posterior end of the abdomen, while a diverging ray of threads issued therefrom to the surface beneath. WADE, Miss Estelle Thomson, a correspondent of a weekly journal,’ gives an interesting account of the nesting and burrowing habits of the California Trapdoor spider (Cteniza californica), which contains some ob- California servations worthy of a more permanent place and wider circula- Trapdoor |. : 5 ° . auido, tion among araneologists. The spider’s location of her nest 1s carefully planned. It is never made in a hollow, but invariably upon high, dry, sloping knolls so placed that moisture from the winter rains drains off in every direction. This accords with other observations of nesting site communicated to me. A young man in the neighborhood of San Diego made a number of experiments to determine if the occupants of the trapdoor nests would re- _. place the doors of their burrows. He removed as many as sixty Repairing - te A : Dee ae the course of a week, unhinging them at night, marking the site, and going to the nests in the morning to note results. With- out exception the spider completed and hung a new door in the interval. There was, however, a limit to this industry, and a remarkable series of progressive deterioriation in the quality of the successive doors. The sec- ond door was always of coarser fibre than the first, its proportion of silk being smaller. The third was in about equal proportion of silk and earth ; the fourth largely of mud; the fifth of mud, with barely sufficient webbing to coat and hinge it. The sixth was a poor attempt at forming a mud closure without any webbing, and no instance was observed when a single spider completed more than five new doors, with perhaps half of the sixth. One may attribute this behavior either to the natural exhaustion of the spinning material required for replacing such continuous losses, or to the physical exhaustion of the spider, with a strong element of intellectual dis- gust and discouragement over such an unusual series of accidents. Did the spider’s mind at last reach the conclusion that it had come across an ex- perience quite separated from the realm of accidents ; and dimly apprehend 1The Christian Union, New York, May 20th, 1893. 30 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. that she was in conflict with a power beyond that which controls ordinary misfortunes, and which therefore it was quite useless to further oppose? Another experiment with interesting results was the fastening of the trapdoor with a pin or peg into the adjacent soil, so as to prevent exit therefrom. Invariably when this was done in the evening, a little side branch was excavated over night, with an opening at the nearest point to the original mouth of the tube, and a new door hung upon it. It is possible that some of the various nests, first described by Mr. Moggridge? as branched nests, may have been due to accidental stoppage of doors. It has been supposed that spiders created these branches as a refuge from enemies, or perhaps from aggressions of the elements. Miss Thomson’s record would indicate that the branch tube is simply a natural effort of the spider to provide an exit from her burrow whenever the ordinary mode of departure has been prevented. The curious thing about it, perhaps, is that the inmate did not attempt to burrow out the obstructed door, instead of taking the roundabout and more laborious course of making for herself a side exit. What could have caused this peculi- arity of behavior? Can we account for it by the general suspicious tem- per which characterizes spiders, and many other animals, when brought in contact with a new experience? Miss Thomson attributes to Cteniza californica the secretive tendency which naturalists have observed in other Trapdoor spiders. She conceals her abode from observation by causing it to mimic the adjacent site. The door corresponds so closely to the character of the surrounding surface that it is difficult to discover it. If the bank is bare the top of the door is also bare; if the bank is covered with lichens, the spider cuts a crop of minute lichens and glues them with nice judg- ment to the outside of her door, thus disguising the entrance. When one nest is discovered it is comparatively easy to discover two, as they are almost always in pairs, and many times so close that their lids touch when open. The observer does not state whether these contiguous burrows are occupied by the different sexes, and it would be interesting to know the facts in regard to this. When leaving her burrow Cteniza simply allows the door to drop of its own weight. When returning she scampers off at a smart pace for her dwelling, and apparently lifts up the door with the fangs of her mandibles, and as she backs down the burrow allows the trap to fall be- hind her. After the hatching of the eggs from seventy-five to a hundred black- and-green spiderlings will be found occupying the maternal nest. When these are a few weeks old they leave the native burrow, and begin to exca- vate in sunny places minute tubes of their own. Often a dozen such Branch- ing Nests. Site Mim- icry. 1 Harvesting Ants and Trapdoor Spiders. BURROWING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 3 small abodes will be clustered about the old trapdoor. These vary greatly in size, but all are quite perfect in form. The smallest nest measured by Miss Thomson was barely three inches in depth, yet this was fitted with a diminutive circular door no larger than the nail of a lady’s little finger. The largest adult nest measured was twelve inches in depth. IX. Heretofore I haye considered the nesting habits of spiders! and the influence of enemies upon their architecture (Vol. IL., Chapter XIIT.). _ Elsewhere I have tried to trace the relations between the nesting Taren- habits of the two great tribes, Citigrades and Tunnelweavers.? Cua A discovery lately made by Mr. W. A. Wagner, of Moscow, gives new interest to these statements and enables me to com- plete the chain of resemblances pointed out. The connecting link between the industry of the two tribes is found in Mr. Wagner’s Tarentula opi- phex,* a Russian spider of the family Lycosoide.4 The nesting habits of this spider are thus described by Wagner. It was observed in numbers in the Russian province of Orel, and dwells among the tufted vegetation of fallow lands, its principal habitation being fields of wheat and_pota- toes. The species is agile in movement, active in habit, and compara- tively small in size, having a body length of less than one-half inch, ten millimetres. (Figs. 12, 13.) The burrow is not deep, that of the adult usually not exceeding two and a half inches; it is enlarged at the bottom, giving it a bottle shape (Fig. 15); is silk lined throughout, but the lining is extremely thin except toward the entrance; the walls are smooth and more carefully finished than usual with known Lycosids, as, for example, Trochosa singoriensis. But the most remarkable and distinct feature is the covering of the burrow, which is constructed after the well known type of the Trapdoor spiders, Figs. 14, 17, 18. This door consists of a single layer Trapdoor of silk covered externally with a coating of soil, whose pellets making ' ! : Tiycosid, ote bound together by a mesh of threads and spread unequally upon the surface, being much thicker in front than behind. It has the usual shape of the Trapdoor spider’s door, something more than semicircular, or a circular plate cut squarely across the end by which it is hinged to the burrow. (See Figs. 17, 18.) Instead of being beveled along the edge like the door of our Cteniza californica, and thus fitting into the burrow like a cork into a bottle, it rests when closed upon the surface edge of the burrow like a basket lid upon a basket. The front, or entrance end, projects beyond the burrow (Figs. 15, 16), making a sort 2 Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1887, Philadelphia, page 377, sq. 8 Opifex ? * Bulletin Soc. Imper. des Naturalistes de Moscow, No. 4, 1890. AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. Nesting Architecture of Tarentula opifex. (After Wagner.) Fic, 12. Female. Fra. 13. Male. Fie. 14. Watching for prey at the bottom of its burrow, the door partly raised. Frc. 15. Section view of the burrow, showing its bottle shape. Fic. 16. Side view in outline of door and throat of burrow; s, silk lining of same; h, hinge of silk; cr, crest of the door in front; p, portico of same; sw, silkep walls. F1G. 17. Outside of door from above. Fig. 18. Inside of door, silk lined. Fic. 19. Grouping of eyes. Se) oe) BURROWING HABITS OF SPIDERS. of portico for the spider when it is on guard. (Fig. 14.) The silk lining of the walls of the burrow (Fig. 16, sw) is continued along one side of the under surface (s) of the door by a thickened ribbon of silk (h), which serves the purpose of a hinge upon which the lid turns when it opens and shuts; its motion backward, however, is limited, for if one tries to bend it beyond the vertical the hinge is fractured. It will be seen from the section view of the upper part of the burrow (Figs. 15, 16) that the lid is much thickened toward the front, forming a crest (er), while the hinder part next the hinge has only a thin ree Lid coat of soil. This arrangement, Mr. Wagner points out, serves to Hinge bear down the free end of the lid, and closes it rapidly and tightly when the spider enters or goes forth; it has, in fact, the advan- tage of the strong and elastic hinge of the Trapdoor spider’s nest, which unites with the gravity of the door to bring it down into the burrow’s mouth. Some time before sunset, and probably during the day, Tarentula opifex may be seen on guard at the mouth of its den (Fig. 14) ; its head and fore COMPARATIVE VIEW OF TERRITELARIAN ARCHITECTURE. Fic. 20. Simple burrow (Mygale), unlined or lined only at top. Fic. 21. Purseweb spider’s tubular nest supported on trees; burrow sparsely lined, covered with sand, wood, and mould. Fic. 22. Atypus piceus; low hung tubular nest without opening, covered with vegetable miscellany. 1G. 23. Silken rial tower, Leptopelma elongata. Fic. 24. Conglomerate tower, doorless. Fic. 25. Conglomerate tower, with wafer lid. Fic. 26. Burrow, with lid at the surface; silken lining. Fic. 27. Thick door, many layers, beveled edge, burrow completely lined with heavy silk. legs are then thrust over the margin of the door, which hangs ajar, and is supported upon the head and back. Here it will remain for a while as though on sentry duty until it ventures forth in search of prey. It is only when thus awaiting at its partly open door that it can be well seen; at the least movement of the observer or at sight of his approach the spider plunges into its burrow, the lid drops heavily, being borne down by the mass of soil accumulated at the crest (cr), and when closed it so closely resembles the surrounding surface that it is nearly impossible to discover it. Here, now, is the one link which was wanting to entirely connect the architecture of the Lycosids with that of the Tunnelweavers, and complete that resemblance which I had pointed out. The series as thus completed may be arranged as represented at Figs. 20-32. Mr. Wagner has referred to the general likeness between the nest of his Opifex and that of the typical Trapdoor spiders, Nemesia or Cteniza, but has dwelt even more upon 3 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. the differences. He calls attention to the fact that Cteniza’s door consists of a series of superimposed layers of silk and mud, amounting sometimes to thirty,! is thick, of equal width, and beveled at the edge; while Opifex makes a thin door composed of a single layer of silk and soil, much thicker in front, and with unbeyeled edge. The hinge of the former is also tough and elastic, while the latter is feeble and with little elasticity. All this is true, but Mr. Wagner appears to have lost sight of the fact that the Ter- ritelaria embrace many species besides Nemesia and Cteniza whose indus- try is greatly varied in form, and furnishes examples much nearer that of Wagner’s species than the one with which he compares it. Moggridge has called attention to these in that form of trapdoor which he calls the “wafer” type as distinguished from the “cork” type.2 The latter is the form with which alone Mr. Wagner appears to have been familiar, while the former more closely resembles his own interesting discovery. The eminent French araneologist, M. Eugene Simon, has added greatly to our knowledge of these aranead architects, and I have quoted freely® rng COMPARATIVE VIEW OF LycOsID ARCHITECTURE. Fic. 28. Lycosa scutulata, simple burrow in the ground; a temporary closure for moulting and cocoon- ing. Fic. 29. Funnel shaped tube of silk, more or less supported and disguised by vegetable foliage and debris; Lycosa tigrina. Fic. 30. Turret of silk protected by armor of twigs or grass bits; Lycosa arenicola. Fic. 31. Vestibule of silk, armored with moss, etc., with a rude door, Lycosa tigrina. Fic. 32. Silk lined burrow, with wafer trapdoor at surface; Tarentula opifex. i. from his papers and given a number of illustrations exhibiting the appar- ent development of this peculiar industry, from the mere straight burrow to the beautiful silk lined tube of Cteniza, crowned with its admirable hinged trapdoor. In this series is one, the nest of Stothis astuta,4 a South American species, which in its general characteristics resembles that of Wagner’s Basketlid spider. The same wafer door is found upon the nest of another species, Dolichoscaptus Latastei Simon, which builds a columnar turret covered with a movable lid. We are thus able to construct a double comparative series of nests, one from the Lycosids, the other from the Ter- ritelarize, which will show the following facts: First, a progressive advance- ment from the simple tubular burrow in the ground to a silken lined bur- row covered by a hinged lid. Second, the various stages of the two series TSee Vol. Il. of this work, page 249 and Fig. 264. “Vol. II., page 412, Figs. 347-349. *“Tarvesting Ants and Trapdoor Spiders.” ° Vol. IL., page 411, Fig. 346. ‘See Vol. II. of his work, page 409, sq. SOCIAL HABITS OF SPIDERS. 35 on the one hand correspond generally with the several stages on the other. Third, on the whole, the mechanical skill of the Tunnelweavers gives a more finished product. Fourth, progression in both series is from an equally primitive habitat upward to the most complex and complete, thus making the two series entirely independent, and not the one a continuation of and development from the other. I am quite aware that this language is analogical and nothing more, as there is no information in my possession which permits us to think of the Tunnelweavers and their industrial habits as actually developed from the Lycosids (or the reverse) in any sense known to science. Nor is there evidence of improvement in the nesting skill of any single species, within which the character of the architecture is persistently unchanged. Nor is there proof of a gradation in the architecture of any species corresponding with the faunal position of the architect. My purpose is simply to point out the marked analogies which present themselves in the study of the architecture of the various species of the two suborders. For a grouping of facts which seem to extend this analogy, as to the essential factor of a tubular web, over the wider field of the entire order Aranez, the reader is referred to my Vol. I., Chapter X VIII. xX. In a preceding volume of this work! I have considered with some de- tail the tendency of spiders to assemble in communities. ‘The observations of Darwin, Azara, and others on what they supposed to be the gregarious or social habits of adult spiders are there noticed, and the opinion expressed that the examples cited were accidental assemblages of individuals held together in close neighborhood by various favorable circumstances, but with individual metes and bounds more or less distinctly marked. Nevertheless, in view of the possibilities of Nature, such a conclusion was held with reservation. I there further show that, in the babyhood of numerous species, spiderlings quite invariably maintain assem- blages, and dwell together peacefully, or at least with few breaches Social Spiders. Baby of fraternity; a state of amity which is maintained until Nature Commu- eee 2 Racin a : : Sree prompts the individuals to a wider individual life, at which time the assemblages are broken up, and the natural solitary habit and ferocity of the order assert themselves. I have often pondered whether this strong habit, fixed upon the early life of spiders, might not have formed a basis for the development, in adult life, of some such companionship, fraternity, and unity as mark the social Hymenoptera, so well illustrated in ants and wasps. It does not at first thought seem strange that a habit so marked in babyhood should be car- ried forward and become permanent in adult character and life. Yet, so 1Vol. II., pages 230-241. 36 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. far as my observations warranted, I could find nothing to justify such con- jecture, and the records examined did not seem sufficiently clear to permit an opposite opinion. Since the issue of my work, however, some remarkable and most inter- esting observations have been published by the eminent araneologist, M. Eugene Simon, of Paris,} which have induced me to review the subject. Be he In a paper pre- Studies, Seuted to the En- tomological Soci- ety of France, February, 1891, he relates and illus- trates the habits of certain so called sociable spiders representing several families, observed by him during his voyage to Venezuela, South America, during the winter and spring of 1887-88. This sociability presented several degrees. It was sometimes temporary and limited to the period of reproduction ; sometimes permanent. In some cases the work exe- cuted was absolutely com- mon and alike for all indi- viduals of the community ; in others, the common work | Bie Aa did not exclude some por- f WY > ~~ tion of individual work. / ¥ ~ With these qualifications he proceeds to classify the so- ciable spiders of Venezuela in three categories. Epeira bandelieri, ordinarily, does not appear to differ in habits from typical Epeiras. Its web is the normal solitary one, but at the time of laying their eggs several females unite and construct in common, upon a bush, a large shell or cocoon ease, of a yellow and woolly tissue, in which they proced to lay their eggs and fabricate their cocoons. (Fig. 33.) These / Fic. 33. Fig. 34. Fic. 33. Common incubating nest of Epeira bandelieri. Fic. 34, A single cocoon. (After Simon.) * Observations Biologiques sur les Arachnides, Soc. Entomol. de France, 1891. By M. Eugene Simon. SOCIAL HABITS OF SPIDERS. on are of a thick fibre, analagous to the cocoons of Argiope,! are rounded upon one face, almost flat upon the other, and attached to the walls of the incubating chamber by a short pedicle. (Fig. 33.) M. Simon had found many of these shells enclosing as high as ten cocoons, and “five or six females sharing together the cares of maternity.” He did not know what might have transpired at the moment of hatching, but thought it probable that the shell would be found at that time filled with a large number of young Epeiras. He had received from Quito another species of the same genus, of which the societies ought to be more numer- ous, if one may judge by the series of cocoons disposed in wreaths, which had been sent to him. But the cocoons of this species are spherical, and tied together by a loose wadding without being enclosed within a case. This last named feature is not uncommon, as may be seen by refer- ence to my observations of cocooning habits.2 There seems to be a de- cided, and in some cases entire, suspension of pugnacity and Sociable Epeira. P nerae ordinary appetite in the females at the time of ovipositing. So city Sus- . : me 5 : ee ea mended: intense are they upon discharging the functions of Nature, and so pressing the necessity which is upon them, that they appear to have no place in their organism for any other passion or appetite, but push straight on, before whatever difficulties or dangers, in the discharge of their maternal duties. At such times they appear quite indifferent to the presence of other spiders engaged in like work; and as it falls out that the same retreats are sought by various mothers of the same or of different species and genera, they often do come together in such places, as, for example, under the canopy of a bit of bark (Fig. 55, Vol. II.), or in the angle of a convenient wall or cornice (Fig. 60, Vol. II.). In such cases, one mother will lay her cocoon close by that of another. The first made cocoon will be overlapped in part by the spinningwork of the second, the second by the third, and so on till a series closely wrapped together may be produced. (Vol. II., Fig. 60.) All this, however, as is manifest, is done without any collusion; it is a fortuitous result, and is wrought by spiders whose solitary habits are undoubted, and therefore it is no proof of sociability. It would be more difficult, however, to explain on such a_ principle the preparation of the silken shell of Epeira bandelieri as described by M. Simon. It certainly does present at first view the seeming ? A aig of an intentional provision, made in common by a number of monIncu-. ,. . sae: . hating individuals, who must have been moved by some common im- Chamber. Pulse which contains some element of sociability. Had the dis- tinguished French naturalist observed the construction of this common enclosure or incubating chamber there would be little room for doubt; but as he appears to reason rather from the specimens as they 1See Vol. II., page 76 of this work. 2 Vol. II., page 85. 38 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. had been collected by him after construction, I can hardly forbear the feeling that even this structure may be accounted for on the same prin- ciple as above, without bringing to bear upon it the theory of a social community. It is a most interesting point which can only be elucidated by future observation. Simon does indeed say that the incubating chamber, with its included ten cocoons, has five or six females who have assumed the duties of mater- nity. Did he observe these in the joint act of constructing the case? If not, did he reach this conclusion by finding the dead bodies of several females enclosed within the chamber along with their cocoons? If he did not observe the actual construction of the outer case, his inference that the enclosed cocoons must have been the work of several females could only have come from the fact that five or six adult females were found inside. In the absence of this definite information one is perhaps justified in suspecting that the cocoons, as described, may have been en- closed by one mother. The number is indeed large as compared with that produced by the ordinary Orbweaver, but by no means peculiar; for, as I have shown,! Cyclosa bifurca produces as many as thirteen cocoons, which are Mothers }ound together by a flossy string. The Basilica spider? encloses with 6 Sane Lee: Ey tae ; any Co- five cocoons within an exterior case of like tissue, which she coons. ‘spins above her snare. Theridium serpentinum* will produce as many as eight cocoons, which are assembled close to one another at the top of her meshed net, and enclosed within thickened walls of spin- ningwork. Yet more striking, perhaps, is the cocoon string of Segestria canities,* which contains as many as twelve cocoons overlapping one another like the tiles upon a roof, and overlaid with a thick sheet of spinningwork, which is further protected by a rude thatch of leaves collected from the bush upon which it hangs. The spider’s tubular home is woyen at one side of her treasures, and the whole is surrounded by an external maze of network supported upon the branches of adjoiming shrubbery. These cases at least demonstrate that the example of spinningwork described by M. Simon might have been the product of one mother’s industry. Whatever may be the truth as to the above point, these two facts are clear, viz., first, that the exhibition of sociability, if Simon’s view be ac- cepted, is limited to a few hours, or at most days. It is an inci- dental characteristic, and does not entitle the species to be called social any more than the fraternal communism of young spiders during the first few days after issuing from the egg. Second, even if the incubating chamber of Epeira bandelieri be the product of joint labor, the fact is only faintly comparable to the highly organized communal indus- Conclu- sions. 1 Vol. II., page 103, Fig. 96. 8 Tbid., page 112, Fig. 108. 2Tbid., page 105, Figs. 98, 99. *Tbid., page 136, Figs. 165, 166. SOCIAL HABITS OF SPIDERS. 39 tries of the social Hymenoptera, and the use of the word “social” in this restricted sense is deceptive. XI. The element of sociability appears to be much more highly developed with a Lineweaver which Mr. Simon describes as Anelosimus socialis, a species belong- Social ing to the fam- Theridi- . 7 sae Baa ily Theridiidee. Many hundreds, perhaps thousands of this species spin a common web, soft and transparent, but of a compact tissue analogous to that woven by Agalena. This snare is of indeterminate form, and sometimes attains im- mense dimensions, even enveloping an entire coffee ~ 4 Pr\ecapiin tree. At first sight it ap- © A hi iM pears more like the spin- NY : NM Xp OBA ningwork of sociable cat- erpillars than of spiders. When one opens the ex- terior envelope he sees that the interior is divided by silken partitions into irregular lodges; within these the spiders freely move about, and upon meeting touch one another, as do ants, with their an- tenne, and sometimes a number of them will be . Fic. 35. Common leafy tent of Anelosimus socialis. seen feeding upon the Fic. 36. Cocoons of same. (After Simon.) same prey. The cocoons are rounded, formed of flocculent wadding of an iron gray color, are with- out pedicles, and are fixed to the common web by threads which form a soft net. Upon this statement and the figure of M. Simon, which I reproduce in Fig. 35, I remark that the phenomenon is explicable by the ordinary habits of young spiders. This I have fully illustrated in Section V,, Chapter VIII, Vol. II. Such an assemblage as there shown (Fig. 251) differs Fie. 35. Fic. 36. i ee al 40 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. from that of Anelosimus socialis simply in extent. The habit of young spiders, immediately after their exit from the cocoon, is to surround them- selves on all sides with a close tissue of just such spinningwork as M. Simon describes. One of the most remarkable of these I have described (Vol. IL, page 227, Fig. 254), where the enclosing tent of the young brood covered a large working table and extended upwards to the ceiling of the room. I have seen some colonies covering a space eight or ten feet in length and four or five in width. I have also observed a large space of a vine or bush enclosed in a similar manner by broods of Epeira, one of which is described in this volume, in the chapter on Moulting Habits. Now, it is only required that the broods of several cocoons, left by mothers in the same neighborhood, should issue at one time, to Tenting produce the results figured by the French savant. These colo- Com- nies would certainly, as I can affirm from observation, unite mons of : oeeacs : be : Snider their spinningwork, while retaining a degree of separation, and lings. so enclose an immense space, overweaving leaves, and uniting the ‘interspaces by a soft but compact fibre, precisely of the sort made by the Venezuela species. I am at a loss to determine from Simon’s language whether he is de- scribing the work of several broods of spiderlings or the work of adult females. It is true that he speaks of the cocoon, and indeed figures it (Fig. 36); but he may have done this from an empty cocoon found in the midst of the colonial tent after abandonment by its inmates, as I have many times found cocoons. Until this point is settled, I feel constrained to say that there is nothing peculiar in this habit of this species, and nothing to justify one in regarding it as more sociable than other Ther- idioid spiders. One fact, indeed, looks in the opposite direction; namely, that the spiders when meeting touch one another after the fashion of ants, who are well known to cross their antennz for purposes of recognition. I have frequently observed & habit similar to this in the case of young spiders while in the period of assemblage immediately after issuing. They do touch each other with their fore paws, and even with their palps; though I should say that the manner is not strictly homologous with that of the ants, but it is only in a general way analogous thereto. If, however, the spiders described by M. Simon as engaged in constructing the tented domicile which he figures, were adult females, and if they have so far sunken their voracious and pugnacious habits as to recognize each other by palpal touch, and thereupon pass by without a hostile attempt, we have, indeed, a most remarkable fact, and one which relates the habits of spiders to those of the highest of the insects, in one of their most in- teresting features. The uses of a spider’s palps are indeed various; but, as far as I know, the above observation stands alone in attributing to those organs such a function. SOCIAL HABITS OF SPIDERS. 41 XII. A third type of assemblage was observed by Mr. Simon in a species of Uloborus (U. republicanus), which is declared to be much more perfect, because it presents at the same time a common snare contributed Uloborus },y all the partners, and an individual snare proper to each one. Republi Many hundreds of this Uloborus live together; they spin between canus. 4 the trees an immense web, formed of a central net quite compact, upon which many individuals of the two sexes hang side by side, but these assemblages are chiefly composed of males. This net is suspended by long threads diverging in all directions, and attached to surrounding objects. In the intervals of the open spaces formed by these large threads other Ulobori hang upon their orbicular snares, in rays and circles, each one of which is occupied by a single individual. One may see from time to time a spider detach itself from the central group, in order to seek among the upper cables a suitable place for the fabrication of its orbicular web. It is the central net that ap- pears to serve as the place of pairing, as far as the observer was able to judge by the quantity of males which were there gath- ered together. There, at least, it is certain that the hatching of the eggs takes place. This ap- pears to occur almost simultane- ously among all the females of AWeMSAine colony. Me that dime Fic. 37. Females Cee eens oe with their the males have disappeared, the females have ceased to spin their regular snares, and hang motionless upon their central net, a few centimetres distant from each other, each one guarding her cocoon. (Fig. 37.) The cocoon itself is most singular in shape, and resembles more a bit of vegetable fibre accidentally fallen upon the snare than the spinningwork of a spider. In its general features it resembles the cocoons of our American Uloborus. (Vol. Il., page 107, Fig. 103.) The habits of this Uloborus differ little in their general characteristics from those of our American species. I haye elsewhere described their tend- ency to hold rather closely to the neighborhood in which they were hatched, so that their snares may be seen in close contiguity. Indeed, other species of Orbweavers have the same tendency; and I have observed a number of small snares of young specimens spun upon the broad sheeted common Guarding Cocoons. 42 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. which had been woven by the brood in their babyhood assemblage. Snares of the Labyrinth spider are often seen thus closely placed, and in point of fact the same may be said of almost all Orbweavers under Orbweav- favoring conditions. I have described an assemblage of Zillas Neigh- whose snares were as closely placed as those of Uloborus repub- borhoods. licanus, the foundation lines thereof being supported by the iron railing and columns upon the footway at the sluice where the waters of Loch Katrine pass down into Loch Achray, in the Trossachs Glen of Scotland. So also with the snares of our most common indig- enous Epeiras, which one may see at times so closely placed along the surface of a stable wall or other favoring site that the founda- tion lines thereof are interblended, on the one side and the other, giving to the casual glance the appearance of a widely distrib- uted colony. Yet, in point of fact, all these are simply examples of the contiguous placing of snares by individuals known to have no particle of social habit, and which are as absolutely distinct as though miles apart. I am constrained to believe that there is no more evi- dence of a really social community, analogous to that established among ants, wasps, and other social Hymenoptera, in the assemblages of U. re- publicanus described by M. Simon, than in the examples which I have thus cited. The assembling of the two sexes upon the outlying threads surrounding the orbicular snares has something more the appearance of friendliness. It would seem, indeed, that here we have an evidence that dividuals are drawn together by some social tendency. Yet even in this fact one can see nothing absolutely conclusive of a really social habit; for it must be remembered that M. Simon notes that most of these individuals, thus found congregated upon the netted suburbs of the true snares, were males, a fact which is quite in accordance with the habits of that sex. I have elsewhere shown (Vol. II., page 21), that as many as three or four males have been observed by me hanging upon the outer precincts of the orb of an Argiope or of Epeira labyrinthea. I am inclined to think that the examples de- scribed by Simon may be thus explained; for although males of Orb- weayers are disposed to quarrel with each other at times, they do also exhibit a remarkable degree of good temper, or at least absence of pug- nacity, when thus waiting at the gates of their lady’s bower. In view of all these observations, which appear to carry the habits of araneads nearer to those of social insects than any yet published, I am compelled to say that further facts are required before we can pronounce the author’s con- clusions to be well established. It is much to be hoped that M. Simon may have the opportunity to reéxamine the facts which he has communi- eated, and thus add the unquestionable solution of this most interesting problem to the brilliant service which he has rendered in that branch of natural science of which he has made himself a master. Not So- cial Com- munities. SOCIAL HABITS OF SPIDERS. 43 Another observation looking in the same direction has been recorded since my work went to press. Rey. O. P. Cambridge! describes a spider of the family Ereside whose nest came under observation in the A Grega- London Zoological Society’s Gardens. It was sent thither by rious Colonel Bowker from Durban to Lord Walsingham, who at Mr. Salti- ‘ eiqieets c : a r pradalin ‘ambridge’s suggestion sent it to the Gardens. The nest con- London, tained from one hundred to one hundred and fifty living indi- viduals of both sexes, some adult, some immature, and remained in their temporary home for some time in an active and thriving state. The nest filled a box two feet long by nine inches wide and five inches deep. No detailed description of the home or habits of the colony is given, but it would appear to have been simply a mass of threads so thickly woven that they formed in places a close tissue something like that which Phidippus opifex (McCook) of California makes for herself on a much smaller scale. (Vol. Il., page 150, Fig. 185.) That this -spider is a social one may be inferred from the above scant description, and Mr. Cambridge’s statement that the species is “unique in its gregarious habits.” He notes that the individuals “appear to devour cockroaches and crickets, tearing them to pieces in concert.” This statement, however, is somewhat neu- tralized by the additional remark that each “carries off his share of the prey, like a pack of hounds breaking up a fox.” It is earnestly to be hoped that detailed notes and drawings of this “family” have been kept by some trustworthy observer in the Zoological Gardens. Such a rare opportunity ought to have yielded data for definitely determining this most interesting problem. 1 Proceed. Zool. Soc., London, 1889, pages 34, 42, pl. ii., Figs. 4 and 5. © EVAsP amiaiiey i MEMORY, MIMICRY, AND PARASITISM. Th. Aw interesting example of the power of spiders to adapt themselves and their industry to circumstances occurred under my observation in the case of a Turret spider, Lycosa arenicola. Wishing to preserve Intelli- a nest to study the life history of its occupant, I carefully took gence and nee 5 A P Memory. UP the sod containing the tube, carrying away with me several inches in depth of the burrow. The upper and lower openings were plugged with cotton to retain the spider during transit. Upon arrival of the nest in Philadelphia the cotton plug guarding the entrance was remoyed, but the other was forgotten, and thus allowed to remain. The nest with the enclosing sod was imbedded in the soil in- side of a tub, and the spider left to work out naturally its industrial instincts. It im- mediately began removing the cotton at the bottom of its burrow, and cast some of it out upon the surface. But finally, guided, apparently by its sense of touch, to the knowledge that the softer fibres of the cotton would be an excellent material with which to line its tube, she put it to that use, and had soon spread a smooth layer over the inner surface and upon the opening. In this manner the interior was padded for about four inches from the summit of the tower downward. It may be taken for granted that this Turret spider for the first time had come in contact with such material as cotton, and had immediately utilized its new experience by substituting the soft fibre for the ordinary silken lining, or rather by adding it thereto. This nest, with the cotton wadding, is represented at Fig. 38. The cotton was distributed quite evenly over the (44) Fic. 38. Cotton lined nest of Turret spider. MEMORY OF SPIDERS. 45 walls of the burrow and tower, and had evidently been beaten down and pushed in after the manner of Lycosids and Agalenads when beating in the spinningwork of their cocoons and the silk lining of their burrows and tubes. Mrs. Treat having learned how this spider, which had been taken from her grounds, had used the cotton, was led to make several experiments. She placed cotton by the side of seventeen burrows, both of the Turret and Tiger spiders, situated upon her lawn, and found eight of the number used the cotton as a lining, but none as artistically as the one above de- scribed. She then went to the edge of a wood, some distance away, and placed cotton by the side of eleven burrows there located. None of the occupants availed themselves of the artificial liming. This seems a curious fact, but the theory which the author uses to account for it, namely, that the individuals upon the lawn must have been descendants of species col- onized from New England in the neighborhood of a cotton manufactory, can hardly be accepted. My recollection is that all these creatures were natives of New Jersey. I am sure at least that the one which wove the cotton lining for me was a native New Jer- seyman, One specimen of those situated upon the lawn not only used the cotton fibre for the lin- ing, but also for a cover or door of its dwell- ing. ‘This door she made smooth on the side, and fastened it firmly down on the outer edge of her wall. (Fig. 39.) She did not make the same use of the cotton that she would of soft moss, which she sometimes uses in building. The fibre of the cot- ton was drawn out and interwoven among the sticks around the upper portion of the tower, and made to take the place of ordinary web work.! I have this nest in my collection and give a drawing thereof, Fig. 39. The use of the cotton is curious and interesting, and remotely suggestive of a door, perhaps. But such use is not clearly shown. ‘These examples suggest no little elasticity of intellect on the part of these spiders, for they were at once able to perceive the usefulness of the new material brought within the range of their experience, and easily adapted it to their special needs in lining the interior of their towers. Were they conscious that such soft, pliable material permitted economy of silk secretion, and could that have been a motive for its use? These facts start a most inter- esting train of reflection and conjecture, and suggest a fruitful field of inquiry and experiment to one who may have both disposition and oppor- tunity to engage therein. A Door of Cotton. Fic. 39. Cotton utilized for a door. 1 My Garden Pets, page 82. 46 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 10 I took a female Epeira trifolium from her nest in order to observe the changes of color. She was kept within a glass vessel for forty-eight hours, and then returned to her old web and placed upon it near Memory the centre. The web was about as when she left it. She paused ee about a half minute, seized the trapline, taking precisely the position and in the exact spot which she had occupied for sev- eral days before. Did she remember her nest after the forty-eight hours’ interval? The same fact as to memory of local snare and nest was tested upon another Trifolium, with the same results, The example above quoted indicates that Epeira trifolium preserved during twenty-four to forty-eight hours a recollection, or at least a perception of some sort, of its old quar- ters within its home nest. Yet stronger examples may be cited of spiders remembering their homes. The Trapdoor spider, for example, that constructs its ingenious hinged door upon a bed of moss or lichen, and then covers the lid with plants precisely like those surrounding it, when it leaves its den and goes out upon excursions for food, and returns without difficulty to its home, certainly has preserved distinct recollection of the location of that home. Again, the Tiger spider makes a burrow underneath beds of moss, erecting over it a vestibule or dome composed of the material everywhere surrounding the spot. From this she sallies forth into the vici- Sense of page, often making wide excursions after prey, and returns of Loca- x i 4 : ‘ s 5 Apa either by day or night to her nest, notwithstanding its general likeness to the environment. This is true of Lycosids generally. The mother Lycosa in the cocooning period oftens erects a cell or cave, underneath a stone or in like positions, which is partly lined with silk, and sometimes has a pretty approach to the surface between the sprays of grass, clover, or other vegetation, as may be seen in Vol. IIL., page 144, Fig. 175, with the nest of Lycosa scutulata.' From this retreat Lycosa will sally forth after food, dragging her egg sac behind her. It may seem a little strange that she should do so, and one might be inclined to think her rather stupid not to leave this treasure at home. Nevertheless, she attaches it to her spinnerets, and carries it with her in all her excursions, and thereby, no doubt, saves it from parasitic and other enemies. Haying secured her food she returns to her cell, and notwithstanding the manner in which it is secreted, finds it without difficulty. So also Saltigrade spiders, and others of like habit, who issue from their silken cells to stalk their prey on walls and trees, appear to find their way to their homes without difficulty. These facts indicate on the part of ’ This species is there erroneously given as Lycosa saccata. MIMICRY OF SPIDERS. 47 these spiders a good memory of the location of their domiciles, and a sense of direction sufficiently developed to bring them upon the return path with accuracy. Of course there is nothing remarkable about this, for such facts are true of the insect world generally. It is known by all bee hunters, and by all keepers of bees, that either the wild or the hive bee will find its way home after a long excursion in search of honey. So also I have frequently observed the mud dauber wasp erecting its clay cell upon a wall or building, making excursions to all points to secure mud for her masonry, and invariably return with her mandible hod full to complete her nidus. The same accuracy of memory, again, is shown when, having finished her nest, she prowls through all the neighbor- hood in search of spiders, winging her course to all points of the com- pass, prying into nooks and crannies and out of the way places, mousing under leaves and diving into flowers, and yet always directing her return course without the slightest hesitation to her mud daub cell. It is need- less to multiply such examples, and I only allude to them to show that in this respect the spider is not peculiar, but is gifted, like other Arthro- pods, with a memory sufficient for all the purposes of its life. Insect Memory. IQUE. Mr. F. M. Webster recently wrote me from the Ohio Agricultural Ex- periment Station (February 17th, 1892) a note which contributes an inter- esting item to the subject of mimicry as discussed Vol. II., Chapter XII, especially under Color Mimicry and Mimicry of Environment, page 367. A spider observed by him had mimicked the white excreta of birds so perfectly as to deceive this thoroughly trained and accurate observer. The color of the spider was whitish, with the dorsal abdominal portion clouded with blackish, exactly resembling a mass of bird droppings. The deception was further carried out by the spider having spun a thin irregular sheet of white web on an elm leaf, in the midst of which it was situated with legs drawn up. At the distance of a few feet the observer was completely deceived; he thought it the excre- ment of a bird until he had the leaf in his hand. The appearance of the semisolid mass within the white splash of semifluid matter was so closely counterfeited, that Mr. Webster says he was truly provoked that such an animal could so befool his eyes after all his years of training. Judging from the general description sent, I infer the species to be our old friend Misumena vatia, so famous both in America and elsewhere for its color mimicry. Mr. Webster’s observation is all the more interesting because of its exact correspondence with one of which he was not informed until I called his attention to it, which has received considerable attention from naturalists. Color Mimicry. 48 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. Mr. Henry O. Forbes relates a similar experience of deception.1 He had been allured into a vain chase after a large stately flitting butterfly (Hestia) through a thicket of Pandanus horridus, when on a bush that obstructed further pursuit he observed one of the Hesperide resting on a leaf upon a splash of bird dropping. He had often observed small Blues at rest on similar spots on the ground, and had wondered what the members of such a refined and beautifully paimted family (Lycenidze) could find to enjoy in food so seemingly incongruous for a butterfly. He approached Mimicry with gentle steps and ready net to see, if possible, how the present Of Sind eee ; : 3 Reece individual was engaged. It permitted him to get quite close, and even to seize it between his fingers. To his surprise, however, part of the body remained behind ; and in adhering, as he thought, to the excreta it recalled an observation of Mr. Wallace’s on certain Coleoptera falling a prey to their inexperience by boring in the bark of trees, in whose exuding gum they became unwittingly entombed. He looked closely at the excreta to find if it were glutinous, and finally touched it with the tip of his finger. To his delighted astonishment he found that his eyes had been most perfectly deceived, and that the excreta was a most artfully colored spider lying on its back, with its feet crossed over and closely adpressed to the body. The appearance of recent bird droppings on a leaf is well known. Its central and denser portion is a pure white chalk like color, streaked here and there with black, and surrounded by a thin border of the Ornitho- dried up more fluid part, which, as the leaf is rarely horizontal, scatoides : 9 = 3 aeons often runs a little way towards the margin. The spider observed by Mr. Forbes, like that seen by Mr. Webster, was pure chalk white in general color, with the lower portions of its first and second pairs of legs and a spot on the head and abdomen jet black.? It had woven on the surface of the leaf, after the fashion of its family, an irregularly shaped web of fine texture, which was drawn up towards the sloping mar- gin of the leaf into a narrow streak, with a slightly thickened termination. This form, as described by Mr. Forbes, was doubtless determined by the concavity of the leaf, and the facility which the slightly turned up edges gave for making good points of adhesion, at the same time leaving a little space between the netted spinningwork and the leaf’s surface over which it was stretched. According to Mr. Forbes, the spider takes its place on its back upon this irregular spinningwork, holding itself in position by means of the spinal armature of the legs thrust underneath the web, and crosses its legs over its thorax. I do not remember to have observed any Thomisoids in this position, but have always seen them crouching with back upward when not using a web. I would suppose that if they used 1 A Naturalist’s Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago, 1885, pages 63, 64. 2 Rey. O. P. Cambridge describes it as Ornithoscatoides decipiens. MIMICRY OF SPIDERS. 49 a snare at all they would rest underneath the same with their backs down- ward toward the leaf, after the fashion of many other spiders. However, Mr. Forbes is so precise in his statement that one feels it necessary to accept it. As thus arranged, he speaks of the whole combination of spider and web as being “so artfully contrived” as to deceive a pair of human eyes intently examining it. This similarity of habit in spiders of the same family, at such widely separated points as Java and the United States, is in itself interesting. It is also interesting to notice that two thoroughly trained observers A Case should have independently named the same rather outre object ofAn- as the one suggested by the spider’s mimicry. Nevertheless, one See is inclined to think that the suggestion of mimicry is a bit phism, 0f anthropomorphism. Because suggested to the mind of the observer, it does not follow that any such deception had been devised by the spider. All the individuals of this family and tribe are in the habit of seeking their prey chiefly upon trees and plants of various sorts, stones, et cetera. They may often be found upon the white or whit- ish gray spots, or upon dried bits of lichen or moss found on plants. In such positions they certainly strongly suggest the idea of intentional mim- icry. However, in point of fact, the combination might have been acci- dental so far as the spider is concerned. In the cases observed by Messrs. Forbes and Webster there appears no reason to infer that so subtle a process as that attributed to the spider could have found lodgment in its mind. At least, if we accept Mr. Forbes’ theory of an artful contrivance, we must conclude that this lowly organized animal could intelligently survey the field, put this and that together, -select certain spots for settlement after determining its own color resemblance to such spots; then deliber- ately proceed to spin a web which, in its general contour, would resemble the particular form which semifluid masses are wont to assume in various positions, according to the inclination of the plane upon which they fall; and then, further, arrange its own body in such relation to the web as to present the appearance of mottled black and gray characteristic Mimicry of bird droppings under like circumstances. The ability for such Improb- d : fe j rae mental processes would undoubtedly establish an order of intellect and powers of observation and reasoning beyond those which we are at present warranted in attributing to a spider. All the facts can be accounted for, and are most naturally accounted for, without introducing a factor so strongly imaginary. I. am disposed to think that the web as described was spun in an ordinary position, in the form habitual to the species, and in such locality as it usually frequents; moreover, that this was done without any intention to perpetrate a mimicry such as the observer fancied, and which in fact existed simply as an analogy in his mind. 50 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. But excluding the idea of intentional deceit, the mimicry of Ornithosca- toides has been explained as a product of evolution through natural selection and survival of the fittest. The explanation implies that the Evolu- existence of those individuals practicing the mimicry at first and ee accidentally had been preserved by the greater abundance of food or other advantage gained thereby, until it became a permanent habit. But we have only an inference that the habit is permanent in Ornithoseatoides. The facts recorded by Mr. Forbes stand entirely alone, and it seems more likely than otherwise that an extended observation of that spider would show that the same condition obtains as to its habits that we have observed in Misumena, and that it will be found to spin a web substantially as described by Mr. Forbes, in many positions which would preclude the supposition of usefulness through resemblance to the excreta of birds; as, for example, on the under side of leaves, underneath limbs of trees, between and under stones, hedges, ete. As to Misumena, we know that the case reported by Mr. Webster is abso- lutely unique as yet; knowing somewhat the general economy of this species _ we can confidently affirm that the incident is exceptional. Misu- The Mim- mena spreads her cocoon nest in various positions, and is by no ee mean limited to such locations as described by- Professor Web-’ ster. One of these positions has been described and figured in Vol. IL, page 152, Fig. 188. The general form of the cocoon nest is as there exhibited, and in choosing the site thereof the mother appears to give herself as wide range as do other species of the order. In other words, she puts her cocoon and the nesting tube surrounding it in such place as is most convenient to herself when the maternal function urges her to action. The spinningwork described by -Mr. Forbes I take to be the cocoon nest of Ornithoscatoides, for it is not the habit of the Laterigrades generally to get their food by means of snares. They belong to the Wandering group of spiders, and stalk their prey along shrubbery, branches of trees, rocks, walls, ete. If this inference be correct, the peculiar web observed by Mr. Forbes is limited to the cocooning period, at which time Laterigrade spiders are usually found within or lurking around the little tent which oyerspins their egg sac. It must follow that the effect of industrial mimicry upon the preservation of that species must have been confined to a brief period at the end of the spider’s life. To account for such mimicry as a product of the survival of the fittest through natural selection, one needs to con- ceive of the selection as operative in the early and most impressible stages, or at least during the active period of life, and not during the few days immediately preceding death. IW In the second volume of this work (Vol. II., page 346) I ventured to express a suspicion, which I have sometimes entertained, that the color surroundings of the spider, in some manner not now explicable, may so MIMICRY OF SPIDERS. 51 rapidly influence the organism of the creature that a change of color is produced in harmony with its environment. -I there raised this query : Can a spider have the power to influence at will the chromatophores or pigment bodies, so that she may change her color with the changing sites ? Mr. H. H. J. Bell has recently communicated an observation! which appears to be confirmatory of this suggestion. While traveling along the West Coast of Africa between two small towns on the Gold Coast (August, 1892), he was attracted by the appearance of what he supposed to be flowers upon the bushes bordering the path. On examining these he found that they were the webs of an orbweaving spider, whose spinningwork, according to the published description, resembles that of Argiope, as heretofore fully described by me. The spider’s body was a light blue color; and the legs, which were symmetrically disposed in the shape of an X across a white ribboned hub, were yellow, ringed with brown. The body of the spider resembled the corol of a flower, and the crossed legs gave it the semblance of petals. Mr. Bell speaks of the illusion as remarkable, and supposes this mimicry of an orchidlike flower serves not merely to protect the spider, but rather as an attraction to butterflies and other flower frequenting insects on which the aranead preys. The most interesting part of the observation, however, is the strange facility which the spider possessed of changing its color. Mr. Bell captured her in a white gauze collecting net, which was placed beneath Volition- her and into which she dropped when disturbed, as is the custom al Color . Graeces! of many species. As soon as she touched the net the blue body color became white. On being shaken her body turned to a dark greenish brown. She was then placed in a glass tube, and gradually resumed her blue tint, but when shaken up always turned to a greenish brown. When placed in spirits the spider’s color became a gray brown, and so remained. The observation was repeated with like result, except that the second individual did not turn white, but passed immediately from her normal blue into a dark greenish brown. I haye no comments to make upon this interesting and, as it seems to me, important observation, but give it place here, as of undoubted value in its bearing upon the interest- ing and perplexing problem of mimicry as it is presented in the life history of the various aranead species. I have never observed and do not remem- ber ever to have read of such instant and volitional changes of color. The slight changes which I have noted in spiders having metallic colors have been due to the play of light falling at and seen from different angles. The numerous and striking changes in the Shamrock spider (Epeira trifo- lium), so well illustrated in Plate I. of Vol. IL, are produced gradually, and cannot be compared with the chameleonlike changes of the blue Orb- weaver observed by Mr. Bell. Flower Mimicry. 1 Nature, April 13th, 1893, page 558. ye) AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. V. The trapdoor building habit is remarkable in its distribution over nearly every part of the globe in tropical and semitropical regions. From what- ever part reported, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, or North and Architec- South America, the nest shows the same peculiarities of structure, tural : ; : : ; Weibey and the architect appears to live in the same way. Even the habit of mimicking the surrounding surface by attaching sundry small plants is cosmopolitan. Moggridge in his charming book has already made us familiar with this form of mimicry in the European species; it seems also to characterize our southwestern trapdoors, and appears in Cambridge’s Idiops Colletti, a Burmese (India) spider. In the interesting description of General Collett, which Mr. Cambridge publishes, it is stated that the upper surface of the door is often covered with a dry black lichen growth. There are generally a few withered grass blades worked into the edge of the door, or into the edge of the mouth of the burrow, so as to form a kind of semicircular fringe, which often catches a practiced eye and leads to the detection of the hole. The grass blades are probably inserted to aid in assimilating the outside of the door to its surroundings, a pur- pose in which, General Collett opined, they certainly fail so far as the human animal is concerned. In a few cases he noticed also grass blades wrought into the general surface of the door, which in the dry ease season, when the grass is everywhere withered, certainly aid in oor . = : Garden, JS concealment. But during the season when the adjacent grass is green one would think that yellow withered grass blades on or near the burrow mouth would tend to make it conspicuous. I have con- sidered at some length, Vol. II, pages 354, 355, the point thus raised in- dependently by this intelligent observer, and its relation to so called mimicry of environment. I need only add here that one can hardly be asked to consider protection against human intelligence as a factor in the action of a spider’s mind. ‘The hostile elements which influence it are of quite another sort from the curiosity of a naturalist and the plundering of a collector. Wit Since publishing my observations on the parasitic enemies of spiders (Vol. IL, page 391) a number of facts have come to my hands which I have thought well to embrace in these studies, and to add some general conclusions suggested by the subject. Mr. George Carter Bignell? has favored me with an account of the manner in which Drassus lapidocolens Walckenaer was attacked by an ichneumon (8th Oc- tober (1890). While walking in the woods he noticed the spider suspended by a silken drop thread from the bough of a large oak. Looking for the Parasit- ism. 1 Proceed. Zool. Soe., Lond., 1889, page 37, pl. ii., Fig. 2. *7 Clarence Place, Stonehouse, Devon, England. PARASITES OF SPIDERS AND THEIR EGGS. 53 cause of such a situation, he found an ichneumon fly walking cautiously down the thread towards its victim. When close to the spider she touched it with her antennz, whereat Drassus dropped a few inches lower. Method This movement gave better opportunity to see the ovipositing of of Ovi- oe = : ‘ eee the parasitic egg. ‘The fly, having apparently ascertained that she had found a suitable subject, turned round and walked back- wards until close to the spider, where»she paused a few moments, and then deposited her egg on its abdomen close to the cephalothorax. Mr. Bignell boxed both insect host and aranead guest, and took them home. Two days afterwards the egg had hatched, and the larva was about one line in length. A day or two thereafter both larva and spider were found dead. The strangest fact in the above story is that the spider would permit the fly to thus approach it without attack. The insect would seem to have been within its power, yet it forebore to strike. Was it made inactive by fear? By what spell did the mother parasite procure this rare exemption ? The same gentleman, while beating for larve of Lepidoptera, found an Orbweaver, Epeira cucurbitina Clerck, which had been attacked by an ex- ternal parasite. This lay like a sack across its guest’s back, reminding one of a miller’s man carrying a : bag of flour. It was taken May 22d (1882), and on the 24th it was full fed. On the 23d it was figured Fis. 40. Parasitic larva of and described (Fig. 40), and found to have no legs, — *”°*Phincts tuberosa. but in place thereof had sucking discs, two on the second segment and four on the third and fourth. Six of these occupied the usual A Para- place of the legs of laryee; the other four were half covered with ae the skinfold usually seen on lepidopterous larve. On its back "were tubercles, the first on the fourth segment, the others on the seven following ones; each tubercle was surmounted with two rings of hooklets, with three or four in the centre. These served the larva to sus- pend itself from the round snare while feeding on its victim, and to hold on to the web after it was consumed. When all the juices of the spider’s body had been extracted the legs and empty skin were allowed to fall down. The larva then commenced to make itself a cocoon which was finished by the third day, during which time the tubercles performed a prominent role, having to do the work of the claspers of an ordinary caterpillar. When a tentacle, attached to the silken cord, had to be removed, the hooklets were withdrawn into the tentacle, which at once became disen- gaged and ready to make another attachment. The anal segment often played an important part by being brought round to the assistance of the mouth; this act was first seen while the larva was feeding, and its purpose was to disengage some adhering portion of the spider from its jaws. Afterwards it was frequently used while spinning to unite the silk to some narrow part of the cocoon, where the 54 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. blunt head of the larva was too large to make an attachment. When full fed the larva was about three-eighths of an inch long, and had fourteen segments, counting the head as one. The cocoon was shuttle shaped, whitish and thin, the spider’s original web forming its suspending cords; the movements of the larva and pupa were perceptible through the cocoon. The perfect fly appeared on the 12th of June, and proyed to be a female of Polysphincta tuberosa Grayenhorst. WAU, Mr. John L. Curtis,! of Oakland, California, has written me an inter- esting account of a new body parasite taken upon a species of Theridioid spider, Labulla inconstans.? The spider is quite "common in the re- gion surrounding San Francisco, and domiciles in large leaves, the edges and ends of which it bends downward, and fastens with a sheet of web composed of many white threads spun across from side to side. The cocoon, which is round and white, is woven within this maze, and is jealously watched by the mother, a small spider of a light gray color, with pinkish tints on the legs and a tinge of yellow on the abdomen. Fic. 41. Parasite cocoon in site, natural size. Fic. 42. The same, enlarged greatly. Fic. On July 13th (1890) a specimen was 43. The pupa. ; found upon whose abdomen was fixed a large yellow larva. By the 15th the larva had entirely consumed the spider and spun itself into its cocoon. (Figs. 41, 42, 43.) On the 17th it changed to chrysalis, and on the 27th of the month hatched. The cocoon is a cylin- drical case of loose fibres, and hung suspended, head downward, upon lines stretched within the bottle wherein it was bred. Mr. E.'T. Cresson, of Phila- delphia, has identified the parasite insect thus hatched as a probably new species of Polysphincta, a genus of Pimpline, a subfamily of the great family Ichneumonidee. It is obvious that in order to deposit her egg upon the body of the spider, this mother Ichneumonid must have successfully threaded the labyrinth of intercrossed lines and obtained a favorable posi- tion underneath the abdomen. Curious History of Insects. 5 Voyages dans L’Amer. Merid. Don Felix de Azara, 1809, I., 212. 84 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. to Mr. Jones,! the ladies of that island make use for sewing purposes. Mr. Jones succeeded in reeling from the spider a few yards of yellow silk. From time to time, and from various quarters, one gets accounts more or less definite and trustworthy that various rude tribes, and more civil- ized nations, indeed, have availed themselves of spider web fabric for dress. Such is probably the story that found place years ago in an American literary magazine? of the Emperor Aurengzebe of Hindostan, who reproved his daughter for the indelicacy of her costume, although she wore as many as seven thicknesses of spider cloth! I remember reading some- where an account, though the details have passed from memory, of a royal garment woven of spider silk for her Majesty the Empress Victoria by some of the loving subjects of her world wide empire. That the silk of spiders can be reeled from their spinnerets in consid- erable quantities I long ago proved by experiment. That little spools of silk sufficient for show purposes can be gathered by winding off Sources the thick foundation lines from the snares of indigenous Orb- of Spider j =i Silk. weavers, I also know; and further, that many spider cocoons can be collected, from which, by ordinary treatment, small quantities of silk thread may be prepared which are available for knitting petty objects. But that aranead spinningwork can be obtained in temperate regions, at least, by any practical process, in sufficient amount to justify business investments, I do not think at all likely for many ages yet to come. Until present industrial conditions shall be so far changed, and the present sources of raw silk so greatly modified as to warrant prolonged and costly experiments, and subsequently large outlays, men will adhere to the silk moth. For mere curios spider silk is available; for profit- able commerce it is not practicable. However, the efforts to utilize this material in the domestic arts are entitled to some recognition in these pages. As early as A. D. 1709 M. Bon, president of the Court of Accounts of Montpelier, communicated to the Royal Academy of that city a discovery which he had made of a new kind of silk obtained from the egg M. Bon’s }ags of several species of spiders, probably Orbweavers.* His Pioneer . F Athomipis method was as follows: Having collected a large number of cocoons he beat out the dust, then washed them carefully in water, and allowed them to boil for three hours in a pot containing water, soap, saltpetre, and a little gum arabic. The cocoons were then washed, dried, and carded with extremely fine combs. The result was a gray thread much finer than that of the silk worm, and capable of receiving all the 1A Naturalist in Bermuda, London, 1859, John Matthew Jones, page 126. 2 Atlantic Monthly, June, 1858, page 92. 8 Hist. and Mem. de l’Acad. Roy. des Sciences, 1710. Dissertation by M. Bon, Sur Vutilite de la Soye des Arraignées, Latin and French, 1748. COMMERCIAL VALUE OF SPIDER SILK. 85 different dyes. From this product, in the natural color, M. Bon obtained two or three pairs of stockings and gloves of an elegant gray color, which were presented as samples to the Academy. The pamphlet in which these noyel results were made known attracted much attention. In 1710 the Academy of Sciences of Paris deemed the question suffi- ciently important to investigate thoroughly, and accordingly commissioned the eminent entomologist Reaumur to prepare a report upon the BEE invention of M. Bon. Reaumur took up and prosecuted the in- murs a ; . . . uiry with much intelligence and zeal, and came to the conclusion Results quiry, = d that the culture of spider silk could not be made a profitable industry in Europe, although he intimated that exotic species might repay further attempts. The difficulties which proved most formidable lay both in the maintenance of the animals and the nature of the silk product. He computed that more than half a million spiders (663,522) would be required to produce a pound of silk, and to procure natural insect food for this vast multitude appeared impossible. This obstacle, however, was partly overcome by the discovery that spiders would subsist upon chopped earth- worms, and upon the soft ends or roots of feathers. Then the solitary habit and indiscriminate voracity of the araneans presented serious difficulty. They could not be trusted together, or near one another, for unless separated by artificial barriers they waged ceaseless warfare, and great numbers were slain and eaten. This cannibalistic pro- pensity immensely increased the difficulty of breeding and maintaining a spider plant. The supply of silk obtained from cocoons, moreover, is necessarily limited by the fact that they are not true cocoons, as spun by the larvee of both sexes of insects, but egg bags woven by females alone. Further, M. Reaumur decided that spider silk is greatly inferior in strength and substance, the silk worm producing a thread ninety times as strong proportionately. He also adjudged the advantage to be with the insect silk in lustre. In both these points the spider product seemed un- available for weaving cloth. A half century after Bon’s attempt, A. D. 1762, the Abbe Raymond de Termeyer, a Spaniard, took up the matter, and for more than thirty years (1762-1796) pressed his investigations and experiments with Abbe admirable ingenuity and persistence, not only in Europe, but in eal aelith South America with the large fauna of that continent. He in- ; ape vented a method of confining the spider while he reeled off the ments, extruded silk; but his experiments brought the establishment of a profitable industry in spider silk no nearer solution than M. Bon had done. The whole amount of thread obtained in all his ex- periments did not exceed fifteen pounds. Perhaps had he not been called away from America, his most promising field, by what he terms “an unexpected command and an irresistible power,” we might have chronicled 86 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. a more favorable issue.! We are inclined to sigh with the disappointed enthusiast: “What a pity, and what a loss!” Termeyer’s line of inquiry differed from Bon’s, in that he took his silk principally from the living subject, while Bon wrought from cocoons. Termeyer’s attempt to reel silk was suggested by observing the manner in which the spider extruded its spinningwork when swathing a fly. His contrivance consisted of three parts: first, a body rest (Fig. 51), consisting of a piece of cork slightly hollowed in the centre,” and supported upon a pedestal; second, a foil consisting of a bit of tinned iron (Fig. 51, b); about an inch wide, having a curved notch in the bottom correspond- ing with the cavity in the cork, on either side of which were soldered two iron pins or wires (c, ¢) which were introduced into the cork. The spider was placed upon the body rest, as shown at Fig. 53, so that the foil falling between the corselet and the abdomen kept the spider in posi- tion, and withheld the legs from interfering with the threads. When about to reel the silk the Abbe gave his cap- tive a fly, which was seized with the feet and jaws, and at the same time the spinnerets were opened by unconscious association of ideas, and threads thrown out as if to swathe the fly. Fig. 51. Body rest and foil. Frc. 52. Reel. Fic. 53. Spider in Phe Pcad yet sine EID ane attitude for yielding to the reel. was then attached to a small reel four and a half inches in diameter, with cylindrical arms of glass. (Fig. 52.) This was slowly turned and the silk wound off, as with the silk moth’s cocoon. Indeed, Termeyer wound upon the same reel a band of spider’s silk and a similar band of silk worm’s silk, of which he remarks that the compari- son shows evidently how much more brilliant and beautiful the first is than the second, so bright that it appears more like a polished metal or mirror than like silk. In more recent times the whole subject has been gone over by Professor Wilder, now of Cornell University, New York. For several years, in various Fig. 51. Fic. 52. Fie. 53. Abbe Termeyer’s apparatus for reeling silk from living spiders. 1 Raimondo Maria de Termeyer, Ricerche e Sperimenti Sulla Seta de Ragni, Milan. (Astor Library, New York.) We are indebted to Dr. Bert G. Wilder for a translation of Termeyer’s report of his experiments, which he published in Proc. Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., 1867. 27 have ventured here to insert this cavity, which is lacking in Termeyer’s sketch, as reproduced by Wilder. COMMERCIAL VALUE OF SPIDER SILK. 87 scientific and popular publications,! he communicated many interesting ob- servations, and advocated with much enthusiasm the possibility of estab- lishing a new silk industry from the spinningwork of some of our American spider species. He was led into his investigations while serving as an army surgeon (August, 1863) in the war against the Southern rebellion, and with especial view to fur- nish suitable employment for the multitude of negro slayes who had been launched upon liberty by the rude force of war, and without the responsi- bility and occupations demanded for prosperous freedmen. While encamped in South Carolina his attention was arrested by the remarkable spinning qualities of a species of Nephila’ which inhabits the Carolina sea islands and Florida. He invented an ingenious apparatus for reeling off silk from the spinnerets, and better adapted to the long cylindrical abdomen of Nephila than that of Abbe Termeyer, whose method he was quite ignorant of until three years later, but which he then studied and gave to the general public. The first specimen from which Pro- fessor Wilder tried to reel silk remained quiet under the process for an hour and a quarter, and until he had ob- tained one hundred and fifty yards of thread ; but its successors were less com- plaisant. He accordingly contrived a Sirs a apparatus substantially like Termeyer S Professor Wilder’s apparatus for reeling spider which also seryed the double purpose silk. of keeping the animal in an immovable "*°* ™° Nees ae a position, and preventing her from cut- ting the extruding thread with her feet. The contrivance consisted of two large corks, a bent hairpin, two large toilet pins, a bit of card, and a bit of lead. One cork served as a body rest, and the bottom was loaded with the lead, one half its top beveled off at an angle of 45°, and the card (Fig. 54, e) fixed upon the oblique surface so that its upper edge projected an eighth of an inch. Into the horizontal half of the cork was cut a shal- low groove (g), on either side of which were stuck two pins (p, p) about an inch apart. The second cork served as a foil; it was rounded and smoothed at the smaller end, and a hairpin pushed obuanely throagt the lower corner of Wilder’s Experi- ments. 1 Proceed. Amer. Assoc. Advynet. Science, 1865; Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., Oct. 1465; How My New Acquaintances Spin, Atlantic Monthly, August, 1866; Two Hundred Thousand Spiders, Harper’s Magazine, March, 1867; The. Practical View of Spiders’ Silk, The Galaxy (an extinct magazine), July, 1869. 2See Vol. I., page 146, and figures. 88 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. the larger end, so as to form an angle of 45° with the lower side. About a quarter or third of an inch from the cork both sides of the pin were bent outward* so as to double the space between them. In use, the foil was so placed that the prongs of the hairpin passed underneath the card, on the beveled face of the basal cork, and the upper cork itself rested upon the heads of the common pins therein. Then the spider was laid upside down into the groove, so that the projecting anterior part of the abdomen brought up against the edge of the card, and the legs were in front of the pins. Next, the foil was pushed gently down, the prongs passing under the card until the narrow part near the cork embraced the spider’s pedicle. The legs, being then set free, clasped the foil, which thus effectually with- held them from the spinnerets. The natural tendency of the spider being to throw up its spinnerets against the top cork and make an attachment disk, a thread was thus obtained from which to begin reeling. Dr. Wilder states that Nephila could retard the flow of silk by pressing the spinnerets against one another, but says that if the reeling is regular she cannot wholly prevent it. He suggests the use of some anesthetic for the silk worm, to permit direct reeling of thread from the mouth tube, but appa- rently did not think of rendering Nephila com- plaisant and tractable by similar treatment. He suggests methods for reeling silk from several spiders at a time, but seems not to have tried the ces Zeat are experiment. He computes that one spider will Fic. 56. Nephila in position for _ e z reeling silk. (After Wilder.) | yleld at successive reelings one grain of thread,1 and that four hundred and fifty would be re- quired to yield one yard of silk, or fifty-four hundred for an ordinary dress pattern of twelve yards; this is less than half the amount produced by the same number of silk moth larvee, a comparison which corresponds substantially with that of Reaumur, although the two men greatly differ in their estimate of the number of spiders required to obtain a fixed amount of silk. The most recent and apparently the most successful attempt to procure spider silk from culture I find described in a paper of M. Gautier on the habits of spiders.2 He there informs us that an Englishman named in me 1 This requires seven thousand spiders to the pound of avoirdupois of silk, which seems a much smaller estimate than Reaumur’s. But no comparison can be made, since one esti- mates from reeling product, another from cocoons; one from Nephila, another from Epeira ; and indeed one cannot always determine which method is referred to by the various writers. 71 have not the original, and quote from a translation printed in the New York Sun. In the summer of 1892 I tried to find some one in London who knew of this gentleman, but failed therein. The story, however, bears the appearance of authenticity. COMMERCIAL VALUE OF SPIDER SILK. 89 Stillbers has made cloth of spider’s silk which has been employed for purposes of surgery. He only uses tropical spiders, from which, thanks to a scientific culture, he has obtained a much greater return than An fing: was foreseen by Reaumur. The spiders which he uses are large ee species from America and Africa. They are placed in octagonal cases, where a sufficiency of insects is served to them every day. In the room where the cases are kept a constant temperature of 60° Fahren- heit is maintained, and a liquid composed of chloroform, ether, and fusel oil is allowed slowly to evaporate. That is to say, spiders spin best when they are under the influence of an anesthetic, as Professor Wilder had suggested, the reason for which has heretofore been alluded to. Mr. Stillbers is said to keep five thousand of these cases in a room forty yards long by twenty wide and five high. The spiders lay eggs of various colors, enclosed as usual with cocoons. These are gathered up and _ pre- pared by the same mechanical and chemical operations as the cocoons of the Bombyx moth. One cocoon yields one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty yards of thread by a process which is kept absolutely secret. The stuff obtained has a texture resembling ordinary silk, but thick, stiff, and a dirty color. It is all the more necessary to bleach it, because the color is by no means uniform. It is bleached by treatment with oxygenized water. Then it is tanned and softened, when it assumes a pretty yellow tint, and becomes brilliant and smooth. To make a thread say a mile in length requires between forty and fifty cocoons. This is a great advance on Reaumur’s calculations, but. still falls far short of a practical industrial success. The stuff obtained must be sold at a very high price in order to obtain the merest compensation for all this trouble and expense. Thus, the last attempt at economizing the silk product of spiders returns to the method of Bon, to utilize the cocoon, and abandons the reeling process of Termeyer and Wilder. CHAP TH. we MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. le YounG spiders usually make the first moult within the cradle where the eggs have been laid. The young of Lycosa and Trochosa remain in the cocoon until the second moult, after which they emerge and clamber upon the mother’s back, where the third and fourth moults occur before the little fellows begin independent house- keeping in miniature burrows of their own. Wagner asserts! that the mother softens and partly tears the cocoon at its selvage, thus aiding the exit, and that without such help the little ones fail to escape, and die; a statement which I feel sure must be modified. Young Attoids, having undergone the moult, shift their positions to the opposite end of the cocoon, and then moult a second and even third time before egress; as is shown by the fact that one finds within the same cocoon three separate heaps of skins cast at different ages. The subject of cannibalism within the cocoon has already been consid- ered,? with the general conclusion that it is rare among spiderlings, but sometimes occurs. The Trochosas observed by Wagner would appear to be among the exceptions; for not only does the mother in captivity devour her broodlings, but the latter feed upon one another, a fact which is closely related to differences developed at the moulting period. At the end of two or three months a considerable differ- ence in size appears among the young of the same brood ; some are more vigorous and agile, others feeble, and those weaklings commonly fall a prey to their stronger fellows. The cause of this inequality is traced to the fact that the eggs do not all hatch at one time, and that a whole day or more may intervene between the hatching of one division and another. In general, one remarks in a cocoon, at the second moulting period, one group whose individuals lack two or three days of the time, others on the eve thereof, and still others in the act of moulting. This circumstance alone will explain why, after two moults, the stronger spiderlings are able to overcome and eat the feebler ones. It would thus seem that only the more vigorous enter upon independent life, while the feebler or those which come more tardily from the egg contribute to the perpetuation of the species by yielding Moulting of Young. Canni- balism. 1 La Mue, page 344. 2Vol. II., page 209. (90) MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 91 themselves to nourish the stronger. To this end also serve the infertile or undeveloped eggs, of which there are usually more or less in most cocoons. TL. We may pursue in detail the habits of a few species during their first moult. A brood of Epeiras that much interested me appeared upon the honeysuckle vines in my manse yard on the morning of May 19th. They were then assembled beneath a large leaf which formed the roof of a little room of clustered foliage. (See Fig. 57, central group.) The assemblage was in a hemispherical mass an inch and a half in diameter and three-fourths inch to an inch thick. ‘The entire outward opening of the cavity in which the spiderlings were gathered was filled with a rather closely spun tissue of silk hnes, which extended downward for several inches, attached intermediately at several points to other leaves and forming a hollow cone of spinningwork. In the evening, May 19th, the assemblage was broken up into several distinct groups that hung like bunches of tiny grapes at various points of the cavity. May 20th was a showery day, and at one time there was as severe a downpour of rain as falls in this climate. I feared the effect of such a torrent upon the baby spiders, but found that they stood the shower with no apparent inconvenience. Fortunately, there was but little wind, or the lashing of the vines might have been more disastrous than the rain, which, however, had the effect of causing the spiderlings to break up their sepa- rate groups and reassemble again into one ball. A few of the more adven- turous spirits had separated themselves from the mass and were struggling with minute particles of moisture that beaded the defensive spinningwork, and appeared to be engaged in drinking. Indeed, the whole brood, con- sisting of several hundred individuals, seemed rather to enjoy than dislike the rain. No doubt at this stage water is necessary, or at least helpful, for their nourishment. May 21st was a cold day for the season, and the spiderlings hung without any change in the assemblage above described. Towards evening, however, a few were engaged in shedding their skins, having detached themselves from the main mass for this purpose, and suspended themselves by lines that threaded the entire width of their dwelling. May 22d, large numbers of the brood were engaged in moulting. By the use of an ordinary pocket lens the little fellows were seen pulling off their tiny coats, which they did in a few minutes without diff- culty, leaving the moults suspended upon the lines. They them- selves came out looking bright and fresh, the abdomen a clear yellow, the fore part of the body transparent white. By noon the leafy domicile was filled with the grayish white skins which had been shed, giving the whole affair the appearance of the manse yard when the laundry Young Epeiras. Mode of Moulting. ive) bo AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. has yielded its stock of white goods upon washing day. Observation of this brood shows that there is practically no difference between the habits of young Epeiroid spiders in the United States and those of the baby Argiopes so well described by Mr. Pollock." By five o’clock in the evening the entire cavity was filled with the little creatures who had gradually separated from the mass in order to cast their skins. Great numbers of grayish white moults occupied the lines directly in front of the opening, to which point many of the spiderlings preferred to come for their moulting. (See Fig. 57.) By standing upon a chair and using a lens I could see the entire process in various individuals. The feet were thrust out, upwards, grasping the supporting lines, the abdo- men doubled up until it was almost at right angles with the cephalothorax, and sustained by threads outgoing from the spinnerets. The skin of the cephalothorax as it cracked open and escaped was so transparent that in the light of the setting sun it glistened like silver. The legs were gradually disengaged by slight regular movements, and issued white and transparent. At various points in the nest this process could be seen in divers stages of completion. This interesting colony remained in or near the original place of assem- blage for a week, during which time they migrated to nearby parts of the vine, forming thus several separate groups. From these they gradually, but rapidly at the last, spun themselves away and disappeared by aeronautic flight. I saw only one case of canni- balism in the entire brood ; one individual was seen feeding on the carcass of a comrade, which it may or may not have slain. Mrs. Mary Treat? has related the moulting manners of a brood of young Turret. spiders, Lycosa arenicola. When they were two weeks old these spiderlings strung innumerable lines of web across the mother’s Disper- sion. Young pack, upon which they disposed of the castoff skins of their Turret moults. Up to this time they had been massed upon her abdo- Spiders. haawe | pe hee ve P ei men, as well as upon her cephalothorax, but then the little creatures, as if by common consent, entirely forsook the abdomen as a resting place and devoted it to the uses of a dressingroom. Sometimes two or three were divesting themselves at the same time. They fastened themselves by a short thread to one of the lines strung across the mother’s back, and this held them firmly while they undressed. The skin cracked all around the cephalothorax and was held only by the front edge; next the abdomen was freed, and then came the struggle to free the legs. The little one worked and kicked vigorously and seemed to have no easy task, but came out of the old dress in about fifteen minutes, although exhausted and almost lifeless. However, it was soon as bright and active as before. ' Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1865, page 460. See also Vol. II., page 228. * Home Studies in Nature. MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 93 Tan MM UN yy qq \\! Nn 8 \ oe Ut Wl y ‘a co ie Ames Ww KN ite : ] ZN | eZ ys ZA ye oS s al! i wi) Ww eos tie: LZZ 7M) My) yer M ; wa? We C\\\\ Wes i eS SS (\ ; LA ‘nly Lie? ys A \ Fic. 57. Moulting in mass of a brood of young Epeiras. 94 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. It was fully a week before all the brood had moulted, and it was an odd appearance that the mother presented, with the innumerable little ragged castoff dresses hanging all over the lines upon her abdomen. In these broods Mrs. Treat never observed any tendency towards fratricide and intentional cannibalism, although she records that in the absence of other food the mother crushed some of her young and held them so that the little cannibals could suck the juices. The killing of the young may, however, have been simply accidental. A somewhat similar phenomenon may be observed in the moulting of young Dolomede spiders. Within the large nest of woven and thatched leaves made by the mother,! the young spend the early period Young of their life after issuing from the white cocoon, which is swung Boe in the midst of the little leafy wigwam. Herein they string innumerable lines from wall to wall and from roof to floor, on which they sport and hang in groups, and # due time suspend themselves for the act of disrobing. One who peeps within the nest after this proc- ess, or after it has been abandoned by the brood, will see great numbers of castoff skins hanging to the network of interior lines. The same fact may be observed in the case of the Theridioid young who are in the habit of remaining within the parental snare, or maze of crossed lines, for a period after hatching. They usually take a position in mass at the upper part of the snare, and thereon, when the first moults: are made, they hang their rejected skins. In this habit there appears, indeed, to be little difference among broods of young spiders. The place in which they happen to be when Nature compels a moult is the place in which the phenomenon occurs. No doubt, the spiders that remain for the first moults in the nest provided by parental instinct must have a better chance for life, as against the exigencies of weather, than those which, like the Orbweavyers, seek their own moulting domicile and shed their skins in any available locality. Therid- ioids. THE Blackwall expresses the opinion, after having frequently witnessed the moulting of spiders in their natural haunts as well as in captivity, and having examined the cast skins of numerous species belonging ¢o Manner pore than sixteen genera, ranging through all the tribes except of Moult- Ph me hee : ; ; : — the Territelarie, that the process of moulting is substantially uniform among all kinds of spiders.2 Wagner’s observations have led him to the same conclusion, which I am able also to confirm from observation of the act and study of castoff skins, including therein the Territelarie, whose moulting I have seen in several individuals and found to follow the general rule. 1See Vol. IL, page 145, Fig. 177. 2 Researches in Zoology, page 308. MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 95 Orbweavers moult as follows:! Preparatory to casting its skin the spider spins several strong lines in the vicinity of its snare, from which it suspends itself by the feet and a thread held in the spinners. After remaining for a short time in this situation the covering of the ceph- alothorax gives way laterally, disuniting immediately above the insertion of the falees and legs, so that the head and thorax are the first parts liberated. The line of separation pursues the same direction, passing midway through the pedicle until it extends to the abdomen, which is next disen- gaged. As the thread held by the spinnerets is usually shorter Orbweav-than the legs and undergoes little alteration in length, the ab- er’s ; i ; ‘ Moulting. domen is gradually deflected from its horizontal to a vertical position, nearly at right angles with the cephalothorax. By this change, attended with numerous contortions or undulatory movements of the body, the spider frees the abdomen, which falls back in a wrinkled saclike mass united to the dorsum of the cephalothorax by the upper half of the tegument of the pedicle. The legs are the last and most difficult to detach, but are drawn out downward and usually entire by successive muscular contractions and strains, with brief intervals of rest. Blackwall thinks that the spines with which the legs are provided facilitate the operation; for, as they are di- rected down the limbs and are movable at the will of the animal, when it has partially withdrawn the legs from their sheaths by contracting them, it can prevent them from reéntering by slightly erecting the spines and thus bringing their extremities in contact with the inner surface of the integument. As the spines also and simultaneously with the legs undergo moulting, it may be doubted if their service in this respect is very great. When the spider has completely disengaged itself from the sheath it remains for a short period relaxed and exhausted, suspended solely by a thread from the spinnerets. The entire process, as above de- scribed, may be completed in about twenty minutes under normal conditions, but varies in length of time according to circumstan- ces. After a short rest the spider adjusts its position, making itself more secure upon the suspensory lines by seizing them with the feet; stretches its legs, bends and unbends them, passes them through the mouth, and hangs in repose until its strength is sufficiently restored and its limbs have acquired the requisite firmness, when it ascends its filaments and seeks its nest or retreat, or takes position upon its snare.” After Moult. 1This detailed description is that of an Epeiroid, and is made from my own observa- tions combined with those of Blackwall, Wagner, and others. 2 Blackwall, Researches in Zoology, pages 306, 307 ; British Spiders, Introduction, page 7; Id., Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., XV., 1845, page 230; Id., Trans. Linn. Soc., XVI., pages 482-484; Wagner, La Mue des Araignées, page 284. 96 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. An example or two of moulting as seen in special individuals will serve to define more clearly the above general description. A nearly mature female of Argiope cophinaria was observed (August 19th) in the final stage of moulting. When first seen she was suspended head downward to the central shield of her snare, as represented in Fig. 58. The cephalothorax had already escaped from the shell, and the dorsal part of the moult still clung to the pedicle and stood straight out at right angles to the body. The abdomen was just ready to escape, and, indeed, slipped out of the shell as I ap- proached, and the skin lay in a rum- pled mass at the end of the thread by which the creat- ure was suspended. Argiope Moulting. Fic. 58. Fie. 59. Fic. 60. Fig. 58. Argiope in the last act of moulting. Fias. 59 and 60, Argiope stretching her legs just after moulting. The body was bent upwards in a horseshoe shape, and the legs were partly freed from their moult. A few paroxysms occurred by which the legs were forced further and yet further out of the skin; then, first escaped the first pair, then, in a very brief space thereafter, the two second legs; immediately the third pair followed, and in brief succession the fourth pair. The spider’s body dropped downward, and she stretched herself as MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 97 though finding the sort of relief that a human being does when he yawns. (Fig. 59.) The limbs were finally extended to their utmost tension, the respective legs of each pair being precisely opposite to and a little sepa- rated from each other. (Fig. 60.) Shortly thereafter, still maintaining this parallelism of the several pairs, the hind legs were elevated, and then successively the others, until they were all a little more widely separated than repre- sented in the figure. After a few minutes repose in this position the legs were doubled up, and the feet placed in a little circle upon the mouth organs, as represented at Fig. 61. The colors of the body were almost the same after as before moulting, only fresher and brighter, with the exception of the palps, which were nearly destitute of color and almost transparent. A female of the same species was found (Sep- tember 6th) just after moulting. A rudimentary web had been constructed consisting simply of the characteristic central space, although the silken shield was but slightly marked,.and an irregular line of 4 pee ar ee straggling thick white silk represented the usual ing her feet after moult- zigzag. ribbon beneath. This was suspended among = '™™ surrounding grasses and weeds by sey- eral radii so that it remained quite firm, the whole structure being about three inches long and two wide. The cast skin was attached to the upper part of this moulting frame, the feet being turned upward, the claws holding to the upper lines of the notched zone. The corselet skin swung backwards, showing that the spider had come out in that way by pullmg downward. She herself was hanging to the lower portion of the moulting frame in the usual man- Fic. 62 Argiope resting after moulting, sus. mer, her feet attached to the shield be- RBARER UD lew SHUG In BEIGE low the moult. The rings upon the legs showed white as they did in the moult. The animal when fully mature does not show these rings, but the tarsus and metatarsus are generally a uniform black color. lV. A female Linyphia communis moulted as follows: The spider was trussed upon threads stretched across a paper box in which she was con- fined, her body at an angle of about 45°, the abdomen apparently resting 98 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. upon the bottom of the box. The fore legs were extended forward so that the feet came well together, each leg being fastened upon a thread. The cephalothorax and head were bolstered against several cross aed lines. When the observation began the skin of the corselet was Tides loose and cast back above the abdomen. The spider was ia Linyphia. the act of moulting the face below the eyes and falces. This was done by a succession of regular motions by which the body was pressed backward against the moulting frame, and the skin of the legs, palps, and falces at each swell was pushed a little more forward. The purchase was less as the skin was more and more rejected, and at the metatarsus and tarsus the legs were extricated by pulling them gently. : After moulting the legs were folded together under the sternum, and were then passed through the mouth in the manner of spiders when _ cleansing the hairy armature of the legs. The new skin looked Behavior fresh and bright; the black rings upon the legs retained their After : ae Moulting, h¥*; the flesh colored and brownish parts were whitish ; the abdomen was little changed as to color. Shortly after moulting the spider turned over and assumed an upright position upon her moult- ing frame. When touched she kept quite still, decidedly in contrast with the normal habit of the species. The Medicinal spider (Tegenaria medicinalis) suspends itself beneath its web in order to moult. The skin divides at the edges of the cephalo- thorax, leaving the casts of the sternum and the three first pairs? Medicinal of Jegs, together with the mouth parts, on one side; the shield, Spider’s ‘ ; Moun: abdomen, and last pair of legs on the other. In the cast skin the corselet is thrown backward and downward, and is surrounded by the hind pair of legs. It is united to the abdomen, which is repre- sented by an irregular mass of black skin, the softness of that organ preventing it from maintaining the firm outlines of the other parts, which more resemble the shell of true insects. The skins of the first three pairs of legs are thrown forward, nearly or quite touching above the face, as when one throws his arms over his head.1 This represents the position maintained during the act of casting the skin. With Trochosa singoriensis the rejected dorsum of the cephalothorax is held to the abdomen by the skin of the pedicle, which is rent longitudi- nally into two nearly equal parts. The upper part unites the corselet to the abdomen, and the lower part ties the sternum thereto. The cephalothorax parts along the edge above the inser- tion of the legs; the last pair of legs first escape from the old skin, then the third, and the others in order. In unsheathing the legs the spider finds a point of support in the legs themselves; that is, she supports Lycosids. Tarentula. 1 This may not be the rule, but is true of the case described. MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 99 herself upon the third pair in unsheathing the fourth, upon the second to free the third, and so on. The abdomen does not commence to moult until after the cephalothorax. It is disengaged from the skin, without the aid of the legs, by means of contractions of the abdominal muscles, which produce undulatory move- ments of the skin in the direction from the cephalothorax toward the spinnerets. The cast skin of the abdomen is always much wrinkled, owing to its extreme softness and fineness, that permits it to fold up under pressure. In this saclike abdominal moult one finds the moulted lungs and glands, and fragments of the moult of the intestine and muscles. (Wagner.) The skin of Mygale when cast is sometimes so little broken, as shown by Fig. 68, that by placing the corselet shell upon the sternum and pasting it down to the falces, a casual observer might think it a living creature. It will be seen from the cut that the abdomen has been withdrawn from the old tegument forward through the cir- cular rent at the base, where it was united to the pedicle. Even the long spinnerets retain their hab- itual position curled upward along the apex. The ab- dominal skin of this spi- der is so much thicker than that of ordinary araneads, and withal is so heavily cov- ered with strong hairs, that it more readily retains its usual form, instead of shrinking up in a wrinkled mass, as with most species. Sometimes, however, the cast is not so complete as here shown. In this figure the line of rupture along the sides of the cephalothorax is well shown; also the usual mode in which the pedicle is parted, uniting the abdomen on the one hand and the corselet on the other to the sternum. The mandibles have evidently been withdrawn backward by a motion the reverse of the abdomen, as shown by the unbroken moult fallen forward upon the moult of the mouth parts which adhere to the sternum. Mygale Moult. Fic. 63. A cast skin of Mygale, showing slight rupture of parts. V. Some spiders issue from the eggs with their feet free; others, as Epeiroids and Theridioids, come out having their feet adhering under the abdomen. They remain thus for six days, more or less, when they cast the first tegument and quit the cocoon.! The skin thus enclosing the legs is 1 Simon, Histoire Naturelle des Araignées. 100 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. in fact the vitelline membrane, and deliverance therefrom constitutes the first moult. The number of times that spiders change their skin before they be- come adult is not uniformly the same as regards every species, not even perhaps the same within the individuals of any one species. Periodic- For example, Blackwall made some careful observations upon the ity Of frequency of moulting in a young female of Zilla x-notata? and Moulting. a y 5 J 8 : : Epeira diademata, which I arrange for sake of comparison in the following tabulated form :— ZiLA X-NOTATA. EpEIRA DIADEMATA. Days Interval. Days Interval. Disengaged fromegg. .... . March 30th, April 14th, 1. Moulted in cocoon. ... . . . April 8th, 9 April 24th, 10 Quitted cocoon ..... 5 a a Wilenie WEL May 3d, OUMoultedieeecmn. nk fees es June 4th, 54? SS Moulted assess eae eounelzed. 18 June 21st, 50? CL kollel ly bs oa A lols s July 12th, 20 July 10th, 19 bemiNTOuItved sa x tee cs nen) eave sree ee August 4th, 23 August 3d, 24 There were five moults in each case; the intervals between disengage- ment from the egg and the first moult were about the same; the Epeira remained much longer in the cocoon than the Zilla, perhaps for some local reason; its next moult, the first after emerging, was not recorded. But there was evidently an irregularity during the interval from moult 1 to moult 3 where the record can again be compared. However, if we take up the comparison from the dates of leaving the cocoons, the moulting intervals of the two species are of nearly equal length. Perhaps this table represents fairly enough the normal periodicity of moulting with Orb- weavers. With Lycosids (Trochosa), according to Wagner, the second skin is rejected in about six days, at a time when the younglings dwell in part within the cocoon and partly on the mother’s back. The third moulting occurs six to seven days thereafter upon the mother’s ‘body. The fourth moult occurs seven to eight days after the third, partly on the mother’s body and partly in the maternal burrow. After this moult the younglings leave the burrow and begin independent life. At this time the spiderlings have attained more than one-tenth their normal size, and have before them a series of moults amounting to ten in all.8 The time required for full development and for completion of all the moults is from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and ninety-five days, excluding winter months. The periodicity and the safety of moulting are modified by various Lycosids. Trochosa 1 Epeira calophylla Blackw. 2'There is probably a break here in the observation, and a loss of several moults. 3 Wagner, Note on the Tarentula, Comtes rendus de la Sect. Zool. de la Soe. Imp. des Se. Nat. de Moscow, 1866. MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 101 conditions. Blackwall had already noticed that food and temperature exercise a decided influence,! and Wagner has confirmed the fact. Moult- ing is suspended in winter in natural site; but if spiders be housed in warm rooms the moult may be artificially stimulated, but the Modify- moulting intervals are then longer than usual in natural condi- ae aes tion. If a young brood of the same age be exposed to different degrees of heat they will shed their skins at intervals corre- sponding thereto, the warmer ones earlier, the colder later. The lack of sufficient nourishment retards the moulting epoch, and tends to make the act more difficult and dangerous, so that many spiders die in or after the act from inanition. Causes affecting the normal health of the organism modify the moult. Blackwall discovered that young spiders infested by the larva of Poly- sphincta carbonaria, an insect belonging to the Ichneumonidee which feeds upon their fluids, never moult.2, Wagner notes the effect of the prick ofa Pompilus sting upon two male Trochosas ; one stung July 8th remained sick and languid until August 7th, an unus- ually long period, and then moulted. During the act, probably for lack of vigor, the legs were contorted and deprived of motion. Another male, stung at the same time, passed an interval of a month and ten days before moulting, a great retardation as compared with subjects of his own age who had long before that shed their skins. This spider began moulting August 17th, and on September 2d, when it was moribund, it had only achieved the moult of the abdomen and corselet. The legs were with- drawn from the old skin in the morning and appeared to be normal, but in the evening they were bent up and flattened, doubtless the result of imperfect alimentation during the two months succeeding the sting, and of the imperfection of the interior moult. Neither of these wounded spiders made any preparation for moulting by stretching supporting frames of silk lines. The normal conduct and periodicity of moulting appears thus to depend upon three kinds of agents: first, the interior conditions of the animal’s development; second, the expen- diture of the reserve for the maintenance of internal heat and locomotion ; and, third, external conditions, such as heat and food. Pompilus Sting. VI. After moulting, all spiders, old as well as young, are in a state of greater or less feebleness, proportionate to the difficulty and length of the act. They hang in a relaxed and helpless condition upon their proper snares, if sedentary, or upon temporary scaffolds woven as supports; one 1 Zoological Researches, page 309. 2 Brit. Assn. Advanct. Sci., 14th meeting, pages 70, 71. 5’ Wagner, La Mue, page 357, 102 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. may even touch them at that time without responsive signs of life. Of course they are then at the mercy of their enemies, to whom, in point of fact, they do fall an easy prey in great numbers. One would naturally expect from what has elsewhere? been written of protective habits, that Nature, intent upon the preservation of the species, would provide some recourse against this peril. Accordingly we find that, upon the approach of the moulting period, many spiders pre- pare for the emergency; some creep away into crevices of rocks, crannies of walls and fallen wood, hollows of trees and stumps, underneath loose bark, stones, and like sheltered positions. Many species overlap and join together the edges of leaves, and moult within the tent thus formed ; some preémpt the cocoons or lodges of other spiders, and some appropriate the nests of sundry insects. The Attoids moult within the silken cells which are the characteristic dwellings of the family and make no other provision therefor. Curiously, they have a fancy for cells other than their own, and for old Protect- yather than new. They freely avail themselves of strange cells, ive Hab- . ae : and the ones which appear most to please them are the abandoned nests within which the females have laid their eggs, after the young have quitted them. Hence, one will sometimes find the shed skin of one or even two vagabond males inside such sites. Tubeweavers seek the funneled part of their snare and moult beneath the outspread curtain, as do also the Linyphiz. Lycosids moult within their burrows, which they previously close, showing thus the same sense of need that leads them to cover their nests in winter and the cocooning season, ‘Orbweavers do not have the same degree of secretiveness at this period ; at least many of them are found moulting upon their snares, as shown in the various accompanying figures, with no special provision for conceal- ment or protection. Often they do not even get behind their webs or seek the shelter of adjacent foliage. The Lineweavers also moult upon their webs, but then their position underneath and within their maze of crossed lines, as with Theridioids and with Pholcus, would in itself seem to be a good protection. As a general but not invariable rule it may be said that spiders having a fixed abode, as all the sedentary groups of Lycosids that live in burrows, many Attoids, ete., cast their skins on or in their snare or lodge. But those species which have no fixed dwelling seek divers shelters for moulting. All the burrowing spiders observed by Mrs. Treat closed their dwellings just before they moulted, and before making their cocoons. When this work was over they cut the threads and threw the covers back, sometimes entirely severing them. At other times a sort of hinge was left on one 1 Vol. IL., page 407. > MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 103 side and the door fell back, keeping an attachment to the wall. This is especially the case with Lycosa tigrina. Wagner confirms this observation in the case of the European taren- tula, which closes its burrow with a sort of pent house above the door, and suspending itself to the sides thereof, head downward, passes its moult. In captivity these preparations change in their details, but their aim remains the same, and is always attempted in one way or another.? It seems probable, as suggested by Wagner, that the nature and extent of these precautions depend upon the facility with which the moult is accomplished; the greater the facility the less the precaution. Facility Wor example, young spiders appear to experience little or no eee difficulty in shedding their coats, which they do in a few min- j utes—young Orbweavers in from three to ten minutes, young Trochosas in two minutes. As the spiders advance in age the succeeding moults are passed with increasing difficulty, the last moult being often the hardest to achieve. Now, young spiders make no preparations and take no precautions in moulting, and drop their skins wherever they f chance to be, a carelessness which disappears with the approach we of adult life. Thus Wagner records that the young of Trochosa Spi aaa singoriensis make no protective defenses during the early period of life, when they moult easily; but as the act is made more difficult and protracted by advancing age, they cover their burrows when they feel the moulting period coming on. The Thomisoids quite generally shed their skins easily and rapidly, and, accordingly, they do it openly, only spinning a supporting thread over the petals of a flower or the surface of a leaf. Even in the case of some young spiders one may see evidence of the same sensitiveness to danger, for if the young of Attus terrebratus, who are in the habit of moulting en masse within the maternal cocoon, be removed after the second moult and put in a suitable place, every one will spin a little cell within which the third moult is separately made. This quick perception of the change of condition and ready adaptation thereto is justly noted by Wagner, who relates it as a fine example of instinctive wisdom. My tarantula “ Leidy,” distinguished by having reached the greatest age of any spider known to science, finally died in the act of moulting when more than seven years old. Its death is another example of a fact which I had previously observed, that the act of moulting is frequently attended by dangers of one kind or another to spiders. It is common to find My Garden Pets, page 82. 2 One needs to distinguish between the word tarantula, which is the popular name for the huge Mygale of our southwestern States, and the genus Tarentula of the Lycosids. The Turret spider (L. arenicola) and my Tarentula (Lycosa) tigrina are closely related in habits and structure to the famous “tarentula” of Italy, and the well known Tarentula (Lycosa) Narbonensis. 104 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. specimens without one or more limbs, also with distorted and abbreviated limbs. I have frequently found males lacking several legs. The theory commonly adopted is that in most of these cases the loss has resulted from conflicts, perhaps among rival lovers in attendance upon the same female. Something of loss may be attributed to this cause, but I am satisfied that in a much larger degree losses and mal- formations are due to the accidents of moulting. One example I may cite, the loss of two limbs experienced by a large tarantula which I had kept under observation. This spider lay upon its back in the araneary during part of the time of moulting, and on its side during the remainder thereof. The skin was cast by a succession of movements of the body or parts of the body recurring at reg- Limbs ular intervals, reminding one of labor pains among mammals. ee. For some reason two of the legs refused to separate from the skin, and after a prolonged struggle they were broken off at the coxie, and remained within the moult. (See Fig. 64.) One foot of another go leg shared the same fate. This moult oc- curred in the spring ; during the latter part of August of the same year the spider again moulted. The moult was a perfect cast of the animal, the skin, spines, claws, and the most delicate hairs showing, and their cor- responding originals appeared bright and Moulting Dangers. Fic, 64, Cast skin of Mygale, showing stumps of legs broken clean upon the spider. CREE AUNTS When the castoff skin was removed the dissevered members were lacking thereon, but on the spider itself new limbs had appeared, perfect in shape but smaller than the corresponding ones on the opposite side of the body. The dissevered foot was also restored. ‘The rudimentary legs had evidently been folded up within the coxe, and appeared at once after the moult, rapidly filling out in a manner somewhat analogous to the expansion of wings of insects after emerging.! It is possible that the tarantula “ Leidy ” was too much exhausted by long previous fasting to endure the severe strain upon the organism in the act of moulting, although judging from the disjecta membra of the ’ ' See Proceedings Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1883, page 196. MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 105 skin recovered from the burrow it had succeeded in casting them all off without any mutilation. The spring of 1887 was a backward one, and I experienced great difficulty in procuring insects for food from the immediate neighborhood. The annual supply of grasshop- pers and locusts upon which I had relied came very late. Per- haps had the spider been strengthened by a few weeks generous feeding previous to its last moult it might still have been alive. Effect of Nourish- ment. WAM, With each moult spiders undergo a change in color and patterns more or less decided. Some species have such neutral colors and are so uni- formly marked that the differences are not decided; but some undergo such decided changes that different species haye been established for the same spider upon specimens taken after differ- ent moulting periods. In some species the colors and markings of the youngling, after the first moult or two, fairly represent the markings at maturity ; in others the difference is so great between the two stages of life that it is quite impossible to identify young individuals, or distinguish the young of several species with accuracy. Among the young of Lycosa and Attus, according to Wagner, these mod- ifications are effected with the female and male so equally and uniformly during the first four or five moults, and with Trochosa during the first six or seven moults, that one is scarcely able to distinguish the sex. With the final moults these distinctions become more and more marked, though not always to the same degree. The differences in relative length of legs and in the shape of the palps also begin to appear; for example, the male Trochosa singoriensis at the seventh moult equals in body size and rela- tive length of the legs those of the female at the sixth moult. The same is true of Attus. Among Orbweavers generally, and in spiders of various tribes observed, the change in color (and in form also) is most decided in the males; that is, the young male carries the typical colors and general shape of the adult female; the younglings of both sexes after the initial moults resemble each other perfectly, and tend to resemble the adult female. Thus the young male of Dictyna philoteichous bears a close likeness in color and pattern to the adult female; but after final moult the difference in color is quite marked, as well as in shape of palps and contour of body. Professor Peckham! finds a close resemblance between birds and _spi- ders in their moulting changes, and his special studies of the Attide are Color Changes. Change in Males. 1 Occasional Papers, Nat. Hist. Soc., Wisconsin, Vol. I., 1889, page 16, George W. and Elizabeth G. Peckham. 106 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. valuable and interesting. He concludes that when the adult male is more conspicuous than the adult female, the young of both sexes EOS closely resemble the latter in form and color. On the contrary, apes when the female is more conspicuous the young follow the more Attides, modest colors of the male, especially in the earlier moults. When the adult sexes resemble one another the young of both sexes favor the common type. As examples of the above, Phidippus johnsonii female has the abdomen red and black, with a white base and some white dots; the male is bright vermilion red, with sometimes a white band at the base. The young of both sexes resemble the less showy mother until the last moult, when the males assume their bright livery. In another species, Habrocestum splendens, which the Peckhams illus- trate with a good plate, the young during the first moults more closely resemble the female, which is the less showy sex. The male is a brilliant fellow, who dons his gorgeous livery at the last moult just as he becomes mature, though in some species the nuptial robe is acquired one moult before maturity. Among the Laterigrades the same rule obtains, several species of Thomisids showing greater brilliancy of color among the adult males, while the young males resemble the female until the last moult. In Sparassus smaragdalus! the female has a deep green body and legs of somewhat lighter shade; the male? has green corselet and legs, but the entire dorsum of the abdomen yellow, with a wide herring bone median stripe of red and the folium margined on each side with the same color. The young at the first moult are a dull whity-yellow color and grayish legs, but in subsequent moults are said to resemble the mother. - Figs. 65 and 66 will illustrate the difference resulting from the final moult of male spiders generally. The drawings are made from a male Zilla atrica, Fig. 65 being the form shortly before the last moult and Fig. 66 that of the mature male. In some species the difference between ma- OR abe eer eT ie Oe and immature palps is much more striking. Zilla atrica. Fic. 66. The same It is not correct to say that these modifica- vii mnabe tions are effected in the interval of the last moult alone. In point of fact the distinctions begin to appear earlier, but they are commonly so difficult to detect, and the apparent change effected during Lateri- grades. Fie. 65. Fic. 66. 1A fine female of this species with her cocoon and young was taken by Rev. W. F. Anderson, of Fordham, N. Y., on the mountains of Switzerland and brought to America safely. It was sent to me alive and lived several weeks. The young were all a dull yellow- ish color with livid legs, but I could not preserve them beyond the first moult. 2 Blackwall, Spiders Gt. B. & I., Vol. IL, pl. v., Fig. 61. x MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 107 the last moult is relatively so much greater, that one reasonably comes to locate the transformation within the last moulting period. In some cases, however, the coloration of the sexes is more strongly differenced during the stages previous to final moult. Thus the color of male Trochosas during the two or three last moults is notably clearer than that of females. With Attus, in the corresponding periods, one may observe the sexual peculiari- ties in color distinctly appearing, and that they deviate more and more intensely with each moult, until the last fixes the distinction. Like the male, the female awaits the final moult for perfect development, at which time the genital cleft is freely opened and the hood and scapus assume those various forms which serve as valuable specific characters. “Leidy,” one of my captive tarantulas, shed its skin several times. The first moult occurred some time in August (1882), I had been absent _ on my usual summer vacation, and returning August 31st saw ere the animal lying on the soil about the middle of its araneary, ie with its feet gathered together, looking dull, gray, and faded out, apparently dead. I shook the globe. No responsive motion fol- lowed, and I left without more careful observation, concluding that the spider was dead. I was not able to visit it again until the fifth day of September following. I threw off the cover of the globe and put my hand in to take out the dead body, which lay apparently in the same position, in order to preserve it in alcohol. At my touch the animal leaped to its feet, and as I hastily withdrew my hand it presented itself quite changed in appearance. The body was a fresh bright color, the cephalothorax a clean whitish gray, the head and fangs dark brown. The abdomen was black, with brown hairs covering it. The legs were black, with yellowish brown hairs and spines. I at once understood that the spider when first seen was in the torpid condition which usually immediately precedes the act of moulting. In the interval between my visits it had cast off its skin, which I found lying in a tolerably complete condition on one side of the glass. Another tarantula, a male, which I received when quite young, came to me a dull reddish brown, but during successive moults at last appeared a bright black brown, almost black. VIII. We may thus summarize the most important moulting phenomena, as above disclosed. 1. The first two moults of spiderlings occur within the cocoon or on the mother’s back; several occur before entrance Biologi- upon independent life, sometimes as many as four, 2. The cal Sum- i dividuals of a brood do not all moult at once, and those moult- syne ing first, having the greater strength, in some species feed upon the younger and weaker individuals; in these cases survival depends upon priority of moult. In other speqes cannibalism is absent or rare, and 108 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. early moulting gives no such advantage. 8. Young spiders moult rapidly and easily, and with little loss of vitality; therefore precautions against dangers incident to that period are scant or wanting. 4. The method of moulting is substantially the same in all species. 5. The head and thorax moult first; the old skin cleaves horizontally about midway of the latter, the shells escaping backward and upward and downward, the mouth parts adhering to the sternum moult; the pedicle splits longitudinally, holding the above parts severally to the upper and lower front of the abdomen. The abdomen next follows, the shell escaping backward entire; then follow the legs, which are withdrawn from the old sheaths downward by an interrupted series of muscular contractions and strains, usually escaping entire and in succession, beginning with the first pair. 6. The number of moults varies according to species, from seven to ten being the most common limit; these are made at intervals more or less regular, and at corresponding periods of time in individuals of the same species or even genera. 7. The periodicity of moult- ing is modified by amount of food, by temperature, and by causes affecting the spider’s normal health; it is wholly suspended by the pres- ence within the body of a larval parasite and by the prick of a wasp’s sting. 8. A period of relaxation and exhaustion, more extended and severe as age increases, follows the moult. 9. Many species protect themselves against this after-moult weakness by various precautions in accord with their social nesting habits, such as creeping into crannies and leaf-rolled dens, covering over burrows, et cetera. Sedentary spiders usually spin a moulting frame. ‘These precautions are commonly cotemporaneous with the increasing difficulty of moulting. 10. Changes in color and pattern, more or less decided, occur with the successive moults. 11. The young males and females are scarcely distin- guishable just after the first moult, but the difference grows more * distinct with successive moults until the last moult, when the animals are mature and the sexual characters distinctly marked; at this time the male form most widely diverges from that of the typical young. 12. The changes of skin are often attended with loss of limbs or parts thereof, and death sometimes results from inanition; the attendant weakness exposes the subjects to assaults of stronger congeners and alien enemies, so that moulting thus becomes a factor of danger to individual life, and so to the perpetuation of the species. Methods. Periodic- ity. Changes IX. We pass now from the biological phenomena of the moulting period to consider the physiological and histological processes and changes connected therewith. The most complete study gof these has been made by Mr. MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 109 Waldemar Wagner, the Russian savant, whose skillful and patient researches have heretofore been quoted. I shall draw chiefly upon his work “La Mue des Araignées ” for the material which it serves me to pre- Physio- sent here. For full information the student is referred to Mr. logical Wagner’s paper. It will sufficient] swer the to give Moulting #2 paper will sufficiently answer the purpose to giv Changes. * general notice of the development of the process, and to illus- trate these by quoting somewhat in detail, in the case of several organs, the genesis of the new skin and the rejection of the old. Ordinarily the matrix of spiders presents a layer of protoplasm with numberless cells. This is colored equally throughout, the cell, as usual, being more, the plasma less, intensely colored. As the moulting time approaches one ceases to observe this equality of coloration; the superior layers next the old cuticle are colored more and more feebly ; and finally, at the moment when the contingent layer ceases to be colored and _ loses its granulation, and when, consequently, we may rightly consider it as trans- formed into a chitinogenous layer, then the future tegument begins slowly to separate from the old. As the new skin is retracted from the old cuticle the interval thus formed is filled with liquid, in small quantity at first, but gradually increased with the enlargement of g¢ .... the cavity. The new tegument increases rapidly ; within the ceph- alothorax, not being able to have full exten- SEE DOU aetins Rte Ee Oct sion, it forms many folds (Fig. 67, fn.t), 07 fue folds fe destroying thereby the layer of the old tegument under the old (ot). cuticle, which is drawn from it, and from which it is disengaged little by little. On the abdomen one does not observe these foldings of the new skin, because the old is there so pliable that it does not impede the growth of the new. At the moment when the new hairs are completely formed there remain of the old skin, separated from the new, only the tubes which serve as sheaths for the new hairs; and, on the day of the moult or the day before, these sheaths are destroyed, and the liquid underneath the tegument disappears. The moult of the eyes takes place simultaneously with the other organs; the matrix in process of growth insinuates itself between the vitreous body and the preretinal envelope, the cells of which are in that way forced upward and lose their regular form. The moulting of all the eight eyes does not take place at once, but probably at differ- ent times. With Attus terrebratus, at least, the lateral eyes are the first to end their moult. For a period longer or shorter before the rejection of the old skin, according to the stage of development, spiders lose their sight, and after the moult vision is not restored all at once. During the moulting of the lungs breathing is difficult, but the time occupied therein is short. Two of the three layers which compose the Forming New Skin Byes an Lungs. 110 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. trachese are shed, the broken parts of the old tube remaining among the silk threads of the moulting frame, and all glands formed by ectoder- mic invagination also lose their linings. The pharynx, cesophagus, and rectum take” part in the moult, as do also the tendons, especially the muscles of the limbs, the matrix growing around the old tendon and forming a new one, while the old one atrophies and is cast away with the tegument. During moulting the number of spherical blood corpuscles, which usu- ally is only three to four per cent. of the total number of corpuscles, increases to ten per cent., almost all the red corpuscles being transformed into spheres. Want of movement during the process seems to be one but not the sole cause of this change in the condition of the blood; and it must be remembered that a development of all the internal parts of the body takes place at the moulting period, so that the casting off of the integuments, etc., is really but a secondary act. In the last stages of development, when the embryonic cuticle is secreted, according to Schimkevitch certain cells of the chitinogenous layer are aug- mented in dimensions, taking a spherical form and dispersing themselves under the chitinogenous layer, which forms above them something like a raised vault above the cuticle. These are the future hairs. The nuclei of these cells are of large size, but they are not very distinctly separated in con- tour from environing cells. Some time thereafter these cells increase in size, but their nuclei deviate proportionately less. These cells are already devel- oped immediately under the cuticle; it is evident that in growing they have pushed the chitinogenous cells against the sides. The contours of the trichogenous cells deviate more apparently, and the adjoining chitinogenous cells, from a contour ordinarily distinct, stretch out, taking a semilunar form and investing by their sides the trichogenous cells. The hair of spiders is a unicellular formation.! Mr. Wagner describes the origin of a new hair in detail. At a certain epoch in the life of spiders more or less preceding the moult, according a0 to the various species, the inferior layer of the old skin, as we Origin of }. ave alread is retracted from the others, and the interval New ave already seen, is retracte 1 ers, e Vv Hairs. thus formed is filled with liquid. The retraction is effected slowly. The sections made during that stage present the appear- ance of Fig. 70. The inferior layer of the cuticle (in.lr.ct.o, Fig. 70) is removed far from the other layers (ct.o), and the intervening space is filled with liquid (lq), which is so formed that it floats the tube which at the time has served to form the primitive hairs. The position in which one sees it in the figure is not the most common, but is quite rare; it is often seen bent up in one fashion or another next the seat of the hair. The Blood. Moulting of Hairs. 1W. Schimkevitch, “Materiaux pour la connaisance du deyeloppment des Araignées,” Memoirs Acad. Sci., St. Petersburg, 1886, Suppl. ant. LIT., No. 5. MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 111 While these things take place, one of the inferior trichogenous cells of the matrix (nw.hel) augments in size and stretches itself in the direction of the hair tube (tu.oh) in the form of a light papilla (nw.hel), which originates the new hair. Some time thereafter this papilla aes itself within the cavity of the old hair tube, perforating the layer of the matrix (mtx) situated above it. Sometimes, near the extremity of the new hair, as is shown in Fi ig. 68 (tu.oh), one sees also the imsbestnell tip of the new hair (nw.hr) standing up freely, and the remainder Fic. 68. Fic. 70. Fic. 68. New hair, nw.hr, shown within its old sheath, tu.oh, the tip exposed, and the base of the moult, mlt, pushed off. Fic. 69. Tip of new hair shown within the old sheath before moulting. FIG. 70. Sec- tion showing the origin of a new hair (after Wagner); in.Ir.cto, inferior layer of old cuticle, ct.o; 1q, liquid filling interval; tu.oh, tube or sheath of the old hair; ch.lr, chitinous layer; nw-hel, new hair cell; mtx, matrix; rt.nw.hr, root of new hair. References uniform in the figures. thereof enclosed within the sheath. At the same time is seen the pubes- cence upon the new hair, and its root (rtnw.hr, Fig. 68). The relations of the tip of the hair to the old tegument are shown at Fig. 69. At this epoch the liquid (lq, Fig. 70), which filled the space between the old and new skin, disappears; afterward the sheath of the new hair breaks and is seen entirely formed under the old skin. iy AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. xe The poison glands after the first moult are situated with Attus in the mandibles, and do not pass beyond those limits. Further on, as with the Lycosid (Trochosa), the inferior end of the gland is placed rather below the median line of the mandible. (Fig. 71, gly.) Afterwards the superior parts of the gland issue beyond the mandible for a third of their length (Fig. 72), and their inferior extremi- ties do not reach the median line of the mandible. Finally, after a series of moults, the gland is no longer found within the mandible, but extends wholly beyond it (Fig. 73), and is withdrawn farther and farther with every moult. At the same time the dimensions of the gland increase as well as the number of muscular fibres; a fact which gives us a measure of the phylogenetic development of any spider thus tested. With the’ genus Epeira the poison glands are relatively large. They are placed in the anterior part of the cephalothorax at some distance from the mandibles, with which they are joined by quite a long conduit. With the Clu- bionide these glands are of a much smaller size than with Epeira, and only a part thereof is found within the ceph- alothorax, the remainder of the gland being situated within the basal joint of the mandible. With the Mygalide the whole gland is located with- in the basal joint. It will thus be seen that the modi- fications in the poison gland accomplished by successive moults in advancing age are, first, the increase in MOoULTING OF POISON GLAND IN TROCHOSA, 1 6 R . Fic. 71. Venom gland, gl.v, at an early stage, inside the mandible ; S1Ze ; and, second, the change er, the duct. Fic. 72. Gland at further stage. Fic, 73. Gland of position. after final moult, withdrawn beyond the mandible. Poison Gland. cr FIG. 72. A study of the rejected moult of a spider shows well the thickened points of insertion of the muscles of the abdomen, which in that organ are, characteristically, immediately upon the cuticle. Upon the Abdomi- inferior or ventral part of the abdominal moult, according to nal Mus- ,,, j re : ae Aes Wagner, there are two median rows of thickenings, consisting of sixteen pairs, a little removed from one another (Fig. 74, Nos. 1-16); then two rows of lateral thickenings. (Fig. 74, Nos. 17-39.) These rows consist of twenty-three pairs of thickenings disposed first (near to the lungs) irregularly, and then in lines almost straight and parallel to the two medians. In all, there are on the inferior face of the abdomen thirty- nine pairs of thickenings, representing the points of insertion. Besides MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. 1138 these there is a large number of points of immediate insertion of the muscles upon the cuticle without thickening of the chitine at that point. Like conformations are observed upon the dorsal face of the abdomen. These are near the local thickenings tion of the dorso-ventral muscles, and in the interval comprised be- tween the lines of the local thick- enings upon the dorsal face and the lateral line of thickenings. (Fig. 74, Nos. 17 and 39.) An examination of rejected teg- uments shows the existence of two forms of points of insertion, which differ in structure and size. One considerable, of a sculpture tuber- culous upon the exterior (Fig. 75), and haying a row of cells and walls more or less thick upon the inte- rior. (Fig. 76.) Each of these cells serves for a point of immediate in- sertion upon a fasciculus of muscles, so that the number of cells indicates the number of fasciculi. The other mode of immediate insertion of the muscles shows no thickenings of the chitine; but one observes at these points upon the tegument certain Fic. 74. 7- presents a thickening, more or less, . of the chitine at the points of inser- (After Wagner.) Rejected tegument of spider's abdomen, ventral part, showing points for muscular attachment; 0, genital orifice; pr, pores; 1-16, sixteen pairs of points of insertion of two median series of muscles; 17-39, twenty-three pairs of points of inser- tion for two lateral series ; pou, gills. linear thickenings, hardly distinct, which indicate the limits of the point of insertion of the muscles and of each of the fibres taking part. One can hardly fail to note that the arrangement of these points of attachment indicates in a general way, and indeed with tolerable accuracy, Fic. 75. Fic. 76. Pornts OF INSERTION OF DoRSO-VENTRAL MUSCLES. Fic. 75. Exterior tuberculous sculpture, with thick- ening. (After Wagner.) Fic. 76. Interior cells, without thickening. the outlines of the markings which distinguish these animals. For the most part these are so grouped as \. to form a folium or rude figure of a leaf with various irregularities, as scallops and dentations, upon the edge. The thickenings first de- scribed are always of a yellow col- or, more or less intense; a color which is the dominant one in nearly all families of spiders showing decided hues. In the second form of attachment the cuticle is colorless and trans- parent. In both cases the skin above the points of insertion is without EE —— « 114 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. hairs, and the linear thickenings of the tegument, in approaching these points, surround them in concentric circles. I have heretofore suggested that all action of the muscles upon the abdominal tegument may have much influence in the distribution of color for the formation of various patterns which mark spiders. _ Fig. 77 represents the tarsus and metatarsus of a Lycosid foot (Taren- tula), taken from the rejected skin. The tendons by which the tarsus and claw are moved are shown within the leg, and one sees the thickening of the tendons (e.t) at their free ends upon which the muscles are inserted. The claw and the entire dentition thereof, as may be seen, have left a perfect cast in the moulted tegument. at, The tendon passes from the claw in the form of a thick double cord, traversing the tarsus apart and uniting at the articulation with the metatarsus, which joint is traversed nearly to the articulation with the tibia, where the cords join with the short stout muscles in- serted into the cuticle at that point. The silk glands in moulting undergo changes both in form and number, as*with the tubuliform glands of tarentula shown at Fig. 78, after the second and third moults. Three different forms of glands appear (gl 1, gl 2, gl 3), corresponding possibly with the ampullate, tubuli- Tendons of Foot. Silk Glands. Fic. 78. Silk glands of a ta- rentula at the periods of form, and pyriform glands of Epeira. second and third moults. final joints of a Ly- Adult spiders of the two sexes, according to Wagner, do Fic. 77. Moult of cosid foot, show- not always possess the same silk glands. The females have ing the tendons (e.t) that move the glands not observed in the males, which this author be- tarsus and claw. ieves serve to supply the cocooning silk. However, in the earliest stages of life the silk glands of the male and female are alike. XI. These physiological facts in the moulting processes of spiders Mr. Wagner has himself thus summarized: 1. The rejection of the old skin constitutes only a part of the moulting process, and that a sec- ondary one. 2. The processes of a moult, in some of their features, commence a comparatively long time before, and end after the rejection of the skin and in connection therewith. 38. The spider, partly before casting off the old skin, partly at the moment of the act, and even for a brief period afterward, is deprived of some of its faculties: of sight, Sum- mary. 1 Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, 1888, page 173. MOULTING HABITS OF SPIDERS. ales hearing, and touch, of movement, and even of respiration for a short time. 4. To the moult are subject most of the ectodermic and part of the meso- dermic products. 5. The blood corpuscles, which with spiders are formed at the expense of the endoderm, are subject at each moult to periodic modifica- tions, the final result of which is their proliferation. The number of red blood corpuscles increases from being three or four per cent. to become ten per cent. of the whole. 6, Cotemporaneously with the above named periodic processes of moulting are wrought certain constant processes of interior and exterior modifications, which are chiefly accomplished at the moulting period with which they are found in more or less direct connection. 7. The modifications to which spiders are subject during their post embryonic development are by no means limited to shape and to the final develop- ment of the genital organs. 8. With the moulting of spiders are connected certain special faculties, which are proper to the animal only during the moulting period, such, for example, is the faculty of renewing lost organs. Thus, if a spider’s foot be lost during that period of life within which it is subject to moulting changes, it will be renewed after every moult; but if a limb be lost after the same period it will never be restored. 9. In con- nection with one or another of its various moults, the spider is found in possession of certain provisional organs, some of which soon disappear, others only with sexual maturity. 10. Finally, it may be stated that the moulting processes of spiders are almost exactly similar to those of the larvee of insects which undergo an incomplete metamorphosis, as the Orthoptera, Pseudoneuroptera, and Hemiptera. CHAP TEAR, Wal: REGENERATION OF LOST ORGANS AND ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. i, THE regeneration of a spider’s lost legs and palps is a fact well known, and has been a subject of much observation, experiment, and speculation. In brief, it may be said that the action is the result of two Renewal processes, the atrophy of the old tissues and the formation of of Lost : 0 ; ; Organs, now which are effected simultaneously and in the same period of time. If a spider’s leg be severed by accident or amputated, all the tissues which fill the stump of the leg gradually disappear, and within the cavity so formed a new organ originates and is completely developed. Among early writers upon this phenomenon is Dr. Heineken, who reached the following conclusions:! (1) Spiders can not only reject a mutilated extreme joint, but reproduce it; (2) as the period of moulting ceases reproduction ceases also, even from the suture ; ken’s Ob-,, Ree : Fi 5 ae (8) the power of reproducing the limbs is restricted to certain ja ara periods of spiders’ lives, but as soon as the animal ceases to moult its skin, in other words, becomes adult, its limbs cease to be reproduced ; (4) until the growth of the limb was perfected, it appeared to Heineken that between the different moults little increase took place, and the act of moulting two or three times seemed to accomplish the full formation of the limb; (5) up to the period of the next moult the stump or suture, whichever it might be, remained externally unchanged; (6) the animal retired into a covering which it had woven for a day or two and then came forth with the limb or joint renovated. The above conchusions haye been since shown to be substantially correct. Some of his inferences, however, are not yet verified, for example, his experiments and observations which seemed to indicate that spiders possess the power of throwing off their joints at will, at least under cer- tain circumstances. A large Lycosa, dropped by him into boiling water, instantly parted with six legs at the sutures. Another Lycosa on being held by one hind leg instantly threw it off. I have met nothing that confirms these statements, and know no similar records; and do not believe Heine- 1 Experiments and Observations on the Casting Off and Reproduction of Legs in Crabs and Spiders by C. Heineken, M. D., Zoological Journal, Vol. IV., 1828-9, pages 284-294. (116) REGENERATION OF LOST ORGANS. 117 that spiders have the power to cast off limbs at will. The first example may have been a coincidence of the experiment with the full time for moulting, when the old tegument was just ready to be cast and was at once rejected through the sudden shock of the hot water plunge and the violent death struggles. The second case may haye been simply an actual loss of a leg by handling. Dr. Heineken, however, seemed to have no doubt as to the power of the animal to reject a leg. Moreover, he noted that the spiders which cast off crushed limbs were “hunters;” those which retained them the webmakers; a difference for which he accounts by supposing that the former, perhaps, have the strongest induce: ment to the act, as an inert and powerless joint would be a greater inconvenience to them than the loss of the whole limb. F urthermore, a webmaker, being of stationary habit, is less liable to accidents than the hunter, which is constantly on the moye, and generally exposed. On this point I may remark that I have often met Orbweavers with one, two, four, and even five legs wanting, the result either of moulting mishaps, or of adventures and battles with assailants of various sorts. It is not uncommon to find males in this condition, a consequence of the unfa- vorable attitude of females in courtship. One also occasionally finds spiders with contorted legs which we would think might better be off than on, did the aranead have the power of self amputation. Certainly, these lost and wounded limbs did not prevent the spinning of snares, for I have seen in two cases, at least, an Orbweaver with all the legs wanting on one side weaving an efficient web. Mr. Francis R. Welsh writes me that he saw an Orbweayer, which was probably Epeira insularis, that had lost seven of its feet (not legs) grasp with its spinnerets a spiral of its web, underneath which it hung, and hang thereto by the spinnerets only. It did not attach a dragline. It afterwards hung and moved by bowing its legs over the spirals of its web. A loss of this peculiar nature would probably have been occasioned by impeded moulting, and illustrates not only the perils of this act, but also the spider’s power of adapting itself to extraordinary disadvantages. Blackwall has published several important papers on this subject.! But for the most thorough and satisfactory studies of the regeneration of excised members we are indebted to Mr. Waldemar Wagner. Meer S his enthusiastic araneologist has pursued the entire histological W ork. : development of certain organs, especially the legs, from the moment of amputation until the appearance of the new limb, and I shall undertake to interpret, substantially, the facts as recorded by him.? Self Am- putation. 1See, as already quoted, Trans. Linn. Soc., Vol. XVI., pages 482-84; Proceed. Brit. Assn. Adve. Sci., Vol. XIV., pages 70-74, and Spid. Gt. Brit. and Ir., Introduction, page 7. 2“Ta Regeneration des Organes Perdus chez les Araignées.” Voldemar Wagner. Bull. d. 1. Soc. Impér. des Naturalistes de Moscow, 1887, No. 4. 118 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. If. According to this observer, if a spider (Trochosa) lose a foot while very young, it will be restored at the last moult with such perfection that it cannot be distinguished from the others. If the member be lost at a more advanced age, after the eighth or ninth moult, it will be renewed imperfectly, and although the number of joints will be complete the restored limb can easily be distinguished. This is illustrated in Fig. 79, a drawing of the Huntsman spider, Heteropota ven- atoria, a specimen which I obtained in Florida, one of whose hind legs is seen to be shorter than the other, a moulting defect. In such cases the defective limb is usually not only shorter but smaller, of paler color and with less numerous hairs. Such a fact indicates that Nature has provided a certain amount of vital force and substance, for the exigen- cies of a spider’s life, which cannot wholly answer the draughts made by the regeneration of adult limbs, although responding invariably to the Lost Limbs. Fic. 79. Huntsman spider with one leg (4) shortened in moulting. recuperative demands of early life. I have already referred to another case in point, a large tarantula, when speaking of the dangers of the moulting period.! As to the relative perfection with which lost limbs are reproduced, Blackwall considered it to be in inverse ratio to the extent of injury. Thus he found that palps and legs detached at the coxa were Imperfect ysually reproduced symmetrical but diminutive; while those Rep aeag amputated at the articulation of the digital with the radial joint, and near the middle of the tibia or of the metatarsus, were always much larger and unsymmetrical when restored. In point of fact, therefore, the development of the new limb depends upon the vital capacity of the undetached part. Thus, if a leg be amputated near the middle of 1See Chapter V., above. REGENERATION OF LOST ORGANS. 119 the metatarsus the whole portion between that joint and the body will be reproduced of the same dimensions as the corresponding parts on the opposite leg; but the severed metatarsus and the tarsus will reappear much diminished. Precisely corresponding results follow similar excisions of any other joint.! In order to define the time necessary for regeneration of a lost limb Wagner cropped the feet of a number of subjects of different ages. He found that if the foot was amputated a little before the moulting period it was not renewed after the act, but instead a whitish papilla was seen in the stump where the future organ originates. After the next succeeding moult the member appeared small, pale, short, but after the moult next following that it was thicker and more like the normal. If the leg were amputated immediately after a moult it would be restored during the interval preceding the next moult. As a general rule it may be announced that a lost organ is restored in a period of time equal to that which separates two successive moults at that stage in the development of the spider during which the limb is age lost. If the foot of a spider is removed only two or three days icity o : 3 i : : . Bethe after a moult, a new limb is formed in the period which remains Giiora. until the following moult. For example, if the leg of Trochosa be removed during the period of the second moult, the forma- tion of a new member requires only five days, as that number is just the period which separates the second moult from the third. If the leg be cut away in the period of the sixth moult, a new one is formed in the space of ten days, because between the sixth and seventh moult there is an interval of from ten to twelve days. Thus, if the leg is clipped one or two days after a moult, a new member will ordinarily have time to form before the following moult. On the contrary, should a leg or a part thereof be removed at a period, before the moult next to follow, shorter than that naturally required at that stage of development for complete renewal, then the appearance of a new member will be deferred until another moult shall occur;? that is to say, two moults must intervene before the lost part is made good. For example, Mr. Wagner cut off the leg of a Trochosa four days after the sixth moult; the seventh moult took place ten days thereafter, but a new limb was not then formed, and did not appear until the next following moult, viz., the eighth, which occurred eighteen days after the seventh. In such a case, and all others, the stump of the severed limb, healed and overclosed by its chitinous cicatrix, retains the same appearance until replaced by the new member. This process of regeneration will be continued, as often as losses occur, during that period of life when the spider is subject to moult, that is to 1 Blackwall, Brit. Spid., Int., page 8. 2 Blackwall also observed this fact. 120 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. say, until complete sexual maturity. After that period no lost organ or part thereof will be renewed, no matter how long thereafter the spider may live. The function is thus evidently designed to favor the maturity of the species and so insure its continuance. IOUT, As has been said, the regeneration of lost organs is the result of two processes, equally important and interesting, the atrophy of the old tissues and the formation of new. If one cuts off a spider’s foot all the Atrophy {issues which fill up the remainder of the limb disappear, and cin simultaneously a new organ is originated and completely devel- ’ oped within the cavity of the joint from which the old tissues have been atrophied. Immediately after the operation Nature begins to cover up the wound, the blood cells form a thick cellular mass, which in the course of three days is formed into a hard, dark scab, which serves as a stopple to the open wound. This is shown at Fig. 80, and a longitudinal sec- tion at Fig. 81. In Fic. 80. Fic. 81. the latter, one sees the Fic. 80. View of healed stump of a spider’s amputated limb. Fic. 81. Lon- o]q cuticle (ct) united gitudinal section of same; ctx, the cicatrix; ct, cuticle; mss, granular 5 mass next the cicatrix ; ch.c, chitinized cells; b.c.a., amceboid blood cells; with the scab, and the b.c.r., red blood cells. chitinous membrane under which is the row of deep cells of the matrix (Mtx). Immediately under the surface of the cicatrix les a mass (mss) of unstratified bea granular matter, next to which is a nest of cells arranged in ion o 2 : Asc OF ede oho 2 Gicatrix, OWS one above another, gradually diminishing in length and receding into the cavity beneath. Of these the upper tier are “chitinized” cells (ch.c), and the remainder blood cor- 0. ctx B puscles, both red (b.c.r) and ameceboid (b.c.a). The transi- : tion or destruction of these cells, and their metamorphosis into the structureless mass of the covering cicatrix, is accomplished gradually. Now the matrix, which alone of all the tissues does not undergo entire degeneration, begins to retract little by little from the cuticle, thus parting from the Wide aE : cicatrix. It commences at the top of the joint stump when matrix, tion of sthiviwh Rt decaragannrosaniated Mtx, begins to re- Matrix, Within whose cavity its ends are approximated. tract; a,B, lower and It is withdrawn more and more, forming above — upper cavities; O, ori- : fice between them; the old tissues a sort of cupola, to use Wagner’s word. cicatrix, ctx. FIG. 82. Retrac- REGENERATION OF LOST ORGANS. pL This may be seen in the series of figures 82, 83, 85. At first the cupola and the cavity beneath are large (Figs. 82, 83), but as the tissues that fill the cavity decay and disappear they diminish more and more (Figs. 85, 86), shrinking gradually towards the base of the joint. The tissue of the matrix is only atrophied in part; really, it is in those parts which converge above the cavity of the joint at the summit of the cupola, that is to say, where the amputation has produced a rent, that one observes the regeneration of the fatty tissue. The deep regular cells seen at the junction (Mtx) entirely disappear, and also afterward the part contiguous to the matrix. is The red blood cells, after part of them have been regenerated and given birth to the cicatrix, dis- Mtn pose themselves in different : parts of the joint. They glide between the fibres of muscles and into the clefts which are formed by their gradual bending. ae 4 The orifice form- eee ed after the oper- ation at the sum- mit of the joint between the fragments of the matrix (Fig. 84, O), in spite of the gradual approximation of the extremities of the ma- trix (Figs. 85, 86, O), re- mains open. In the degree that the summit of the cupola sinks the orifice becomes narrower, which, PN however, does not hinder are Oy G the blood cells from pen- Fic. 83. A transverse section of the stump of a foot eighteen days after etrating thereby from the amputation; Mt.r, place in the matrix where the regeneration of grease is seen; Ms, muscles; gl.g, globules of grease; p.g, portions lower part of the cavity of of grease; pt. 1, part of the new formed foot next the base; pt. 3, o 8 . A extremity of the same; pt. 2, part between the above two; Ms.n, the joint (Figs. 85, 86, A) muscles of the new formation; ct.n, cuticle of same; chg.n, chi- into the upper part situ- tinous layer of same; c.am, free nuclei of red blood cells; c.sa, amceboid blood cells; ¢j, color cells. Faepy <0 = hy oD ated above the cupola (Figs. 85, 86, B), to contribute to the work of nourishing the new limb. It is only when the new organ (Fig. 86) is completely formed that those disap- pear. At that epoch the extremities of the old matrix, then sunken almost to the base of the stump, are joined, and the orifice between the cavities below and above the cupola is closed. Shortly thereafter the process of the disappearance of the old tissues ends. 122 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. IV. The atrophy of the muscles begins by their regeneration into globules of grease (gl.g, Fig. 83), which, as the process progresses, are conjoined, embracing one another without interblending, forming large drops Atrophy or portions of grease (p.g), whose ultimate role is to undergo ceging decomposition and serve as nutritive matter. Three days after amputation these fatty globules may be seen among the fibres of the muscles, and along with them blood corpuscles; the latter undergo modification in size, increasing to three or four times their original volume. It appears that the regeneration of the grease does not continue until the final disappearance of the muscles, but extends to the epoch at which the transverse striation disappears. Eighteen or nineteen days after amputation the muscles that had decayed from the joint show fine fibrilles, without transverse striation, which generally disappear very gradually and slowly. A few days there- after there remain only a few fragments of muscular tissue floating within a structureless mass, wherein the blood cells, which they there meet under their special forms, put an end to their activity, and destroy the final remainders of mortification. Fig. 83 presents a view of the process as above described, which is rep- resented in the lower part of the drawing beneath the cupola formed by the retracted matrix. Here is indicated the point in the matrix where Origin the regeneration of fatty globules has begun (Mt.r); the globules of New ; 3 Z eee ee and drops of grease (gl.g, p.g) are seen floating in the struct- ureless mass of nutritive material which is being recruited by the decay of the muscles. One sees the distribution of this material through the orifice in the cupola, into the upper cavity of the stump, and therein the new limb is seen in process of formation. The part next the base of the new joint is shown at pt 1; that which is to form: the tip at pt 3, and the middle part of the neoformation at pt 2. V. Soon after amputation, three to five days with spiders of middle age, in that part of the matrix which at this epoch is retracted from the cuticle, one sees appearing upon the superior or dorsal part of Origin the cupola an excrescence or papilla. (Fig. 84, pt.) The matrix of New : . ea . : 3 : Teak’ and the conjunctive tissue beneath it are bent, and thus form this excrescence. The cavity of this excrescence contains blood cells. This papilla grows rapidly in length and soon bends at the summit. (Fig. 85, pt.) At this epoch its basal part begins to articulate, presenting thus the first joint of the foot, the basal joint, pending which the others do not exist at all. This joint is the thicker part of the neoformation. REGENERATION OF LOST ORGANS. 123 (Fig. 85, ar.) It afterwards increases from one end to the other more equally in length than in width, and nineteen or twenty days afterward, with a tarentula of middle age, it presents an organ long, almost com- pletely formed, gradually diminishing from the base towards the extremity, and much twisted. The articulations of this organ are formed successively from the base towards the periphera, the second forms after the first, the third after the second, ete. Consequently, this process is accomplished nearly as that described by Clarapede! for Lycosids in their embryonic period. Thus is accomplished successively the isolation of the tissues be- tween the base of the joint and its extremity. Pending this, near the base of the foot, one readily observes muscular fibres (Fig. 88, pt 1, and Ms.n), and on the surface a chitinous membrane (ct.n), a little elongated at the base. (Fig. 83, pt 2.) Here one does not notice that the muscles are isolated, or anything but chitinous teg- ument (ct.n); the tip of the foot (pt 3) only the chitino- genous layer is isolated. Sections of this new organ at different stages of its development show that it first originates the ma- trix of the papilla ; its cells SERIES SHOWING THE GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW LIMB at its periphera are in im- WITHIN THE OLD STUMP. mediate contact with the Fic. 84. Side view, showing on the retracted matrix, Mt, a small . . papilla, pt, the beginning of the new leg. Fic. 85. A further blood, environing: the neo- stage of growth; ar, base of the new organ. FIG. 86. New limb formation. In the mean- just before the moult, folded up within the stump. Other let- ters as above. (After Wagner.) Fic. 84. FIG. 85. time, as the neo- ey formation grows, the exterior layer of the matrix is more and Hairs, more feebly colored; at this epoch the superficial part may be regarded as chitinous tegument. The tegument is very fine, and does not form simultaneously upon all the neoformation, but gradually, its growth extending from the base towards the periphera. Thus the neofor- mation presents, from the exterior inwardly, first, a chitinous tegument ; second, a chitinogenous layer beneath it; third, the matrix, Within the latter the hairs originate from elongated trichogenous cells, in no way differing from that already described during moulting,? except, of course, that no sheath of the old skin appears in the process. The above statements present the general features of the processes from which results the regeneration in spiders of a lost organ. Mr. Wagner adds the following deductions: 1. The blood corpuscles, under the influence of certain conditions, are subject to metamorphosis, the final result of which is the formation of a tissue which resembles chitine. 2. The 1 Recherches sur l’evolution des Araignées. 2See Chapter V., Fig. 13. 124 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. matter of those tissues which are atrophied and undergo the regenera- tion of the fat benefits the organism in three ways: First, in transmitting that matter by means of the amceboid blood cells, which assim- ilate and plasmatically digest it, essentially after the regeneration of grease becomes less intense, and even appears to have touched its limit. Second, in transmitting the matter by means of the red blood cells which assimilate it by absorption. Third, by means of globules of grease, which in themselves present certain forms whose role is to transport the nutritive matter into the whole body. 38. It is doubtful whether, without codperation of blood cells, regeneration of fatty tissues would proceed to complete disappearance; if it could occur it would be after a considerable and indefinite time. 4. The process of degeneration of muscular tissue in spiders, in its general traits, suggests that of vertebrate animals. Deduc- tions. WAL In the descriptive matter to which the second part of this volume is devoted certain terms and abbreviations are used that require explanation MR VvVMR and illustration, which it seems best to * i a Nomen- insert together at this point for con- clature of : z ; . venience of reference. The quadrilat- Descrip- ee 3 Fon eral described by the middle group of four eyes (MF and MR) is called the ocular quadrilateral, or more commonly “ ocular quad” (Fig. 87, oc.q), as at once a brief and definitive term. The ocular area or eye space Fic. 87. Face of orbweaver; cly, (es) is that part of the face over which the eight clypeus; es, eye space; MF, MR, eyes are distributed. The curvature of the eye midfront and midrear eyes; SF, , aA et ee SR, sidefront and siderear eyes; TOWS forms an important characteristic in deter- eS e dete Co Vee mining species. The rows are said to be pro- curved when the concavity is directed forward toward the mandibles, ‘and recurved when the concavity is directed backward. When the row is straight, or nearly so, it is said to be “aligned,” or nearly so. In deter- mining the curvature the o-8 . (eX) eye rows have been looked [®) @ 9 © 2 12 at from the front, and a little be- low the horizon of the front row. Tieeeet Tee meta It is often difficult to determine the CurVATURE oF EYES. = eee — = sie ale Fic. 88. Front row recurved, rear row procurved. FIG. 89. exact curvature, especially as it dif- Both rows procurved. Fic. 90. Front row nearly aligned, ers with the point of vision. In _ Slightly recurved, rear row procurved. Fig. 88 the front row of eyes is recurved, the rear row slightly procurved ; in Fig. 89 the front as well as the rear row is procurved; in Fig. 90 the front row is nearly aligned, the rear procurved. The Eyes 1See Wagner, “Du Sang des Araignées.” ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. 125 In measuring the eyes, the unit for determining the distance between any two, as MF or MR, is the diameter of the pair under considera- tion. In measuring the distance between the middle group of eyes, whether of the front or rear row, and the side group, the unit of measure is usually the linear space occupied by the same, that is, the distance from outer margin to outer margin; in other words, the width of the front or rear sides of the middle quadrilateral. This line is spoken of technically as the “area” or the “alignment.” (Fig. 87, ar.) Thus the area of MF is the line from the outside of one midfront eye to the outside of the other. Sometimes the space between the midfront eyes is also used as a unit. The clypeus (cly, Fig. 87) is that part of the face lying between the front row of eyes and the anterior lower margin thereof, where it meets the mandibles. The clypeus is spoken of as “high” or “ low,” as Clypeus the space above named is greater or less; or sometimes the words see “wide” and “narrow” are used as equivalent to the above. The height or width of the clypeus is measured by the dis- tance of its margin from the two midfront eyes, and the diameter of one of these is the unit for such measurement. The views of the epigynum or external part of the female genital, in the various plates, are taken with the spider lying upon the back and the observer looking down upon her CEPHALOTHORAX AND PARTS THEREOF. from. the direstion of the spinner. Tet. Or, consis ce ome ees, & matt ets. The drawings therefore show cap, caput; mg, margin of corselet; c.su, cephalic the lower side of the organ unless [hn"saa' mouth parts, Sir, sternum; s.co, sternal otherwise specified. cones; ba, base of sternum; ap, apex of same; lab, The following terms are used in "5 ™ ™Maxilin. describing the cephalothorax: The dorsal part is known as the “ corselet ” (Fig. 91, ers), of which the posterior part is the base (ba), and this is usually smooth, truncated, and indented where overhung by the abdomen. The depression on the summit is the median fosse, or simply “fosse” (fs); the slight furrows extending from the fosse to the insertion of the legs are “corselet grooves” (c.g) or furrows. The line of union between caput and corselet is the “cephalic suture” (¢.su) ; that part of the head extending from the suture to the vertex I have called the caput (cap), as distinguished from the vertex or forehead and the face. The under part of the cephalothorax is the sternum (Fig. 92, str), which is a more or less oval or cordate or subtriangular shield, sometimes much indented or scalloped at the coxai insertions and pointed at the base (ba). Opposite the coxze, in some species, are slight eminences technically referred Cephalo- thorax. 126 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. to as “sternal cones,” or simply “cones” (s.co). The labium (lab) and maxille (mx) are also shown in Fig. 92. VII. The parts of the abdomen referred to in description are as follows: The dorsum (Fig. 98, do) is the rounded top of the back, of which the anterior part is called the “base” (ba), and the posterior the Oe apex” (ap). The “folium” (fol) is a leaflike figure which usually occupies one-third or more of the middle part, extending longitudinally from base to apex. The median line (mn) of the dorsum often has a deeper shade of color than the edges of the folium. The blackish “ pits,” or round dark spots (pt), symmetrically arranged in pairs on each side of the median line of the folium, indicate points of attachment for internal pda- muscles. The venter (vn, Fig. 94) is the part lying between the epi- gynum (ep) and gills (gi) and the spinnerets (sp) ; pits or dimples may also be seen on the venter symmetrically arranged as on the dorsum. The median ventral band is FG BB) as eer ear usually bordered by a Fic. 93. Dorsal view; pd, pedicle uniting to cephalothorax; ba, base or strip of lighter color fre peck spate cone o: shally ei Talay Ade iro en alee a mn, median line of dorsum. FIG. 94. Side view; vn, venter; ep, epi- When the abdomen is gynum; gi, breathing gills; other references as above. thickened at the apex, the space between the dorsal and ventral apex is known as the apical wall of the abdomen. On either side or shoulder of the dorsal base some species have conical prominences known as dorsal cones or tubercles (d.co). These are sometimes placed at several other points, usually along the mar- gin of the dorsum. In some species these are hard and spinous. The exterior parts of the epigynum referred to in the description are illustrated at Figs. 95, 96. The atriolum vyulve, or vulval porch, is a vaulted porch or hood that curves over the genital opening, in front of which (anterior) it is located. It is usually chitinous, and covered at the base with hairs. The middle part in many species is prolonged into a shaft or scapus atrioli, which is sometimes a mere flap, and again is much lengthened. Sometimes it is smooth, some- times wrinkled or rugose, often with a row of stout: hairs thereon. Fre- quently it is grooved or hollowed along the under surface. The tip is more or less attenuated and rounded, or sometimes pointed; in many species it is widened into a bowl or spoon, usually oval, but sometimes Epigy- num. ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. 127 nearly circular. This part of the scapus I have termed the cochlear or spoon (cch, Fig. 95). I believe that the scapus serves as an ovipositor, to assist in the direction and arrangement of the eggs as they are extruded. It has occurred to me to inquire whether there exists any relation be- tween the peculiar shape of the scapus and the character of the cocoon laid by the female, es- pecially in the position and arrangement of the eggs ; but I have reach- VIEWS OF EPIGYNUM AND Parts. ed no generalization on Fic. 95. Lower part, that js, the part next the ground when the spider is 3 2 Fi walking ; at, atriolum; scp, scapus; ech, the cochlear or spoon of the this point. It 1s prob- scapus; po, portule; gc, genital cleft. Fic. 96. Side view, to show the able that this organ al- parm or buckler; other references as above. so aids to clasp and direct the palpus of the male, or at least to regulate the flow of the sperm, in the act of fertilization. In some species, as Epeira labyrinthea, Fig. 96, there is thrown up a sort of wall in front of the scapus and on the anterior margin of the genital cleft, which I have termed the parmula, or simply the parm or buckler (par, Fig. 96). In some species at least, as in Fig. 96, there appears a groove or channel in the median part, indicating that this may also aid in directing the eggs during extrusion, or again in guiding the inflow of the sperm. Underneath the vulval porch are (usually) two concave openings or little gates, portulie spermathece (po), which receive the sperm from the male palp, whence it flows from Oviducts: cach portula through a duct, aditus Sperma- A eee . Rie spermathecee (ad.sp), sometimes simple, sometimes much convoluted; into the spermathece (s.th). Thence another smaller duct, the oviduct (ovd), admits the sperm to the eggs (ov). The ovary also has an opening into FG, 97. View of epigynum in connection an ; 5 ae with ovaries (partly diagrammatic); the portule, by which the eggs are discha1 ged atr, atriolum po, portule; sep, seap- when cocooning. The epigynum is subject to us; sp, cochlear or spoon; ad.sp,aditus | eo B ‘= nae: spermathece, sperm duct; sth, sper- immense variations in form, and these varla- mathecw ; ov, the eggs; ovd, oviduct. tions are nearly constant for every species ; hence they are good specific characters. I have not been able to find in them any fixed generic value, although there is often a noticeable tend- ency to a general likeness of form in any closely related group of species.? 1T hesitate somewhat to propose the above anatomical terms, as the field is one which I have not specially cultivated. 128 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. VIII. It is now generally believed by araneologists that the digital joint or bulbus of the palp is the copulative organ of male spiders. We are indebted to the careful observations of Menge! for the discovery Use of of the method by which the male transfers the sperma from his cara sexual aperture to his palps, and so, through the palps, to the vulva of the female. Blackwall, however, with that keenness of observation and judgment which characterized this distinguished English naturalist, independently observed the process.2 A male Agalena labyrin- thica confined in a phial spun a small web, and among the lines of which it was composed he perceived that a drop of milklike fluid was suspended. He had not observed how it was deposited, but saw that the spider by the alternate application of his palpal organs speedily imbibed the whole of it. The conclusion which he derived from this circumstance was to con- firm the acute suspicion of M. Dugés that the palpal bulb alternately performs the office of an absorbing syphon and an organ of ejection. The fact first made known by Menge has been abundantly confirmed by Ausserer* and Professor Bertkau,® and later by Mr. F. M. Campbell,® and in part by the author.? The former belief that the testes have their outlet into the palp has now very few, if any, advocates. Those who have most carefully studied _ _ the anatomy of spiders, from the earliest to the latest students,® Location bye found that no connection whatever can be traced between of Testes. : : . the organs which prepare the spermatic fluid and the palps, and that the testes are far from these latter organs, on the under side of the abdomen, near its anterior extremity, in a position corresponding to the female vulva. The little slit there, on which the efferent ducts of the testes have their orifices, may sometimes be seen with the naked eye or a simple magnifying lens. Under such circumstances one may well ask with Thorell,? what is more natural than to suppose that the sperma, previous to coition, is in some way or other transferred to the intromittent organs, the palps? That this transmission always takes place in the manner directly observed by Menge in the case of Agalena and Linyphia is indeed Ueber die Lebenweise d. Arachn. Naturf. Gessellsch. in Danzig, IV., I., pages 39-41 (1843) ; Preuss. Spinn. f. inst. I., page 106 (1866). ? Journal Proceedings Linn. Soc. Zool., VII., pages 157, 158. * Obsery. sur les Aran., Ann. d. Soc. Nat. Ser. Zool., VI., pages 189, 190. *“Beobactungen tiber die Lebenweisse,” etc., Zeittchr. Ferdinandeums, 1867. °“Ueber den Generations apparat der Arachniden,”’ Arch. Nat. Gesch., 1875, page 254. °“ Pairing of Teg. guyonii,’ Linn. Soc. Jour. Zool., XVI., 163. 7See Vol. IL, page 41 and page 73. * Trevrranus, Ueber d. inneren Bau d. Arachn., page 77, tab. iv., Fig. 33 (1812); Mrnar Preuss. Spinn., I., pages 32, 33 (1866). * Synonyms Europ. Spid., page 593. ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. 129 not proved, and it is possible that the male sometimes applies the genital bulbs to the sexual aperture, and thus charges them with the fertilizing fluid, a fact which Menge seems to suspect may be the case with Lycosa rurestris.1 That this transfer is so seldom observed, and by so few persons, will not excite wonder on the part of one who has devoted much time to the study of the habits of these reticent creatures, and who knows the difficulty of obtaining a complete observation of even the most common of its habits. Possibly the extrusion of the sperma by the male upon the little silken receptacle from which it is absorbed into the palps takes place very rapidly; or it may be done long before the act of fertilization; perhaps, as Thorell suggests, immediately after the last change of the skin. The ,Cymbium is that part of the modified digital joint of the male spider’s palpus upon which is placed the copulatory apparatus which it sustains. In many species of Orbweavers it covers one side of the digital, having or the appearance of the half of a seed husk, or shell of grain, and is covered more or less thickly with hairs and bristles. (See Fig. 98, cym.) The alveolus (alv) is the concavity in the cymbium within which is located the copulatory apparatus proper. Its form depends upon the structure of the cymbium, with 4 certain spiders oeeu- aly. Bann. aly . pyaue half of the sur Fic. 98. Digital joint of palp of a male spider (after Wagner), face, in which case the cym- schematic longitudinal section of the eymbium with the copu- bi hs tl f 5 f latory apparatus drawn out; emb, embolus; teg, tegulum; lum has the form OF a Canoe. mea.san, meati sanguinis, minute ducts for conducting blood With others it is smaller, as from the hematodocha (hem) into the receptaculum semi- O 5 nis, rec.sem; the arrows indicate the course of the blood; with Segestria, for example ; gla.cl, glandular cells; alv, the alveolus or hollow of the cym- with others again larger and _ bium in which the apparatus rests. occupying the whole surface of the cymbium. The simpler the structure of the apparatus the less is the alveolus in circumference and depth, and vice versa. The more complicated is the apparatus the more space it embraces in every sense. The alveolus serves as a seat for the Heematodocha (haem), a follicule placed in the form of a spiral, and intended with some spiders to serve as a seat for the copulatory apparatus itself. The alveolus has no inde- pendent significance ; its form and size in its development are dependent Transfer of Sperm. Cym- bium. em b. rec. sem. £ i quiol ywqrqn2 Alveolus. 1 Lebensweise d. Arach., page 45. 130 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. upon other parts of the apparatus. The Glandular Cells (gl.c) are situated at the margin of the alveolus. The chitinous teguments above these in the cymbium are pierced by a number of ducts, which eventually serve as conduits for the secretions of the cells. The Heematodocha is a delicate chitinous saclike organ, of which the bottom is inserted into the alveolus, and the superior margin into the inferior face of the tegulum. Thus the entire basal part (recep- taculum seminis), which is situated under the tegulum, is within the cavity of the sac. The walls of the heematodocha are very thin and plaited, so that if the sac be full it is able to attain large dimen- sions. In its ordinary condition with most spiders it is folded in a spiral and situated within the alveolus. The bottom part, by which the sae is attached to the concavity of the alveolus, has a round orifice (orificium heematodochz, or-hem), which unites the cavity with the lacuna of the cymbium situated beneath. Mr. Wagner says that during fecundation the hematodocha is not filled with sperm, as certain observers suppose, but at that moment is filled with ‘blood. Its role is to transmit, under pressure of its elastic walls, the blood which has conie to the lacuna into the cavity of the receptaculum seminis, through certain fine ducts (meati sanguinis), by which the cavity of the receptaculum is united with the cavity of the sac. It follows that the function of the heematodocha is that by its means the blood takes part in fecundation by penetrating, although in small quantity, along with the sperm into the genital cavity of the female. Upon the superior part of the copulatory apparatus, and in part within the cavity of the hematodocha under the tegulum, is situated a tube with thick, chitinous walls, which in different species of spiders differs Recepta- in shape, length, and position. This is the receptaculum seminis culum : ; : Seminis. (rec-Sem). The extremity of that part situated under the tegulum, the basal part of the tube, is always closed. ‘The opposite end ter- minates in an orifice at the summit of the embolus (emb). At the moment of fecundation the receptaculum is filled with sperm. Its role is as follows : Shortly after the moult it is filled with sperm, which the male has forced from his genital orifice upon a woven thread or tissue previously prepared. He plunges his palp into his drop of sperm, which, by the law of capil- larity, mounts into the receptaculum through the orifice (or) of the embolus, the only organ of the copulatory apparatus that receives and conserves the sperm. The sperm can only be discharged by the orifice of the embolus through which it entered. The slender ducts (meati sanguinis), which serve “to unite the receptaculum with the cavity of the heematodocha, are of such extreme fineness that they cannot serve as a conduit for the sperm into the hematodocha, and it is only the blood plasm which, under the pressure of the walls of the hematodocha, can be made to penetrate into the cavity of the receptaculum. Consequently, the role of the latter is Heemato- docha. ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. i331 that of a passive organ, receiving the sperm and transmitting it into the genital cleft of the female under the pressure of the blood which enters into the heematodocha through the meati sanguinis. The receptaculum, in the region of the embolus, is throughout its whole length fine, smooth, and without pores. Further toward its closed extremity is a mass of minute ducts which pierce the walls, and which Blood : sre Duets. Wagner has named meati sanguinis, blood ducts. All spiders are provided with these ducts, and their role is to serve as con- duits to the blood from the hematodocha into the receptaculum. The Tegulum is a quite thick plate of chitine serving to cover in from above and to protect the receptaculum. Many spiders, as the Attids, Thom- isids, and others, have here no chitinous conformation except the tegulum ; but spiders which have a more complicated organism of this apparatus are provided with many other auxiliary organs, in the form of lamin, dentations, and excrescences of the most unique and varied forms. The embolus is an organ of a chitinous nature, for the most part subiliform or having the form of a switch. At its extremity there is a small orifice (Fig. 98, or), by which the sperm enters and issues. The articulation of the embolus with the tegulum may be mobile or immobile. The action of the above parts is as follows: The male applies to the genital cleft of the female the exterior face of his palp, and by numerous contractions of the abdomen, in which the subcutaneous muscles take part, forces the blood through the orifice into the cavity of the hematodocha, which it expands, pushes out the copulatory appa- ratus, and having by way of the blood ducts penetrated into the cavity of the receptaculum seminis, impels the sperm through the embolus into the genital cleft of the female. When the blood begins to abate, returning into the body of the male it fills anew the sac as full as at first, an opera- tion which is repeated until fecundation is terminated; then the palp is withdrawn from the genital cleft, the heematodocha contracts, and the tegulum resumes its position. The Role. 1TLa Mue des Araignées, M. Waldemar Wagner, Ann. Se. Nat. Zool., 1888, 367-371. 5) ea i ee Te DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. Amone Orbitelarie I include, with Thorell, all spiders that spin a so called geometrical web. This may be arranged in a more or less circu- lar plane, perpendicular or horizontal to the horizon, as the case Orbitel- may be, which is the characteristic web of Epeira and many arize De- : : : a fined other genera. Or it may be arranged in a circular plane, which lacks one segment of greater or less size, usually in the upper part of the snare, as in the case of Zilla and some species of Epeira, Or again, it may consist simply of a single sector of a circle, as in the case of Hyptiotes, the well known Triangle spider. I include among the fami- lies of Orbitelarize, Uloborus, which makes a circular snare, suspended horizontally, but without the usual Epeiroid armature of viscid beads upon the spiral lines. It does not seem that any spider which spins a snare of the general character here described can be properly placed in any suborder other than Orbitelarizx. Yet it may well be that there are Orbitelarie, Habits even Epeiroids in the strictest sense, which spin either no web and Clas- 3+ all, or an irregular one; just as (to quote Thorell’s compar sification. ~~” ¢ sule ial é q par- ison) there are many Tubitelarize that do not fabricate webs of the form characteristic of that group. Pachygnatha, for example, I include with the Orbitelariv, as is now done by the best araneologists ; but, so far as is known, it makes no web, and appears to live underneath stones and capture its prey after the fashion of the wandering spiders. Of course, such a conclusion as this cannot be wondered at; for no one will claim that a natural classification of animals can be based upon hab- its alone, although in the case of spiders it certainly is true that there is a quite constant relation between the natural habits and the natural order of systematic life. Some of the older arachnologists still cling to the term Araneidea to denominate the order of true spiders; but for the most part Name of c ‘ enim the word Aranex is now thus used. This term was first proposed by Sundeyall, in his Conspectus Arachnidum, in 1833, It was 1 Thorell, Syn. Europ. Spid., page 599. (182) DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 133 adopted by Thorell, in his splendid paper on European Spiders, contin- ued in his “Synonyms,” and has been retained by him ever since adopted. Count Keyserling used it in his latest works, as does the French araneol- ogist, Eugene Simon (1892), in the first volume of his revised Natural History of Spiders, which promises to be a monumental work. In Amer- ica Dr. George Marx, the editor of Keyserling’s Epeiridee, and Professor and Mrs. Peckham agree with myself in the use of the word. On the contrary, Mr. Cambridge, in his beautiful work on the spiders, in Biologia Centrali-Americana, retains the earlier term, Araneidea. This concensus of araneologists seems to be justified. Aranea was the original generic name of all spiders, but there is now no genus of true spiders thus called, and therefore there can be no objection on that account to call the order Aranee, a word which seems to be eminently proper, since it signifies spiders, just as, for example, Aves signifies birds, and. Serpentes signifies snakes, As to the use of the terms Araneides and Araneidea, Thorell urges two objections: first, that it is altogether illogical, since the addition of the terminal syllable indicates an enlargement of the conception that lies in the word to which such termination is appended. For instance, by Carabidee we mean all Carabi, and besides a num- .ber of animals more or less closely allied to them. By Araneidea, there- fore, properly speaking, we would mean spiders and animals closely related to them. Moreover, the form is regarded by Thorell as lable to the objection that it is a hybrid, being a compound of a Greek and a Latin word, and should on that account, if for no other reason, be rejected,’ an opinion in which the purists, at least, will concur. Before passing to the description of species it will be well to state the author’s reasons for certain changes therein made in the Hentzian nomen- clature of certain well known species. In the year 1887, while Changes visiting the Zoological Library of the Kensington (London) nomen Museum of Natural History, my attention was called to a series * of manuscript drawings of American spiders. These proved to be the original notes and figures of John Abbot, beautifully drawn and colored from nature, upon which Baron Walckenaer had based the descrip- tions in his Natural History of Apterous Insects. This find seemed to me most important. It was my first knowledge that the drawings were extant, and I know of no printed statement of what had become of them after Walckenaer’s death. No English or American araneologist had made any use of them, and if known at all their value was not appreciated. How they came into the possession of the Kensington Museum I could not learn, but no doubt they were bought by the authorities soon after Walckenaer’s death. Aranez Approved 1 Syn. Europ. Spid., page 507, 134 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. I spent a portion of one day in study of the figured Orbweavers alone, and took copious notes of those spectes which were entirely familiar to me. After my return to Philadelphia I made careful studies of Walckenaer’s published descriptions, comparing the same with my notes, and thereupon published a paper in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (1888). Therein was considered the necessity for revising the nomenclature of various Hentzian species of Orbweavers, of which a brief tabulated list was given. The paper caused an animated discussion in the Academy upon the limits within which the law of priority should obtain. The Hentzian names had so long prevailed, and were so widely inwoven with our aranead literature, that it was held by a few that they ought to be retained, since a change would cause embarrassment to nat- uralists, confusion-in popular literature, and thus detriment to science. On the contrary, the majority present, among whom were the eminent Presi- dent of the Academy, the late Professor Joseph Leidy, and Professor Dall of Washington, held that the earlier names should in all cases be adopted, no matter how much inconvenience might be entailed thereby. This position has since received general approval. Professor T. Thorell, who is justly regarded as the most eminent of living araneologists, and whose authority on such a point is of special value, thus wrote :'. Approval:« The discovery of Abbot’s drawings of American spiders is oe indeed a fact of the greatest interest, not only to Americans, but Dr. Marx. to all arachnologists, and I congratulate you on having had the luck to make this discovery. Of course, I have read with great attention what you have said on the subject. As to me, I do not entertain the least doubt that you and Professors Leidy, Lewis, and Dall are right, and that the earlier names should in all cases be adopted. The law of priority must be respected, and is the only one that prevents arbitrariness, and that gives stability to nomenclature. I think, then, that in all such cases, in which Walckenaer’s species can, with tolerable certainty, be recognized, his names should be preferred to those more lately published, even if such names are more commonly used, or the species better described or figured under the newer names.” To the approval of this most distinguished authority may be added that of Dr. George Marx, who, in his Catalogue of Described Araneze, fully accepts the conclusions, and adopts the revised nomenclature suggested by me. To this general concensus, however, there was one notable exception. Mr. J. H. Emerton? published a criticism upon my paper, in which he rejected the conclusions, and depreciated the value thereof, as well as of the Abbot manuscripts, which he further claimed to have seen in 1875, although he had never in any way made known Law of Priority. Emerton Excepts. 1 Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1888, page 480. 2 Pscyche, Vol. V., No. 149-150, Sept.—Oct., 1888: Cambridge, Mass. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 135 his information, nor anywhere alluded thereto in his published descriptions of spiders. I replied to this criticism,! vindicating the value of the Abbot drawings, and strengthening the ground upon which my judgment rested. Nevertheless, in view of the above challenge, I resolved to make more thorough study of the manuscripts before publishing the final volume of this work, and meanwhile allowed, for the most part, the Hentzian names to stand in Vols. I., Il., which are chiefly concerned with the habits of spiders. Accordingly, in the summer of 1892 I visited London, and gave a week to the study of Abbot’s drawings, confining my attention to the Orbweavers. I verified my former notes, carefully compared Abbot’s figures seers and brief memoranda with Walckenaer’s published descriptions, isit to : ; : eats Rondon and made colored copies from tracings of most of the Orbitelarize.? This work done, I submitted the whole to Mr. R. I. Pococke of the Kensington Museum, who kindly went over the same, comparing Abbot’s figures with Hentz’s, and with Walckenaer’s descriptions. In every instance he was able independently to reach a conclusion as to identity that almost exactly tallied with my own. These studies confirmed all that I had pre- viously published, and added several species to the list of Hentzian names that must yield priority to Walckenaer. Accordingly, in the following pages I have felt compelled to revert to the earlier nomenclature. Result This is done with sincere regret, as the well known names of Con Hentz are embodied in all my previous publications, and th eee entz are embodiec a y previous publice s, and the use of the index alone can disentangle the resulting confusion. Nevertheless, the rectification of nomenclature must sometime inevitably be made, and postponement could only add to the confusion. It seemed better, therefore, to face the difficulty at once with an honest effort to bring in final order by the just sovereignty of the law of priority. I now regret that I permitted confidence in my first judgment of the value of the Abbot drawings to be so far shaken as to lead me to retain the Hentzian synonyms in the first two volumes of this work, instead of at once eliminating them. For this I can only excuse myself by the fact that the books were going through press while the matter was still under discussion, and before my own conclusions had been assured by the judg- ment of leading araneologists. I have done the best, under the circum- stances, to lghten the inconvenience which the reader may thus have been caused, by full references in the synonoma, and liberal references and cross-references in the Index. 1 Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1888, page 428: “The Value of Abbot’s Manuscript Drawings of American Spiders.” 2 My thanks are especially due to Mr. William Caruthers, Keeper of Botany, for kind services during these studies. He gaye me the use of his office, procured for me all required books and material, assisted me with his extended knowledge and experience as a biologist, and added thereto the charm of a hospitable host. 1386 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. Genus EPEIRA WaALCKENAER. Tue original genus Epeira of Walckenaer has been divided and subdivided at various times, yet still contains by far the greatest number of orbweaving species, not only in the United States, but other parts of the world. That it must further be subdivided is apparent to any one who has given much attention to the species which are grouped thereunder; but equally plain that it will be difficult to distinguish sharply the characteristics upon which good generic differences may be based. The following are the principal character- istics herein held to mark the typical Epeira.? The cephalothorax is moderately high and oval, more or less shortened or cordate the corselet for the most part being well rounded. It is moderately high, the fosse placed near the centre of the summit, from whence the corselet slopes more or less sharply to the base, which is truncated and often indented. The corselet grooves are sufficiently distinct ; the cephalic suture well marked. The margin of the corselet is often a narrow belt free from pubescence more or less shelving to the articulation with the legs. The head is lowly arched, somewhat depressed at the face, which is wide, though narrower than the corselet, and somewhat quadrate. The Sternum is shield shape or cordate, somewhat longer than wide; the labium longer than wide, strong, half as high as the maxillge, which are as wide, or nearly as wide, as long. The eyes are placed in three groups, of which the side eyes are upon tubercles or elevated bases, the four middle eyes upon a rounded eminence, the ocular quad being in the form of a quadrilateral whose greatest width nearly equals the length. The front side of the quad is usually a little wider than the rear. The space between the sidefront and midfront eyes is equal to 1.5 times the area of the latter, or from 2 to 2.5 the intervening space thereof. The space between the siderear and the midrear eyes is usually greater than the above. The clypeus is low, rarely exceeding 2 to 2.5 times the diameter of the midfront eyes. The eye rows are not widely separated at their greatest point of divergence and closely approximate at the sides; the front row is slightly recurved, the rear row slightly procurved. The legs are in order of length 1, 2, 4,3; stout in all the joints; the tarsus and meta- tarsus gradually diminishing in size, and not noticeably thinner than the other joints. They are clothed heavily with hairs and bristles, and abundantly with strong spines. The palps in the female are armed as the legs; the digital joint with a strong claw; longer than the radial joint; the cubital joint being about half the length of the latter, and the humeral joint approximating the length of the digital, but usually longer. The abdomen is usually subglobose or oval, rounded at the base and diminished at the apex, or is a triangular ovate. The spinnerets are distal and the base overhangs the cephalothorax sometimes for half its length. The skin is soft and pubescent. The epigynum has generally a prolonged scapus. The male in general form and markings resembles the female. Tibia-II is frequently widened at the tip, and in some species provided with strong denticulate clasping spines. The coxee are often marked by spurs at the articulation with the trochanter, or upon the base. He is commonly much smaller than the female, but sometimes nearly equals her in size. It will probably be observed in the following descriptions that the above specifications of the typical Epeira are not strictly adhered to, and in some points indeed are widely divergent therefrom. But a strong indisposition to multiply new genera, together with the confusingly interblended characteristics above referred to, have prompted to, if not justified such a course. No doubt future students, who may have a greater amount of material in hand, will be able not only to indicate necessary divisions, but to unite some of the genera already created from this overflowing group. 1 For thé technical terms used in description of species see Chapter VI., page 124 sq. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 137 No. 1. Epeira sclopetaria (Cierck). Plate I., Figs. 9, 9a; Pl. IL, Figs. 10, 11. 1757. Araneus sclopetarius, Cuerck . . Aranei Svecici (Svenska Spindlar), p. 43, pl. 2, tab. 3, Fig. 1. “1757. Araneus sericatus,| CLerck . . . Aran. Svec., p. 40, pl. 2, tab. 1. 1789. Aranea undata, Ouivier. . . . . Encycl. Méthod., iv., p. 200. 1833. Epeira sericata, Kocn, C. . . . . Herr-Scheeff. Deutschl. Ins., pp. 120, 1. 1834. Epeira virgata, Haun. ... . . Die Arach., ii., p. 26, tab. 46, Fig. 113. 1837. Epeira frondosa, WALCKENAER. . Ins. Apt., ii., p. 66; Appor, G.8.,? No. 326. 1847. Epeira vulgaris, Hentz .... . J. B.S.,3 v., pl. 30, p. 469; Id., Sp. U. S., p. 108, pl. 12, Fig. 6. 1850. Epeira sericata, Kocn. . . . . . Die Arachn., xi., p. 110, pl. 385, Figs. 914, 915. 1851. Epeira sclopetaria, Westrtnc . . Forteckning, ete., p. 34. 1855. Epeira sclopetaria, THorett . . . Recensio Critica, p. 22. 1861. Epeira sclopetaria, Westrinc . . Aranez Syecice, p. 33. 1864. Epeira sericata, Buackwatt . . . Sp. G. B. & I.,* p. 328, pl. 23, Fig. 238. 1864. peira sericea, Simon . . . . . . Hist. Nat. d’Araign., p. 492. 1866. Epeira sclopetaria, Mencr. . . . Preuss. Spinn., p. 57, pl. 7, tab. 7. 1871. Epeira sclopetaria, BuackwaL. . Spiders from Montreal, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., Vili., p. 429. 1884. Epeira sclopetaria, Emerron . . . N. E. Ep.,’ p. 303, pl. 33, p. 4; pl. 35, p. 10. 1889. Epeira sclopetaria, McCook . . . American Spiders, Vols. i., ii. 1889. Epeira sclopetaria, Marx .. . . Catalogue,® in loc. Femate: Total length, 12.5 mm.; cephalothorax, 5 mm. long by 5 mm. wide; abdomen, 8 mm. long by 6.5 mm. wide. The general color is grayish brown, which in some speci- mens is deepened into iron gray upon the abdomen, cephalothorax, and terminal joints of legs. The cephalothorax and abdomen are usually uniform in color. CrpHALoTHorRAXx: A rounded oval, truncated at the base; the median fosse is a deep lateral pit placed back of the middle point, which is the highest; the sides of the corselet are rather steeply sloped, the head depressed, the caput inclined from its insertion to the eye space; color glossy black brown, covered sparsely along the sides with gray hairs, which form a thicker band at the margin, and are spread out more thickly along the sides of the caput forming heavy eyebrows, and covering the clypeus. Sternum shield shaped, longer than wide, but of nearly equal width to the third cox; glossy black, covered particularly at the sides with gray hair; labium wider than long, the tip triangular; the maxille as wide as, or wider than long, inclined towards each other, rounded on the sides, and, like the labium, dark glossy brown, light yellow at tips. Eyes: The ocular quad upon a rounded prominence most decided in front, which is decidedly wider than the rear, and about as wide as the sides. MF are separated by about two diameters, and are larger than MR, which are separated by more than one diameter. Side eyes upon tubercles, separated by about the radius of SR, which is slightly smaller than SF, and situated almost upon a line with it upon the side face, thus, as in the case of 1 Strictly adhered to, the law of priority would give this name to the species, as it appears first in order of paging in Clerck’s book. This seems to have led Koch and Blackwall, as below, to adopt the name Epeira sericata, the latter, however, subsequently abandoning that for the more generally accepted one. As the change would not affect the credit due to the first author, and would cause much confusion, the better known title is here retained. oO ? Georgia spiders, manuscript drawings. 3These abbreviations will be used throughout for the paper of Hentz in the Journal of the Boston Society Natural History (J. B. S.), and the collection of same by the late Mr. Edward Burgess, entitled Spiders of the United States (Sp. U. S.). 4Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland, so throughout. 5 New England Spiders of the Family Epeiride, Trans. Conn. Academy, Vol. VI., 1884. Abbreviated throughout: N. E, Ep. ® By this single word I refer throughout to Dr. George Marx’s “Catalogue of the Described Aranez of Temperate North America,’ Proceed. U. S. Nat. Museum, Vol. XII., 1889. 138 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. E. strix, bringing it into the front row. MF are separated from SF by about 1.3 their area, and from the margin of the clypeus by about two diameters. Front row is recurved, the rear row, which is much the longer, procuryed. Leas: Strong and stout; covered with gray hairs, rather sparsely with bristles, and with numerous yellow or blackish spines. The femora are yellow, or orange yellow, with broad dark brown or blackish terminal bands, which also encompass the patella. The tibia and metatarsus have dark brown annuli at the ends, and a broad one of similar color in the middle. Feet black, with a yellow band at the articulation with the metatarsus; palps heavily armed with gray bristles and long yellow spines, are colored as the legs, but lighter. Mandibles conical, arched at the base, where they slightly project beyond the clypeus; dark glossy brown or blackish brown in color; not so much contracted at the tips, nor so greatly arched at the base as E. strix. Aspomen: A long oyal, narrowing at the apex to the spinnerets, which are distal. The dorsal folium (Plate II., Fig. 10) is sharply outlined by a narrow undulating border of gray hairs, broadest at the base, and gradually diminishing in width to the spinnerets. A lance head point projects forward along the front from the basal part of this marginal line. The line is interrupted about one-third the distance from the base, giving it in many exam- ples the appearance of two separate figures, the apical portion thereof being a triangle with scalloped edges, and a lance headed figure projecting from the middle. The general colors of the dorsum are blackish brown, the sides are mottled with gray waving longitudinal lines formed, like the dorsal figure, of long gray hairs. The venter is a wide trapezoidal figure, blackish brown in color, with yellowish gray lunettes on either side. The spinnerets are surrounded with black, and are themselves blackish or dark brown in color. The epigynum (Plate I., Fig. 9) has a narrow scapus but little widened at the base, and nar- rowing down to the portulee on either side, which are prominent and present at times the appearance of the figure, but at others more compacted, and rather resembling the portule of Epeira patagiata. (Fig. 11a.) Mate: Length, 7 mm.; in markings and general color closely resembles the female. The cephalothorax is more rounded and of a uniform bright brown color, apparently not so heavily haired, pubescent upon the top of the corselet, but with a marked ring of gray hairs encompassing the margin, and also along the edges of the caput to the eye space. The median fosse is a longitudinal slit. The sternum is rather more cordate in shape; the legs much longer and relatively thinner than in the female. The second leg is not specialized in any way, and there appears to be no special clasping spines or armatures at ‘any point; the femora, especially of the first two pairs, are mottled beneath with dark brown spots, which sometimes may also be observed in the female. The character. of the palp is shown at Plate I, 9a. It is easily distinguished from the male of E. strix, not only by the general appearance and character of the palpal bulb, but more easily at once by the absence of the curved metatarsus and the series of strong, black clasping spines upon the inside of the second tibia which characterize Strix. The first leg of Strix, also, is more heavily armed at the thickened tibia with numerous black spines. Distripution: Epeira sclopetaria is a common spider in many sections of the country. It is abundant along the seashore of New England and New Jersey. It is also found around the outhouses, stables, etc., in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. Hentz described it from South Carolina. Specimens are common in collections from the West, and it is probably distributed over the entire United States. It is also a European species of general distribution from Sweden southward, and probably shares with E. patagiata a world wide distribution through the northern temperate zone. No. 2. Epeira patagiata (Cimrck). Plate I, Fig. 11; Pl. II1., Figs. 8, 9. 1757. Araneus patagiatus, CLerck . . . Aranei Svecici, p. 38, pl. 1, tab. 10. 1834. Hpeira dumetorum, Haun . . . . Die Arachn., ii, p. 31, tab. 48, Fig. 117. 1837. Epeira dumetorum, Kocu . . . . Uebersicht des Arachniden-Systems, heft 1., p. 2. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 1389 1845. Epeira patagiata, Kocn . . Die Arachnid, xi., p. 115, tab. 386, Figs. 916, 919. 1861. Epeira patagiata, Westrinc . . . Aranez Syecice, p. 36. 1864. Epeira patagiata, BuackWALL . Sp. G. B. & I. p. 329, pl. 24, Fig. 229. 1865. Epeira formosa, Knyseruinc . . . Beitrg. z. k. d. Orbitel. Verh. d. z. b. Ges. Wien, p. 828, pl. 19, Figs. 17, 18. 1866. Epeira patagiata, MENGE . Preuss. Spinn., i. p. 60, pl. 8, tab. 9. 1867. Epeira patagiata, OHLERT . Aran. d. Prov. Preuss., p. 24. 1870. Epeira patagiata, THORELL . . Synon. Europ. Spid., p. 16. 1881. Epeira hilaris, Campripce. . . . Spid. from Newfoundland, Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. ° Edinbg., p. 112. 1884. Epeira patagiata, KEMERTON . N. E..Ep., p. 305, pl. 33, Fig. 3. 1889. Epeira patagiata, McCook . . Amer. Spid. and their Spinningwork. 1889. Epeira patagiata, Marx . . Catalogue, in loe. Femate: This species closely resembles E. sclopetaria and E. strix. The specimens differ much in their dorsal markings, as well as in their general colorings, as illustrated in Plate IIL. Figs. 8a-8f. Sometimes the specimens are quite light, at other times dark brown or black, and among northern individuals yellow bands are mingled with the dark colors. The specimens collected in the North appear to be colored more brilliantly than those found in the South. Total length of adults, from 13 to 8 mm, CrpHALotHorax: 5 mm. long. by 4 mm. wide, 2 mm. at the face; a rounded oval, not high, flattened at the summit; the fosse a deep semicircular pit; skin glossy, thickly covered with grayish white hairs upon the summit and the entire surface of the caput, and a line of similar hairs around the margin of the corselet. The head is somewhat depressed, the face with heavy gray eyebrows. The sternum shield shaped, longer than wide; dark or dark brown, covered with grayish yellow hair. The labium is semicircular; dark brown at the base and yellow at the tips, as are also the maxilli. Leas: Order, 1,2, 4,3; femora, orange yellow to brown at the base, blackish at the tip; the patella and tibia similarly colored, the latter with a darker ring at the tip and a median annulus. The metatarsus and tarsus are yellow, the former with dark annuli at the tip and midway. The feet are blackish brown; strongly armored with yellowish gray hairs and bristles and dark spines, which are intermingled with shorter yellow ones, dark at the base. The palps are armed as the feet. The maxillee are parallel, conical, glossy, blackish brown, and hairy. © Eyes: Ocular quad upon an eminence, the rear eyes set at the base thereof; length and width about equal; wider in front than behind; MF separated by about two diameters, MR by about one; middle eyes not greatly differing in size. Side eyes not contingent; set upon tubercles; SF the larger, and separated from MF by about 1.3 the area of the latter. Front row recurved; rear row, which is the longer, procurved. The clypeus removed from MF by 1.5 the diameter of the latter. Aspomen: Ply Tke/33 Voll Tk; Pl: LV. 1837. Epeira jaspidata, WALCKENAER . Ins. Apt., ii., p. 59; ABpor, G. S. No. 111.* 1847. Hpeira trifolium, Hentz. ... . J. B.S, v., 471; Sp. U. S., 110, xiii., 1 1847. Epeira aureola, Hentz .... .« Ibid., pl. xxi. (xiii), 2. 1884. Epeira trifolium, Emerton .. . N. E. Ep., p. 306, pl. 33, Fig. 8. 1889. Epeira trifolium, McCook . . . . Amer. Spid. and their Spinningwork. 1889. Epeira trifolium, Marx . .. . . Catalogue, p. 548. Fremate: Total length, 15 mm.; cephalothorax, 7.6 mm. long, 6 mm. wide; abdomen, 12 mm. long, 8 mm. wide. This is one of our largest indigenous species, and varies much in size from the above length and upward to adult females of 10 mm. long. It is especially distinguished by great differences in color at different stages and among different individ- uals, as illustrated Vol. II., Plate I., p. 48. CrrpHALoTHoRAXx: A rounded oyal or cordate, truncated and indented at the base; corselet flat on top, the fosse a deep transverse slit; cephalic suture sufficiently marked, corselet grooves rather indistinct ; color brown, with a yellow marginal band on the dorsum, passing upward to the sides of the caput; head lowly arched ; face depressed, wide, quadrate, with gray pubescence. The sternum is shield shaped, dark brown, the median band of lighter color; sternal cones marked; labium blackish brown, lighter at the tip, as are also the maxille, which are longer than or as long as wide. Eyes: Ocular quad on a well rounded prominence, the front wider than rear and narrower than sides; MF separated by 1.5 to 2 diameters, somewhat larger than MR, which are separated by one diameter or more; side eyes on tubercles, separated by about the diameter of SR, which are smaller than SF; MF divided from SF by about 1.5 the area of MF, or say 2.5 times their interspace; clypeus height about two diameters or more of MF, and with marginal row of strong yellow hairs. The front row recurved and shorter than the procurved rear row. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; strong, stout, not long for the size of the species, abundantly pro- vided with grayish yellow hairs and bristles and yellow spines, which are dark brown on the basal half; color yellow, with bright brown apical tips, patelle entirely brown, feet brownish black. Palps light yellow, without annuli, thickly provided with strong yellow spines and bristles. Mandibles strong, conical, arched at the base, and swollen on the outside at the articulation with the clypeus. 1 Abbot’s drawing of this species in the MSS. in Kensington Library of the Brit. Mus. Nat. Hist. appears to be E. trifolium Hentz; but there is enough doubt as between this and E. insularis Hz. to justify leaving the name thus. 146 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. Agpomen: The dorsal markings are difficult to describe, and vary considerably. The dorsum is well arched, rounding from base to distal spinnerets; covered sparsely with white hairs. Near the base three white patches of circular or irregular shape are grouped together in a form somewhat like clover or shamrock leaves, which doubtless suggested the specific name. These are attached to the yellowish stem which proceeds along the median line forward and backward. In some examples this trefoil pattern is repeated about the middle of the dorsum, and white or whitish patches of varying sizes are distributed in semicircular lines, with the convex part towards the apex, along the dorsal field. In some specimens the median band is continuous; in others it is broken up into groups of whitish patches resembling clover leaves. Plate II., Fig. 3, and Plate I., Vol. II., represent some of the most decided patterns. Fasciculated markings extend on either side of the median line from about the middle of the dorsum towards the apex, and these are usually brown. The color is yellowish brown at the margin of the sides, somewhat mottled with black interrupted stripes. The venter has a broad brownish band, extending from the pedicle to the spin- nerets, sometimes with a marginal border of yellow. The epigynum (Plate I, Figs. 3, 3a) has a large and well arched porch, and a stout scapus, bent downward and forward, spoon tipped, furrowed, and of about equal width throughout, though slightly narrowed at the tip and widened at the base. The basal parts of the portule widen at either side, and are curyed like a scallop shell. Mate: The male (Vol. IT., Plate I., Fig. 10) is much smaller than the female, specimens in hand being 4.8 mm. long. The cephalothorax is longer than the abdomen in some examples, of yellowish color, and the legs have the same hue, with yellowish brown annuli at the joints. The abdomen is white or whitish, with a slight tendency to be broken up into irregular markings. The palps are a whitish yellow, with dark yellow markings upon the digital joint, which is represented at Plate I., Fig. 36. There is an undoubted resemblance between this species and the European Epeira quadrata; but after having compared the typical Epeira trifolium with an example of E. quadrata, female, sent me from Moscow, Russia, by Professor Waldemar Wagner, I regard them as distinct. Not to speak of other differences, the scapus of the epigynum is quite different. In Quadrata it is wide at the base, where it is slightly notched, and rapidly narrows to a rounded point; the tip is spooned, and the edges rimmed slightly throughout the entire length. The organ has somewhat the shape of a mason’s trowel. On the con- trary, the scapus of Trifolium is not so wide at the base, is not set upon the atriolum like the blade of a trowel upon its handle, but is continuous with the same. Moreover, it pre- serves a nearly equal width throughout the entire length of the scapus, being slightly wider at the base. Dr. Thorell, to whom I sent a specimen of Epeira trifolium, agrees in thinking the two to be distinct species. The spines in Quadrata are dark or blackish, but in Trifolium they are yellow, with brown bases. The midfront eyes of Quadrata also seem to be relatively nearer than in Trifolium. Disrrizution: Throughout the United States, along the Atlantic Coast from Canada through New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia. It has been found in Alabama, and probably inhabits the central Southern States; has been collected in Maryland and the District of Columbia, in Wisconsin, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, and as far south as New Mexico. I have the male from Utah (Professor O. Howard), the Big Horn Country, Tacoma, Wash. (Mr. M. S. Hill), and San Diego, Cal. (Mrs. Smith). Hentz’s original description is from a specimen collected in Maine, and he makes no note of having found it in the Southern States, where most of his studies were pursued. Epeira trifolium, variety candicans. Plate I., Fig. 4, 4a. I find a number of specimens of this species differing little from the typical form in detailed structure, but which in general appearance are strikingly different, approximating the form of the male. (Plate I., Fig. 4.) In these the abdomen is ovate, considerably narrower than long, instead of the globose form most prevailing. The color is yellowish DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 147 white, with lighter shade upon the dorsum, which is rather flattened than arched. The skin is abundantly covered with long whitish yellow bristles. One specimen from California (Mrs. Smith) measures 10 mm. long; abdomen, 7 mm. long by 4.5 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 5 mm. long by 4 mm. wide; first leg, 15 mm. It has the spines dark, as in HN. quadrata, instead of yellow with brown bases, as in E. trifolium. No. 7. Epeira Benjamina Watckenarr. Plate I., Fig. 7; Pl. II., Figs. 4, 5. 1837. Epeira Benjamina, WALCKENAER . Ins. Apt., ii., p. 42; Appor, G. S., No. 126, 351. 1837. Epeira mutabilis, WALCKENAER. . Ibid., p. 73; Appor, G. S., No. 351. 1847. Epeira domiciliorum, Hentz. . . J. B.S., v., p. 469; Id., Sp. U.S., p. 108; xii., 7. 1864. Epeira Hentzii, Keyseruinc . . . Beschr. n. Orbitel., p. 97; v., 10, 11. 1884. Epeira domiciliorwm, Emerton . N. E. Ep., p. 312; xxxiii., 17; xxxyi., 1-4. 1888. Hpeira Benjamina, McCook. . . Necessity for Revising Nomenclature of Am. Spid., Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., p. 5. 1889. Epeira domiciliorum, McCook . . Amer. Spid. and their Spinningwork, Vols. I., II. 1889. Epeira benjamina, Marx ... . Catalogue. Femae: Total length, 15 mm.; cephalothorax, 6 mm. long, 5 mm. wide; abdomen, 11 mm. long; 9 mm. wide at the base, diminishing to 3 mm. or less at the apex. The species differs much in size and color according to distribution and age, and in the typical speci- mens the fore part of the body is bright orange on the cephalothorax, thighs, and patella, lightening into yellow on the remaining joints of the legs, with decided darker annuli at the tips. The abdomen is yellow or yellowish brown, which in old age deepens, becoming reddish brown, a shade which the cephalothorax and legs also assume. See Plate IT., Fig. 4, drawn from an old specimen. CrPpHALoTHORAX: Rounded, truncated at the indented base ; the posterior slope smooth, the fosse deep; the cephalic suture marked, grooves sufficiently distinct ; margins and sides of corselet and sides of the head covered with yellowish hairs; skin glossy, varying from uniform brown to yellow or orange yellow streaked with orange marks. Caput quadrate in front, and slightly depressed from the summit of the corselet. Sternum shield shaped, yellowish brown, lightened in the middle; in some specimens much brightened with a broad yellow band attenuated at the point; skin glossy, covered with yellowish gray hairs, with sternal cones raised in the middle. Lip wider than high, subtriangular; max- illee somewhat longer than wide, tips subtriangular, and directed towards each other; color brown, or like the sternum, with lighter shade upon the tips. © Eyes: Ocular quad on a prominence more decided in front, where it is slightly wider, the sides somewhat longer. MF separated by at least 1.5 diameter, somewhat larger than MR, which are separated by about one diameter; the ocular eminence is surrounded at the base by yellowish hairs, which are also on the face and eyebrows. Side eyes on tubercles, con- tingent; SF larger than SR. MF removed from SF by about 2.5 times their intervening space or 1.3 their alignment; front row somewhat recurved, rear row procurved; clypeus about two diameters of MF high, and the margin has rows of strong yellowish bristles. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; stout upon the femora, though somewhat attenuated at the terminal joints; the ground color yellow, with bands of bright orange at tips of joints and in the middle of the femora; slightly darker median annuli also mark the tibia. The surface is heavily clothed with yellow hairs and bristles, and numerous yellow spines with dark bases, which, however, are blackish on the terminal joints. Palps heavily armed throughout and colored as legs, but of lighter hue; mandibles conical, slightly arched at the base, articulating in the plane of the face; brown or yellowish brown. AspomMen: When the female is not gravid the abdomen is subtriangular in shape, being much wider at the base. It is sparsely covered with long white bristles with dark bases, which are gathered in a tuft at the front where it overhangs the cephalothorax ; also freely covered with short yellowish hairs. The dorsal folium (Plate I., Fig. 7) is an anchorlike figure, with strong dentations of light color branching from each side and diminishing towards the 148 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. apex; this is flanked on either side by well shaded margins of dark color. This pattern shows much more distinctly on some specimens than others and tends to be obliterated with advancing age. (See Plate I1., Fig. 4.) The venter has a wide, black subtriangular patch surrounded by a broad yellow margin, presenting the appearance of a military chapeau, sometimes interrupted, leaving but two large circular spots on either side. The spinnerets are bright orange or brown with an interrupted girdle of yellow, one large patch on each side forward of the base. The epigynum (Plate I., Figs. 7a, 7b) has a strong curved scapus almost as wide as the atriolum at its base, where the color is yellow or orange yellow; it is compressed about the middle and widened into a spooned bowl; it is furrowed on either side with a hard blackish brown rim almost to the base. Mate: Plate I., 7c; Plate II.,5. The male resembles in color the female, though there is a tendency to lighter hues. The body is provided with the same long, strong, whitish bristles and hairs that mark the female. These are often strong on the eyebrows and the margin of the cephalothorax, and they form decided brushes upon the palpal joints. The tibia of the second leg is curved outward and provided on the inner and under side with a double row of short toothlike spines extending the entire length, flanked on one side by a single row, the long spines making a formidable clasping apparatus. Distrinution: This is one of the most common of our American species and is widely and probably generally distributed throughout the United States. I have specimens ranging from New England to Florida along the Atlantic Coast, and as far west as California. I have taken it in Portland, Oregon, and Dr. Marx reports it from Nebraska, Texas, Utah, in Colorado at a height of twelve hundred feet, in Minnesota, and at various points along the Atlantic Coast. No. 8. Epeira arabesca WatckENaER. Plate I., Figs. 8, 8a.; Pl. IL., Figs. 6, 7. 1805. Epeira arabesca, WaALCKENAER . . Tableau des Araignées, p. 63, No. 44. 1837. Epeira arabesca, WALCKENAER. . Ins. Apt., ii., p. 74; Apport, G. S., Nos. 331, 346. 1837. Epeira mutabilis, WaLcKENAER .« Ins. Apt., ii., p. 73, No. 58, in part; Axsor, G. S., No. 355, 1864. Epeira trivittata, Keysrruina . . Beschr. n. Orbit., Isis, p. 95, 6-9. 1884. Epeira trivittata, EMerton . . . . N. E. Ep., p. 311, xxxiii., 16; xxxvi., 2, 3, 5, 8. 1888. Epeira arabesca, McCook . . ... Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sc., Phila., p. 3. 1889. Epeira trivittata, McCook . . . . Amer. Spid. and their Spinningwork, Vol. I. 1889. Epeira arabesca, Marx .. . . . Catalogue, in loc. 1892. Hpeira trivittata, Keysrruinc . . Spinn. Amerik., p. 172, pl. viii., 127. Femate: Body length varies from 6 to 8 mm.; cephalothorax, 2.5 mm. long, 2 mm. wide; abdomen, 5 mm. long, 4 mm. wide at the base, narrowing much at the apex. Like Epeira Benjamina, which this species resembles in many respects, the general color varies from reddish brown to yellow. CrPHALOTHORAX: Cordate, elevated at the centre, sloping abruptly to the indented base ; the fosse a longitudinal slit; corselet grooves and cephalic suture distinct; color yellow to orange yellow or brown; freely covered with yellowish white hairs, especially on the sides of the caput, which form strong eyebrows at the side; the head depressed, sloping to the face; sternum shield shaped, somewhat longer than wide, sternal cones distinct ; pubescent edges brown, with broad median yellow band upon the middle; lip low, obtusely triangu- lar; maxillee about as wide as long, obtusely triangular at the tips; labium and maxille yellow. Eyes: Ocular quad upon an eminence projecting in front, leaving MR scarcely elevated above the facial surface; the front somewhat longer than the rear, and the sides longer than either; the eyes about equal in size, though MR appear slightly larger; MF separated by about 1.3 diameter; MR by about a radius; eyes upon tubercles, barely contingent; SF larger than MF, and separated by about a little more than the area of the former, or 1.5 times DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 149 their intervening space; the margin of the clypeus is obliterated by the ocular prominence, which comes to the very edge, the height being scarcely more than one diameter of MF; all the eyes are upon black bases, thus appearing dark; the front row recurved, the longer rear row procurved; a few whitish yellow bristles mark the eye space and margin of clypeus. Leas: 1, 2, 4,3; yellow, with strong brown annuli; stout, heavily armored with strong brown spines and yellowish bristles and pubescence; palps colored and armed as legs; mandibles rather long, conical, with yellowish pubescence at edges; the basal cog well marked. : AppoMEN: Ovate, widest at base, narrowing to the distal spinnerets; dorsum well arched; color yellow to yellowish white, with a brownish yellow folium, whose margins are marked from middle to apex by a V-shaped figure of semicircular brownish patches, with the concavity towards the base; the centre of the dorsum is lighter yellowish ; the pattern a broad arrow shaped marking, with side offshoots (Plate I., 8) ; from the median line curved branchlets proceed on either side to the spinnerets; the surface is reticulated and covered thinly with soft, yellowish hairs. The lunette markings on the dorsum enable one to easily identify the species, though something similar may be found in other species, especially in the male of Epeira Benjamina. In some specimens the colors are reddish brown (Plate II., 6), particularly on the abdomen; in others they are yellow and gray ; the venter has a trun- cated triangle of brown, flanked on either side by a broken yellow band, consisting usually of three spots on either side; the epigynum (Plate I., 8a) has a decided scapus, broadest at the base, not tapering, flattened and spooned at the tip, resembling that of E. Benjamina ; the atriolum is narrow, and the portule hidden by the projecting scapus. Mate: Length, 6 mm.; abdomen, 3.5 mm. long, 2 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 3 mm. long, 2 mm. wide; colors and markings closely resembling those of the female, except that the dorsal folium is often white, or whitish, instead of yellow, the colors generally inclined to be a little paler. Tibia-II is somewhat curved, and armed along the entire inner side by a double row of strong black clasping spines; these at the articulation with the patella are flanked on the inside by two very long, strong, straight spines, and on the outer side by three of a similar character, but shorter; the palp is represented at Plate I., Fig. 86. This spider has sometimes been confused with small specimens of Epeira Benjamina. The ocular quad of the latter species is relatively much wider in front; also, the midfront eyes are removed from the margin of the clypeus at least three times their diameter, while in E. arabesca they are about one diameter therefrom. Moreover, the abdomen of Benja- mina is rather flattened and triangular ovate, while that of Arabesca is rather ovate. E. Benjamina is a much larger species. Disrrisution; The United States. I have collected this species along the entire Atlantic Coast, from New England to Florida, and as far west as Ohio. I have specimens from Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas. It has been taken in Alabama, New Mexico, Utah, and California. I have specimens from as far north as Wisconsin, and have captured it in Canada in the neighborhood of Montreal. It also inhabits South America, where it presents great variation in color and size. As far as my observation goes, it is not subject in the United States to great variation in size, being rarely found longer than 8 mm., or shorter than 6 mm. No. 9. Epeira cucurbitina (Cuercr). Plate III., Figs. 1, 2,3; Pl. IV., Fig. 6. 1757. Araneus cucurbitinus, Cumrck . . Svenska Spindlar, p. 44, pl. 2, tab. 4. 1761. Aranea cucurbitina, Linneus . . Syst. Nat. Ed., 10, i., p. 620. 1775. Aranca senoculata, Fasricius . . Entom. Syst., t. 2, p. 426, No. 71. 1778. Epeira viridis-punctata, De Grer, Mem., vii., p. 233, pl. 14. 1798. The Gourd Spider, Marryn. . . Natural History of Spiders, p. 19, Spec. 12, pl. 2, Fig. 6. 1805. Epeira cucurbitina, WaucKENArER, Tabl. des Aran., p. 63, No. 46. 150 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 1806. Hpeira cucurbitina, Larrertin, . . Genera Crust. et Insect., tab. 1, p. 107, No. 11. 1832. Epeira cucurbitina, SuxpevatL . Svenska Spindlarness, p. 245, No. 8. 1850. Miranda cucurbitina, Kocu . . . Die Arachniden, y., 53, pl. 159, Figs. 371, 372. 1861. Hpeira cucurbitina, Wesrrinc . . Aranee Svecice, p. 50, p. 53, pl. 159, Fig. 371, male; 373, female, 342. 1864. Hpeira cucurbitina, Buackwatt . Spid. Gt. B. & I., 342, xxxv., f. 247. 1870. Epeira cucurbitina, ToorELL . . Syn. Ent. Spid., p. 23. Variety: #), displicata Hentz. 1842. EB. cucurbitina-americana, WaucKk.. Ins. Apt., ii., p. 76; Aspot, G. §., No. 178. 1847. 1866. 1871. Epeira displicata, HENTz Miranda cucurbitina, MENGE Epeira cucurbitina, BLACKWALL . 5 ds 1 ish, Ae, lle . Preuss. Spinn., i., p. 68, pl. 10, tab. 14. Spiders from Montreal, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., 4th ser., viii., 429. 1875. Eperia displicata, Hentz 5 S05 Wa tsk es LEW Satins 17h 1884, Eperia displicata, Emerton . . . N. Eng. Ep., p. 313, pl. 34, Fig. 4. 1889. Epeira displicata, McCoox . Amer. Spid. and their Spinningwork, Vol. I., 121. 1889. Epeira displicata, Marx .. . . Catalogue, p. 544. 1889. Epeira cucurbitina, Marx. . . . In part, Catalogue, p. 544. Femate: Body length, 8 mm.; abdomen, 6 mm. long, 5 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 3 mm. long, 2 mm. wide. The adult specimens of this spider vary from 9 to 6 mm. in length. The typical color appears to be, for the legs and cephalothorax a yellowish brown; for the abdomen a light green, with a tinge sometimes of blue, for the background of the dorsum, upon which are drawn, on either side of the median line, two irregular scalloped bands of white or yellowish white coming to a point at the apex. On the sides a band of similar color and width passes entirely around the abdomen. The color, however, varies much upon the abdomen; I haye specimens in which it is almost white, and others again (as Plate III., 3, 3a) from California where the ground color is a bright red. The species is briefly distinguished by four round black spots arranged in V-shape, beginning at the apex and widely open at the last spot, which is placed almost at the middle of the dorsum. The six pits which mark the muscular attachments, on either side of the median line, are also quite distinct, especially the two forward pairs. On most specimens longitudinal lines, curved or straight, mark the lower part of the dorsum. CrepHALOTHORAX: Rounded, smooth, glossy; caput erected above the surface though sloping at the ocular area; sternum yellow, slightly covered with hairs, narrowed and pointed at the base, with slight sternal cones. Leas: 1, 2, 4, 3; uniform yellow brown, except that the feet are black. They are well clothed, but not excessively, with spines and bristles. Mandibles colored as the ceph- alothorax, project at the clypeus, where they are well rounded, and taper slightly towards the fangs. 4 Eyes: Ocular quad rectangular, MF smaller than MR, about 1.5 diameter apart; MR separated by less than one diameter. The front row is slightly recurved and is shorter than the rear row, which is procurved; MF distant from SF about 1.5 their alignment, and MR from SR about twice their alignment; clypeus, 3 diameters MF high. AspomMen: Well arched, especially when gravid, but a number of specimens are flat- tened upon the dorsum; shape oval, diminishing towards the base as well as towards the spinnerets, which it slightly overhangs. The venter is marked by a broad brownish band, with two round white or whitish yellow spots on either side of the median line. These spots in some specimens become interblended. The epigynum (Plate III., 3b, 3c) has a broad but decided seapus quite wide at the base and slightly spooned at the tip; it is well elevated above the venter. Mate: Plate III, 2, 2a. In general color and markings the male corresponds with the female; it is 5 mm. in length. The tibia of the second pair of legs is without any special armature. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 151 DisrrisuTiIon: I have specimens from New England southward to Florida, and also from Utah (Professor O. Howard), from Southern California, and as far north as Wis- consin (Professor Peckham). Dr. Marx notes it as found in Alabama and Texas, indicating a distribution throughout the entire Gulf States. We may thus conclude that it is distrib- uted over the entire United States. As it may be regarded as identical with the European E. cucurbitina, it has a wide European distribution, and is one of the best and earliest known species. No. 10. Epeira vertebrata McCoox. Plate III, Figs. 6, 7; Pl. IV., Fig. 1; Pl. V., Fig. 4. 1888. Epeira vertebrata, McCook. . . . Acad. Nat. Sci., Philada., p. 196. 1889. Epeira vertebrata, McCook. . . . Amer. Spid. and their Spinningwork. Femate: Total length, 14 mm.; cephalothorax, 6 mm. long, 4.5 mm. wide, at the face 2mm. wide; abdomen, 11 mm. long, 7.5 wide, narrowing to 2 mm. at the apex and 3 mm. at the base. CrepHALoTHoRAX: A rather long oval, twice as wide at the base as at the face, flattened on top and gradually depressed to the base; fosse a longitudinal slit; caput very gradually sloping to the face, like the corselet somewhat flattened on top; color yellow, with a broad brown stripe on the sides which entirely surrounds the face, and a median stripe of brown which is broadest on the caput; it thus presents the appearance of having four longitudi- nal yellow stripes alternated with three of brown.! The corselet is sparsely provided upon the sides with whitish gray hairs, which form borders on the margin, and are much thicker on the sides of the caput; the sternum is shield shaped, somewhat longer than wide, with a broad median band of yellow; much rounded at the apex, and indented at the sides; well covered with hair; sternal cones prominent; lip large, subtriangular, one- half as high as the maxillz, which are slightly longer than wide, subtriangular at the tips; both organs brown, with yellow tips, and covered with dark curved bristles. Eyes: Ocular quad wider in front than behind, length greater than width, the fore part on an eminence much more decided in front; eyes about equal in size; MF separated by about 1.3 diameter ; MR by about one diameter; side eyes on tubercles, smaller than the middle eyes, but about equal in size, barely contingent; SF removed from MF by 1.5 the alignment of the latter, or at least two times or more their intervening space; the clypeus is narrow, the ocular eminence almost touching the margin, which is removed by about 1.5 diameter from MF; the front row is slightly recurved; the longer rear row procurved. Lecs: 1, 2, 4,.3; stout at the thighs, but tapering well to the tarsi, abundantly armed with strong blackish brown spines and with gray bristles and hair; color yellow, with dark brown annuli, and the thighs, particularly at legs-I and II, in many specimens almost entirely glossy brown, flecked with gray pubescence; the palps are marked and armed as the legs, but rather lighter in color; the mandibles are dark glossy brown, with tufts of hair upon the inside; conical, much narrower at the tips than at the base; the basal cog prominent, as is the corresponding dewlap upon the face; the tips and fangs are black. AspomMen: An elongated oval, somewhat narrowed at the rounded base, and much nar- rowed at the apex to the distal spinnerets; the dorsum well arched, the ground color brown, or yellowish brown, with a median herring bone or arrow shaped pattern with a double head, the point of the anterior one reaching to the middle of the basal front. Beyond the second arrow head the median pattern continues to the apex with indented edges; the centre of this vertebralike figure is marked along the entire dorsum with an interrupted ribbon of brown mottled with yellow; the folial margin consists of a band of yellow broken into spots, sometimes outlined with rosy brown, in the centre of which are black patches, forming a V-shaped figure receding toward the apex somewhat like Epeira arabesca; the sides are broad, irregular yellow bands. The surface is strongly reticulated and the whole appearance beautiful. The venter is a broad anchor shaped band of brown, flanked on 1 This effect in some plates has been obliterated by the colorists. 152 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. either side by a yellow ribbon, which passes around the orange yellow spinnerets. The epigynum has a narrow atriolum (Plate IV., le, 1d, le), with a strong brownish black corneous seapus, channeled along the lower side and spooned at the tip, resembling that of Epeira Benjamina and E. arabesca. Mate: Plate V., Figs. 4a-c. Fourteen mm. long, but varying much in length, one speci- men being but little more than half this measurement. The cephalothorax is a long oval, 6 mm. long, 5 mm. wide; the fosse a lengthened longitudinal slit; the corselet flat upon the top; the corselet grooves and cephalic suture very indistinct; the juncture of the caput almost obliterated, the head narrowing to the face; very little pubescence; the skin yellow- ish brown, smooth, glossy, with yellow stripes around the margins and longitudinal stripes upon the summit faintly, after the fashion of the female. The legs are long, very stout at the femora and tibia-I and II, but much thinner at the tarsus and metatarsus; tibia-I is somewhat thickened at the apex, and provided with a number of short, black clasping teeth, flanked by strong rows of black spines. The femur of leg—II has a number of black shortened spines underneath the apical part; the tibia is thickened at the base, curved, thickened again at the apex, and provided the entire length with numerous black clasping spines, which are much more numerous towards the apex, where they are clustered together in quadruple rows; strong, long black spines arm the base, and extend along either side. All the legs are provided with yellowish brown spines and yellowish bristles; the leg arma- ture of the male of this species is extremely formidable. The abdomen is a long oval, marked upon the dorsum somewhat as is the female, but with the herring bone pattern more interrupted; the palps are represented as to shape and color by Plate V., Figs. 4a-c. Strong, blunt, curved coxal spurs mark the first legs at their articulation with the trochan- ter, and a long conical spur marks the middle of coxa-IV in a similar position. - Length, 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows: 24.5, 21.75, 20.5, 13.5 mm. This species has points of resemblance to E. arabesca, but is decidedly different in many respects. The coloring and shape of the cephalothorax alone at once distinguish it; in Ara- besca this is high, peaked in the centre, abruptly sloping to the base and to the face, whereas in E. vertebrata the corselet is rather flat on top, and very gradually depressed to the base and the face. The dorsal pattern upon the abdomen is quite different, although presenting points of resemblance. The characteristics of the male are different, and the size of Verte- brata is much greater than of Arabesca. The dark forms of this species (Plate IV., Fig. 1) resemble in the markings of the abdomen the lighter variety. The abdomen, however, in the specimens possessed by me appears to be of a more uniform oval shape throughout. The colors of the abdomen are black, with yellow markings. On either side are two broad broken bands of circular and irregular waving figures, which meet in front and at the apex. The cephalothorax and the legs are of a dark reddish brown, or even blackish. The bands on the cephalothorax are also quite black, as are the tips of the female. This may be the normal color of the female after depositing the cocoon, but I have so many specimens that are marked in this way that it seems well to note the differences. Distrisution: A number of specimens of both sexes and various ages have been received from California (Mrs. Eigenmann, Dr. Davidson, Dr. Blaisdell). From the ‘ Alba- tros” expeditions (Mr. C. H. Townsend) I haye examples from Clarion Island, Lower California, and Galapagos Islands. At San Diego the species is abundant and is distributed to some extent northward along the Pacific Coast. It may be a subtropical species. I have raised several from imported eggs to maturity in Philadelphia. No. 11. Epeira Ithaca (new species). Plate IV., Figs. 3, 3a-d. Femate: Total length, 10 mm.; abdomen, 7 mm. long, 5 mm. wide at broadest part ; cephalothorax, 5 mm. long, 3 mm. wide. The colors for the fore part of the body are orange yellow and yellow; of the abdomen, yellow and brown. The colors of the male are similar, DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 1538 CerHaLorHorax: A rounded oval, sloping gradually backward from the deep circular fosse and forward to the eye space; head quadrate; cephalic suture distinct ; slightly pubes- cent; color orange yellow. Sternum cordate, dark brown, sternal cones distinct ; labium semicircular ; maxillze well rounded, as wide as long. Eyes: The ocular quad is somewhat longer than the greatest width; the front wider and more elevated than the rear. (Fig. 3a.) MF are on tubercles, are separated about 1.75 diameter, are slightly longer than MR, which are separated about or less than one diame- ter. MF distant from SF about 1.5 their intervening space. MR from SR about two alignments. The side eyes are on tubercles, are divided by more than a radius; SR slightly smaller than SF, and placed well behind but a little to the side. The front row is slightly recurved, the rear row slightly procuryed; MF from margin of clypeus about two diameters. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; uniform light orange yellow, the tips of the terminal joints alone having narrow darker annuli; not heavily pubescent, rather sparsely provided with short dark spines. Palps colored and armed as the legs; mandibles conical, color orange yellow. Appomen: Well arched, oval, broadest at the base, tapering to the distal spinnerets; color yellow, folium widest anteriorly, a white median patch on the basal front, mottled white and rosy centre. and brownish indentations; sloping bands of alternate white and orange mark the sides. The venter has a somewhat triangular patch of black or dark brown (3b), nearly surrounded by a band of yellow widest at the spinnerets. Two lunettes of yellow color are on either side of the base of the spinnerets. The epigynum (3c) has a well defined scapus, flattened, of almost equal width throughout, and slightly spooned at the tip. ; Ma.te::7 mm. long; in color and markings resembling the female. The legs are uni- form dark orange yellow, more heavily armored than female with brown spines and gray bristles. Tibia-II is not swollen, has no special clasping spines, but numerous long brown spines symmetrically arranged in rows. Tibia-I is similarly armed. The palpal digit, 5d, somewhat resembles that of E. patagiata. Disrrrsution: New York; I have two immature females from Ithaca, N. Y. (Mr. N. Banks), and a mature male, and female lacking one moult of maturity taken by me at Alex- andria Bay on the St. Lawrence River.! No. 12. Epeira placida Hentz. Plate IV., Figs. 4, 4a, 5, 5a. 1847. Epeira placida, Hentz ... . . J.B.S., v., 475; Sp. U.S, p. 115, xiii., 12. 1884. Epeira placida, Emerton .. . . N.E. Ep., 316, xxxiv., 2; xxxvi., 10-13. FemaLe: This beautiful spider is one of the smallest of our indigenous Epeira. Among numerous specimens I have only one that equals 4 mm. in length. It is strongly marked, especially upon the abdomen, where the colors are white or whitish yellow, with a prom- inent, blackish brown median band. Total length, 3 mm.; abdomen, 2.5 mm. long by 1.5 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 1.5 mm. long, 1 mm. wide. CrpHaLoTrHorax: Cordate, the corselet rounded at the edges, rather high, pitched sharply backward, the head gradually depressed to the face, the fosse a longitudinal slit; in these features resembling E. forata, and differing from typical Epeira. The color yel- low or dark yellow, with a broad median band of brown or blackish brown, widest at the eyes; the skin glossy, slightly pubescent, with grayish hairs upon the sides of the caput; sternum shield shape, acute at the apex, wide at the base, brown or blackish brown; at the margins a broad, yellow median band; the labium short, triangular; the maxille as wide or nearly as wide as long, sharply truncated at the tips; color of labium and maxillie yellowish brown. Eyes: Ocular quad upon a squarish eminence projecting in front, somewhat longer than wide; the width in front and behind nearly the same, but slightly greater in front; the 1In reviewing this description since preparation of plates I am inclined to think the above a small varietal form of Epeira marmorea. 154 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. eyes not greatly differing in size; MF removed about 1.3 diameter; MR about one diameter; side eyes upon tubercles; SF removed from MF by a space not greater than, and scarcely as great as that which separates MF, thus differing entirely from the eyes of the genus Epeira ; the space between SR and MR is at least twice the interval between MR, and about equals the distance between MF; all the eyes are upon black bases, giving them a blackish appear- ance; the clypeus is about the height of one diameter of MF; the front row is slightly recuryed, the rear row procurved. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; stout, yellow, with brown annuli at the tips; the spines compara- tively few and very long; the palps are colored and armored as the legs; mandibles long, conical, somewhat widened at the tips; yellowish brown in color. AxBpoMEN: Ovate, decidedly narrower in front than behind, differing therein from typical Epeira, and widest about two-thirds the distance from the front; the central pat- tern is a bottle shaped figure, with undulating edges, being blackish brown, the centre a lighter brown or yellowish hue; on either side are irregular borders of white, then follows a light band of yellowish brown, then another white, and so to the sides, which are dark brown; the whole surface is beautifully reticulated; the dorsum is highly arched, almost a semicircle ; the spinnerets are distal; the venter a brown patch, flanked on either side by a white or yellowish white space, the spinnerets being black, with dark brown bases, and a white patch on either side; the epigynum (Fig. 4a) has a light colored scapus, somewhat convoluted, with a wide, rounded, spoon shaped tip; the portule on either side are strong, brown, bowl shaped objects.? Mate: Fig. 5. Little more than 2 mm. long, colored and marked much like the female. One specimen in hand has the angular point of the dorsal folium much darker in color, giving the appearance of rows of black spots, symmetrically arranged on either side.’ The same markings may be seen in a number of females. The legs are a uniform yellow; tibia—II without any special clasping spines upon the legs, with a few very long ones, all of dark yellow color. Distrisution: I have specimens from New England, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, and from as far north as Wisconsin. It has been located in Florida, and probably inhabits the Western and Northern United States as far west as Mississippi, and may be found beyond. No. 18. Epeira foliata Henrz. Plate IV., Figs. 7, 8, 8a. 1847. Epeira foliata, HENTZ. ..... J. B.S: Ve, 4/0s0SDps WiiS., 0X, 14 plex vail. OO! 1884. Epeira foliata, Emerton ... .N. E. Ep., p. 318, xxxvii., 6-10. 1889. Epeira folifera, Marx ... . . Catalogue, p. 545. Fremate: Total length, 6 mm.; abdomen, 4 mm. long, 2.75 mm. wide; cephalothorax, nearly 2.5 mm. long, 1.75 mm. wide. The general colors (in alcohol) are brownish yellow or pale brown for the fore part of the body. Mr. Emerton describes this part as grayish or greenish yellow, darker toward the end of the joints, the first and second legs being darker and with dark rings in the middle of the tibia and tarsus. The abdomen is grayish or olive yellow, relieved by brown or red longitudinal stripes. Dr. Marx, in his catalogue, names this species E. folifera, on the grounds (Note 17) that Hentz’s name of “ foliata” had been previously appropriated by Walckenaer for E. cornuta; but as Walckenaer’s name is a synonym, and is not retained by araneologists for the species to which it is affixed, Hentz’s name must be regarded as the true one for this species. The species differs from the typical Epeira in having both eye rows procurved, and further in the subconical shape of the cephalothorax. CEPHALOTHORAX: Cordate, peaked and high in the middle, sloping sharply back to the indented base: the fosse a deep longitudinal indentation; cephalic suture distinct; caput depressed, somewhat arched at the base; color yellow, covered with pubescence, sloping to + The base of the scapus in the figure is drawn too broad. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 155 the face. Sternum cordate, inclined to rectangular, raised in the middle, with sternal cones, slightly pubescent, yellow; labium subtriangular, though rectangular at the base; maxille but little longer than wide, triangular at the tip, dark yellow, as is also the labium. Eyes: Ocular quad upon a rectangular eminence, most prominent behind; the front somewhat wider than the rear, and the side about equal to the front, MF separated by about two diameters; SR, which are somewhat larger and yellow in color, by about 1.5 diameter. Side eyes are on tubercles; SF somewhat larger; separated by less than a radius. MF separated from SF by 1.3 the area thereof, or 1.5 the intervening space. The space between MR and SR is much greater. The margin of the clypeus is removed from MF by two or more diameters, the central eminence coming close up to the margin. The front row is somewhat procurved; the rear row, which is the longer, is much procurved. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; yellow, with slight annuli at the tips of the tibie; provided with yellowish white bristles and hairs, and yellow spines, which are numerous underneath the femora, especially of legs-I and II. The palps are yellow, and armored as the legs. The mandibles are long, conical, somewhat separated at the tips, pubescent, and thickly hirsute on the inner edges. Aspomen: A triangular ovate widest at the base, narrowing somewhat to the apex; the spinnerets distal; dorsum arched; the folium a simple triangular pattern, with undula- ting margins; colors light pea green, shaded with yellow to yellowish white and reddish marginal and longitudinal lines; the venter a broad, yellowish brown patch, cretaceous, extending upward on the sides; the whole abdomen covered with soft yellow hairs; the spinnerets yellow, surrounded by a blackish base. The epigynum presents a semicircular atriolum, brown, glossy, rugose, from which extends a short, chitinous scapus, like the bowl of a spoon. Mare: Fig. 8, 8a; 5 mm. long. In color and markings quite similar to the female. The annuli of the legs appear to be darker; tibia-II is curved, and thickened at the middle and toward the base; provided from the middle to the apex with a series of strong dark brown spines about seven in number, of which one underneath is much longer, having nearly the length of half the joint, and placed upon an elevated base. Under- neath the femora is a row of six or more acute, brown, erect spines. The humeral joint of the palps is as long as or longer than the three terminal joints, of which the cubital is globose, armed with long spines; the radial is bilabed; the digital is rounded, corneous, yellowish brown, the embolus being wide, bifid, or strongly notched at the tip, presenting at once a prominent characteristic. The legs are stout at the femora, but much diminished in size at the metatarsus and tarsus. DisrripuTion: I have from Mr. Thomas Gentry one female in a collection from North Carolina and Georgia. Hentz described it from Alabama, Emerton from New England, and Dr. Marx has examples from Washington, D. C., Florida, Savannah, Ga., New York, Columbus, and Texas. It is thus distributed along the entire Atlantic Coast, and probably throughout all the Gulf States as far as Texas. Its western distribution has not been determined, though it will probably be found as far west as the American Plains. No. 14. Epeira balaustina McCook. Plate IV., Figs. 2, 2a, 2b, 2c. 1880. Epeira balaustina, McCook . . . Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., p. 198. 1889. Epeira balaustina, Marx .. . . Catalogue. Femate: Total length, 16 mm.; abdomen, 9 mm. long, 7 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 7 mm. long, 5 mm. wide; width of face, 2 mm. The general colors are for the abdomen yellow, with black stripes and spots; cephalothorax, orange red; legs, orange and black. CEPHALOTHORAX: Corselet rounded, high at the centre; head at the fosse elevated and sloping to the front, with little decrease of width; color brown, intermingled with orange ; in one species this color is dark orange brown; skin glossy, and heavily clothed on the sides and head with long gray bristles. Sternum cordate, dark orange brown, covered along the margins with white bristles, higher in the centre, and about as wide as long; 156 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. f labium subtriangular, and, like the maxille, dark brown, with yellow tips; mandibles colored as the cephalothorax, dark towards the fang, at which point also they narrow on the inside ; clothed with white bristles. Eyes: Ocular quad, on a rounded prominence (Fig. 2b); MF decidedly larger than MR, separated by about 1.5 diameter; at the same distance from the margin of the clypeus ; length of the quad about equal to the front, the rear narrowest; MR separated by about their diameter. Side eyes upon tubercles, but hardly so pronounced relatively as the central prominence. SF the larger; the two scarcely contingent. Clypeus 1.5 diameter; MF high; the front row is slightly recurved, almost aligned, and shorter than the rear row, which is slightly procurved. Leas: 1, 2, 4, 3; moderately stout, heavily clothed with white bristles, and at points with yellowish curved hairs, and provided with numerous strong white spines, set in dark and well elevated sockets; color, orange brown; the femora somewhat darker, or even blackish. Palps like the legs, heavily armed with spines and bristles. One specimen of the same species has bright orange legs, without decided annuli, but the femora of first, second, and fourth legs marked with black bands, which cover three-fourths of the surface of the first two and one-half of the fourth pair; the femur of third leg is without the dark bands, but has a slight median annulus. ApBpoMEN: Subtriangular in shape, longer than broad, arched upon the dorsum, but somewhat flattened upon the summit and rounding to the spinnerets, which are distal. It is heavily clothed with simple white bristles with brown pits, which are clustered more closely in a bushy tuft around the base; numerous smaller curved bristles of dark color are scat- tered over the entire dorsal surface; between these larger white ones and on the sides, mostly placed together, are golden yellow short curyed bristles, which considerably modify the color. On one specimen, from San Domingo, the dorsum is bright yellow, with branch- ing longitudinal lines from the middle to the apex; the sides are marked with yellow. On the specimen described the abdomen appears to have been a uniform yellow color, with a darker cordate band or folium occupying the greater part of the dorsum. The venter (2a, 2c) is a broad subtriangular patch, shaped like an old fashioned chapeau, of yellow or yellowish color, entirely girdled by an irregular ribbon of yellowish white; on the chapeau six dark or yellow spots are symmetrically arranged on either side of the long scapus. The venter, like the rest of the spider, is covered with numerous bristles and bristlelike hairs ; along the edge of the gills these stand thickly and are white. Spinnerets dark orange; on a specimen from Florida, bright orange. The epigynum is most remarkable for the length of the scapus (2c), which reaches over the entire yenter to the base of the spinnerets ; it is narrow and tapers nearly to a point, is without groove or spoon, but exceedingly rugose and with a light line of hairs along the median of the lower surface. The vulval porch is searcely wider than the base of the scapus, and the portulze are not exposed to view. In only one specimen (Florida) is this organ preserved intact, in two others it is broken off. For this reason, in the description of this spider, as first given in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, I erred concerning the form of the epigynum by describing the species from examples from which the long scapus had been broken off. The fourth specimen, which I subsequently found, was in perfect condition, and thus permits me to correct this error. Distripution: I have three specimens in my possession, all females; one from Florida (Fig. 2); one from San Domingo, collected by the late William H. Gabb; one from Swan Island, Carribean Sea, from Mr. C. H. Townsend; a fourth from the latter locality was sent by me to Dr. T. Thorell. From this showing the species would appear to be limited to the Gulf States and the tropical islands along the coast. It will probably be found widely dis- tributed throughout the northern parts of South America. In general form it resembles closely E. rayilla and E, bivariolata, but lacks the circular blisterlike abdominal markings which characterize E. biyariolata. The female specimen marked in the Marx collections FE. ravilla, and so recognized by Count Keyserling, lacks about one moult of maturity, and the epigy- num (Plate V., Fig. 7a) is so different in length and structure from that of E. balaustina as drawn (Plate IV., Fig. 2c), that one doubts whether a final moult could overcome the differ- a” DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. atsy/ ence. Should this resemblance prove to be identity, the distribution of the species would be extended, in the United States, to the Rio Grande of Texas, and also into Arizona, and its habitat become the semitropical and tropical parts of North America, including the West Indies; probably also the northernmost South American States. No. 15. Epeira carbonaria Kocn, L. Plate V., Figs. 1, 2. 1869. Epeira carbonaria, Kocn, L.. . . Beitr. zur Kentn. den Arachn. Tyrols. Zeitschr. d. Ferdinandeums, p. 168. 1874. Epeira carbonaria, Stuon, E. . . Arachn. de France, i., 92. 1875. Epeira Packardii, THorett . . . Proce. Boston Soe. Nat. Hist., xvii., 490. 1884. Epeira carbonaria, Emerton. . . N. E. Ep., p. 315, pl. xxxiii., 18. 1892. Epeira carbonaria, Keyser~inc . Spinnen Amerikas, Epeiridee, p. 204, tab. ix., 151. Fremate: Total length, 14 mm.; abdomen, 10.4 mm. long and 7 mm. wide; cephalo- thorax, 5 mm. long by 4 mm. wide; width at the face, 1.8 mm. CrpHaLoTHoRAX: A rounded oval; fosse deep; cephalic suture distinct; head but lit- tle depressed at the base, rounding to the face; corselet brown, with yellow marginal stripe covered with rather long grayish white hairs, bristlelike at base and along sides of the caput. Head yellow, well covered with long, stiff gray hairs. Sternum shield shape, brown, heavily covered with long, gray bristlelike hairs; labium rather narrow, subtriangular, less than half the height of maxillee, which are apparently somewhat wider than long, rounded, and yellow like the labium and surrounding cox. Leas: 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows: 18, 16.2, 15.4, 10.7 mm.; stout, strongly annulated, with dark brown rings at tips and middle of tibia and metatarsus; a brown hue diffused over upper surface of femora; strongly armored with long gray hairs, bristles, and numerous long black spines; palps colored and armed as legs; mandibles strong, curved at bases, yel- low tipped with brown; slightly pubescent. Eyes: Ocular quad on a high rounded eminence, which is almost a square, but wider in front than behind; MR oval and decidedly larger than MF; the latter separated by about 1.5 to 2 diameters; MR about one diameter. Side eyes on tubercles, scarcely contin- gent; SR larger than SF, which are separated from MF by at least two and a half times the space that divides the latter. Clypeus high, its margin removed from MF by three and a half to four times a diameter of the latter, or considerably more than intervening space between MF and SF; front row recurved, rear row somewhat procurved. The face around the central eminence is thickly covered with stiff gray bristles which project over the margin. Axspomen: A long oval, the dorsal field yellow interspersed with brown; the folium is outlined by thicker semicircular patches of grayish white bristlelike hairs, which heavily cover the entire organ. In the centre is a white herring bone marking with at least five angular projections and indentations symmetrically arranged on either side. This herring bone pattern is chiefly emphasized by the gray hairs, the field beneath being yellow mar- gined with brown. From the middle of the folium downward are arranged symmetrically on either side rows of three circular spots, like buttons. The folium diminishes towards the apex; sides yellow, intermingled with brown amidst gray hairs; spinnerets at the foot of the apical wall which very slightly overhangs them; color brown, with lighter hue at the bases. The venter is covered with gray hairs over a brownish field, with yellow spots on ‘either side heavily covered with gray hairs. The epigynum (Fig. 1b, lc) is long and triangular, wide at the base and diminishing sharply to a point, upon which is a rounded dot. It is hollowed upon the lower anterior surface and is covered with rows of. stiff white hairs. Mater (Fig. 2): In color and marking closely resembles the female ; length (two speci- mens), 9 mm., 8 mm. Cephalothorax a longer oval than the female. The legs differ in lacking the decided brown annuli of the female; are heavily armed with spines and 158 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. bristles, double rows of spines are on the under side of the femora, longer and stronger on the sides. Tibia-II is curved, and its apical joint (Fig. 2a) provided with strong, thick, black clasping spines, with several strong ordinary spines; also a decided conical projection or tooth witha corneous tip, which, from the indentation thereon, would appear to be the seat of a strong spine. A strong curved spur marks the apex of coxa-I, next the tro- chanter; coxa-II has a toothed cone on the middle of the base; coxa-IV a toothed cone on the base underneath. The abdomen is very heavily covered with bristlelike hairs, which are arranged in a heavy tuft upon the base. The ocular quad appears to be rela- tively a little longer than in the female, presenting thus more the figure of a rectangle than a square. The palpal digit (Fig. 2b) is dark brown, and distinguished by a palm shaped claw projecting from the side outward. DisrripuTion: I have a female of this beautiful species from Salt Lake, Utah (Professor ©. Howard), and a male from Wisconsin (Professor Peckham), and from California (Mr. Curtis). Dr. Marx has a specimen from the District of Columbia... Professor Packard found a specimen as far north as Labrador. Emerton collected it on Mt. Washington, N. H., where it is common along the large slopes of Bear Rock; and it has been found on Mt. Lincoln, in the Rocky Mountains. It is a European species which prevails among the Alps. No. 16. Epeira carbonarioides Krysrrtina. Plate V., Fig 9. 1892. Epeira carbonarioides, Knyseruinc. Spinnen Amerikas, Epeiridee, p. 206, tab. x., 152. FrmMaLe: Total length (two specimens), 10 (8) mm.; abdomen, 5.5 (5.2) mm. long by 4.5 (3.6) mm. wide; cephalothorax, 4.5 (3.2) mm. long by 3 (2.7) mm. wide. Under the above name Count Keyserling has described a species from Western North America which strongly resembles Epeira carbonaria. His description does not distinctly indicate the differences between the two, and at this writing Plate X. of his work upon which this species is figured is not in hand. I am somewhat doubtful whether the integrity of the species can be maintained, having but a single pair, but it is a good variety at least, as indicated by the following differences: In Carbonarioides the ocular quad is slightly wider behind than in front, while in Carbonaria the relative lengths are reversed, the front being, if anything, the wider. The female is not so heavily covered with strong gray bristles as Carbonaria, partic- ularly upon the cephalothorax and around the face, though this may be an individual differ- ence. The brown annuli upon the legs of Carbonarioides are much wider relatively than upon specimens of Carbonaria observed by me; so much so that the joints appear dark brown with narrow yellow annuli, rather than yellow with brown annuli. The epigynum of Carbonarioides, though resembling that of Carbonaria in the single specimen in hand, is much narrower at the base, and, indeed, is relatively smaller throughout. The dorsal folium also differs somewhat, though this may well be an individual difference. In the male the palpal organs appear to show decided difference ; tibia-II of Carbonarioides appears to be relatively longer, not so much thickened at the apex, and scarcely so numerously provided with heavy denticulate spines. The cox of Carbonarioides, male, are distinguished by strong spurs and cones; the spurs upon the apical margin next the trochanter of cox —I, II, III, IV, strongest in I. The cones appear, at the bases of coxee-I, where they are low down and directed towards coxse-II; on II, upon the lower surface, directed downward ; and in the same position on III; on IV it is low down and directed toward coxee-III. The maxille are also distinguished by slight protuberances or swellings upon the inher margin, CrrHALOTHORAX: Corselet a rounded oval, somewhat narrower toward the front; suf- ficiently high ; caput not depressed ; the fosse a semicircular pit; corselet grooves not prom- inent; cephalic suture distinct; the whole a glossy yellowish brown, the caput being yellow; surface not heavily pubescent, but some gray hairs on the caput (the pubescence in the alcoholic specimen has evidently been partly worn off). The sternum shield shaped, some- DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 159 what cordate; color dark brown, well covered with hairs, especially on the margin. Labium subtriangular, half as high as maxillee, which are yellowish brown, subtriangular at the base, as is the labium. Lees: Order 1, 2, 4, 3; dark yellow, strongly annulated both at tips and middle of the joints, with wide dark brown patches; the feet black; armed with black or blackish brown spines and dense white hairs, which are longer upon the bases of the femora and under- neath and inside thereof; palps colored and armed as the legs; mandibles strong, dark brown, conical. Eyes: Ocular quad on a high, rounded, brown eminence, the rear manifestly wider than front and equal to sides; MF smaller than MR and separated by 1.5 to 2 diameters; MR separated by about 1.3 diameter. Side eyes placed on tubercles, contingent, SF somewhat larger than SR. MF separated from SF by more than their area; clypeus high, being as much as, or more than, the area of MF, or about three times the diameter of MF; front row slightly recurved, the longer hind row procuryed; the space between SR and MR equal to about 1.5 the area of MR. The ocular quad is free from hairs, and the long gray hairs which so profusely cover the interspaces of the ocular area in Epeira carbonaria are but slightly represented in the specimen under description. AspoMEeN: A long oval, narrowed at the base as well as apex; dorsum arched to the spinnerets, which are distal, overhanging the cephalothorax at the base. The ground color is yellow, heavily clothed with white hairs, thickest on the base in front and upon the sides; the folium is a broad, brown, scalloped band passing from the base, slightly narrow- ing to the apex; in the centre is a yellow herring bone marking (Plate V., Fig. 9), with a broad arrow at the base and tapering towards the apex; color yellow, modified by the heavy pubescence. The sides are yellowish brown, clothed heavily with white pubescence, which passes down to the venter, where the white hairs are mingled with brown. The ventral band is a rectangular brown patch, with yellow margin and a broad yellow median band; spinnerets brown. The scapus of the epigynum is tolerably long, of almost equal width for about two-thirds of its length, when it tapers to a point. It is narrower relatively than that of Epeira carbonaria, grooved upon the lower side, and coyered with strong white hairs. Mate: The male differs little in general characteristics from the female; the head is more attenuated at the face; the color of the cephalic corselet suture is dark grayish brown ; the bristlelike hairs upon the abdomen are long and intermingled with numerous black and yellow bristles, the herring bone median pattern is well defined and resembles that of the female. The legs are yellow or yellowish brown, strongly annulated, but not quite so widely as the female. The metatarsi are well provided with spines, which appear also on the under sides, especially of first and second legs. The tibie of second legs are curved, very little thickened toward the tip, and provided with additional clasping spines, which are strong but not numerous, arranged in two rows. The tip of the joint has about four of these black spines, and on the inside is a strong corneous tooth or notch, which has probably been the base of a long bristle. This part is similar to Epeira carbonaria, but not quite so strongly developed. The tibia about equals in length the metatarsus. Disrrizution: I have seen but one pair of this species apparently identical with that which Count Keyserling has described, and this was collected in Clear Creek County, Col- orado. (Marx Collection.) No. 17. Epeira bivariolata Camsrmer. Plate V., Figs. 5, 6, 5a, 6a. 1889. petra bivariolata, Krys. in litt. . Marx Catalogue, p. 543. 1890. Epeira bivariolata, Campripce. . Biolog. Centrali-Amer., Aran., p. 27, pl. vi., 15. 1892. Epeira bivariolata, Knyspruixa . Spinn. Amerk., iy., Epei., p. 100, tab. v., 74. 4 Femate: Body length, 11 mm.; abdomen, 7 to 8 mm. long, 7 mm. broad; cephalo- thorax, 5 mm. long, 3 mm. wide. The general colors in alcoholic specimens are yellowish brown for fore part of body, and yellow with brown markings for the abdomen. In life, 160 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. according to Cambridge,’ the falces, legs, and lower part of the abdomen are orange, ap- proaching light burnt sienna; on the abdomen, sharply outlined, bright green, metallic when first caught, bordered anteriorly by a narrow white line, posteriorly by ten black ocellze with clear white margins. CrPpHALOTHORAX: Corselet well rounded; orange brown; the head depressed and covered with white hairs. Sternum orange yellow, slightly pubescent, with low sternal cones before coxe-IIT; slightly elevated in the centre; about as wide as long. The labium and maxille as in Epeira. Leas: 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows: 23.1, 19.8, 17.1, 11.6 mm.; they range in color from light yellow to light brown. The joints are annulated, with reddish brown color; armed with bristles, and rather short spines. Palps as the legs. Mandibles long, conical, widely sepa- rated at the tips. Eyes: Ocular quad on a rounded prominence, the sides but little longer than the front (if any), and the latter wider than the rear; the four eyes about equal in size; MF sepa- rated about 1.5 to 2 diameters; MR separated one diameter. MF removed from SF about 1.3 alignment; SR from MR about twice their alignment; side eyes propinquate, about equal in size. The front row of eyes is aligned, or but slightly recurved; the longer rear row procurved; height of clypeus 2 to 2.5 diameters of MF. AppoMEeN: Almost as wide at the base as long, bluntly pointed in front, forming thus a basal triangle. The dorsum is a rounded yellow triangle (in life green with metallic lustre), in the middle of which is a brown folium scalloped or triangulated at the margin and diminishing to the apex; a row of brown bristles marks the base, and the dorsum is covered with similar but shorter hairs with brown pits, which modify the color. On the dorsal median, well towards the apex, are two circular prominences, corneous, shining, each about one millimetre in diameter, and separated from each other about three diameters ; a light yellowish line girdles their point of union with the abdomen; they appear like blisters upon the surface; are destitute of hairs. The venter is a broad patch whose margin is yellow, enclosing a subtriangular patch of brown, the whole reticulated ; four brown dots arranged in a square mark the anterior part near the gills; spinnerets brown, surrounded at their base by a yellow brown band. The epigynum has a long, straight, rugose scapus, narrowing from the base towards the point (Fig. 5a); the base rather flattened, the apex rounded. Mate: Fig. 6, 6a. About equal in length to the female, or a little longer. Cephalo- thorax, from 5 to 6 mm. long and 4 to 5 mm. broad. The MF eyes are relatively larger than MR and more widely separated than in the female. The palp is marked by a strong boot shaped projection from the digital joint. (Fig. 6a.) The cephalothorax is yellowish brown, strongly marked with gray hairs. The patella of the first and second pairs of legs is long and thin; the tibia of the second pair short, curved, and thickened at the end, and strongly armed with two rows of about four each clasping spines, while the metatarsus is also somewhat curved and armed at the base with one very long spine, and a shorter one at the apex. The metatarsus-I is long, thin, and also slightly curved; a strong bent spur is on coxa-I next the trochanter. The abdomen is longer than broad, oval, of a greenish or olive color (in alcohol), and marked at the base, along the sides towards the apex, with long grayish brown spinous bristles. The specimen in hand appears to want the corneous blisterlike plates in the middle of the apical part, as above described in the female. Disrrrsution: Cambridge describes this species from Gautemala; Dr. Marx has an undeveloped female from Utah, one from Texas, a mature male from Florida like the above (which is from Summit Canyon, Utah), but lacking the dorsal corneous plates. The female above described is from Lake Klamath, Oregon. This would indicate a wide dis- tribution in the subtropical parts of the United States, and indeed of North America; and that the species has found its way northward to Oregon, along the Pacific Coast, and east- ward to the American Plains. (The Marx Collection.) 1 Biologia Centrali-Americana, Araneidea, p. 27, pl. vi., 15. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 161 No. 18. Epeira ravilla Kocn, C. Plate V, Figs. 7, 8. 1845. Epeira ravilla, Kocn, C. . . . - . Die Arachnid., xi., p. 73, Fig. 890. 1889. Epeira ravilla, Marx ... . . . Catalogue, p. 547. + Femate: Total length, 11 mm.; abdomen, 8 mm. long, 7 wide’; cephalothorax, 5 mm. long, 4 wide; face, 2 mm. wide. General colors, orange yellow and brown for the fore part of the body, and whitish yellow (in alcohol) for abdomen. The specimens here described from Dr. Marx’s collection were identified by the late Count Keyserling as Koch’s FE. ravilla, and after casual examination were drawn and lithographed on the strength of this author- ity along with examples of E. bivariolata Cambridge. Subsequently more careful study has satisfied me that there is no specific difference between these and the specimens recognized by Keyserling as E. bivariolata. I regard it as probable that Koch’s E. ravilla and Cam- bridge’s E. bivariolata are identical, the peculiar blisterlike spots on the lower dorsal field having been overlooked by Koch, or being wanting in his type, as is the case in some of Dr. Marx’s specimens. However, I retain here the names and figures as originally engraved, and append description. CrPHALOTHORAX : Corselet well rounded on the sides, truncate and indented at the base ; fosse large and circular; head quadrate, depressed from the gently arched base, covered with gray bristles; color dull orange yellow with brown marginal bands, the eye space somewhat lighter hue and mandibles dark brown. Sternum orange, slightly longer than wide, sternal cones distinct, elevated in middle, marginal gray bristles; labium semicircular, maxille gibbous, both dark brown with yellow tips. Eyes: Ocular quad elevated, front width greater than rear and equal to length; MF somewhat larger than MR; separated 1.5 diameter, MR by less than one diameter. Side eyes propinquate, on decided tubercles, SF a little larger than SR; MF distant from SF about 1.5 their alignment, MR from SR by a greater space; front row recurved, the longer rear row procurved ; height of clypeus about 2.5 diameter MF. Leos: 1, 2, 4, 3; stout, especially I, II; orange yellow; femora-I, II, almost entirely dark brown to blackish, and about half of femur-IV similarly marked; joints annulated ; well armed with white and yellowish spines and gray bristles and hairs; palps of lighter hue, with bright yellow wings and strong gray bristles. AppoMEN: Oval, contracted both in front and behind; dorsum lightly arched on top, rounding thence to the spinnerets directly beneath the high apical wall. The dorsal pat- tern, Fig. 7, and on the anterior base, is a rhomboidal patch of whitish yellow color, the original hue of which may haye been green or bright yellow; surface with stout white bristles, with raised brown sockets. In the median line on the lower part of the dorsal saddle are two circular blisterlike markings like those in E. bivariolata, separated about two mm., the lower one smaller than the upper. The sides are yellow, with lateral streakings of dark color. The venter has a chapeau shaped spot of brown surrounded with yellow; at the orange colored spinnerets and along the sides bordered by brown. The epigynum, Fig. 7a, in the specimen described, probably lacks one moult of maturity ; scapus moder- ately long and pointed. Mate: Fig. 8; resembles the female in color and pattern; length, 8 mm.; cephalo- thorax longer and wider relatively than in the female; fosse a longitudinal depression. The legs have less prominent bands of black on the femora and are strongly annulated throughout; tibia-II much swollen and curved, and armed with stout, brown clasping spines arranged in two rows on the side, and one underneath; ordinary spines whitish, with brown bases; metatarsus curved, thin, one stout brown spine on the inside near the base, two near the apex; patellar joints long and rather thin; a long brown spur on apex of coxa-I; the palpal digit is remarkably developed (Fig. 8a), the corneous processes resem- bling those of E. bivariolata. The abdomen clothed at the base with a cluster of long gray bristles; circular blisters on the dorsal apex as in female. DisrripuTIon: Texas; a male from El Paso, Isleta, Rio Grande. (Marx Collection.) Dr. Marx also locates it in Arizona. It is probably an inhabitant of the entire Pacific Coast, or at least the tropical or semitropical sections. Koch’s E. ravilla was from Mexico. 162 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. No. 19. Epeira volucripes Keyseriina. Plate VI, 1, 2. 1884. Hpeira volucripes, Keyseruinc . . Verh. d. 2. b. Ges. Wien., p. 528, pl. 13, Fig. 27. 1892. Epeira volucripes, Keyseruinc . . Spin. Amer. Epeir., p. 199, tab. ix., 147. FrmaLte: General colors dark yellow and brown for the fore part; on the abdomen yellow, with blackish to brown markings. Total length (two specimens), 11 (9.5) mm.; cephalothorax, 4 (3.5) mm. long, 3.5 (3) mm. wide; head, 2 (1.3) mm. wide; abdomen, 8 (6.5) mm. long, 7 (6.2) mm. wide. CrPpHALoTHORAX: Corselet a rounded oval; brown, with lighter tints on caput and summit of corselet; well clothed with white hairs. Sternum cordate, as wide as long; color brownish yellow, with a bright yellow median band; lip and maxille brown, tipped with pale yellow. ° Eyres: Ocular quad on an eminence projecting forward; front as wide as long, and wider than rear; MF separated about 1.5 diameter; MR smaller than MF, and separated less than one diameter; SF from MF about 1.3 their alignment; side eyes on tubercles; SF larger than SR, the latter placed well to the sides, and marked with strong gray eyebrows; front row very little recurved, the longer rear row procuryed. Clypeus about two diameters MF high; grayish bristles on the margin. Leas: 1, 2, 4, 3; yellow, with brown apical and median annuli; thickly covered with gray bristles and hairs, interspersed with strong brown and yellow spines; palps colored and armed as the legs. Mandibles brown, conical, rounded at the base, divergent at tips. Apspomen: Subtriangular; widest at the base; somewhat arched to the distal spinnerets. The dorsal base overhangs the cephalothorax, is pale yellow, heavily clothed with gray hairs; the folium has a yellow median herring bone pattern, flanked by lunettes of black or blackish brown in two rows approximated towards the apex. The folium is not unlike that of E. arabesca in its general form. The dorsal color extends over the sides in irregular loops, margined by a scalloped black band that extends underneath. The venter is a broad squarish band of yellowish brown, with two bright spots near the spinnerets and blackish color within. The epigynum is rather short for such a large species, subtriangular, wide at the base, spooned at the somewhat rounded top. (Plate VI., Figs. 1a, 1b.) Mate: Plate VI., Figs. 2, 2a. 7.5 mm. long; in general color and markings resembles the female. The abdomen is somewhat lighter in color; tibia—II is not especially developed in size or in clasping armature, being simply marked by several long strong spines, one of which, on the inside, is longer and stronger than the others, and placed upon a slight process; the joint is also somewhat bent. Distrieution: Savannah, Ga. (Marx Collection.) Keyserling reports the species from New Hampshire and Tennessee; and from Haiti and Panama, Central America. This indicates an elastic temperament, at once adapted to the rigors of New England and the fervors of the tropics. I believe, however, that the species is not common in northern latitudes, but belongs more especially to the southern fauna. No. 20. Epeira tranquilla, new species.! Plate VI, Figs. 3, 3a. Femavte: Total length, 4 mm.; abdomen, 2.5 mm. long, 2.6 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 2 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, and 1 mm. wide at the face. CrrHALorHorRAX: Cordate; corselet rounded at sides, high in the middle, shelving behind; head much depressed, sparingly clothed with gray pubescence; corselet grooves rather distinct; cephalic suture distinct; color yellow, with brownish flecks along the mar- gins and in the sutures; pubescence gray; the hairs thick on the caput, particularly at the sides, where they form strong gray eyebrows. Sternum shield shaped, wide at the base, where it is rather squarely truncate; obtusely triangular at the apex; color yellow, with darker marks on the margin and an interrupted median band of brownish yellow; labium 1In his catalogue Dr. Marx refers to this spider as E. Heidmannii, 7n Jilt. (page 544); and again as EB. tranquilla Keyserling, in litt. (page 548). I have hence adopted the name Tranquilla. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 1638 triangular, wide, more than half as long as maxilla; base brown, with a touch of bright yellow in the centre; tips yellow; maxillz gibbous, as wide, or nearly as wide, as long. Eyes: Ocular quad on an eminence higher before; the front slightly wider than the rear, and somewhat narrower than sides; eyes about equal in size; MF separated by about 1.5 diameter; MR by about one diameter; side eyes on tubercles, barely contingent, sub- equal; the space between SF and MF about equals the area of the latter, or 1.5 their inter- vening space; the distance between SR and MR is much greater; the clypeus has the height of about 1.3 diameter MF, and is marked by rows of long whitish hairs, which are also found in the eye space; front row is slightly procurved, almost aligned; rear row longer and much procuryed. Leas: 1,2, 4,3; color yellow, with dark brown annuli, armed, but not numerously, with blackish spines and yellowish bristles and hairs; palps similarly colored and armed, but rather lighter yellow ; mandibles dark brown, conical, retreating toward the face, rather long. ABDOMEN: Triangular ovate, widest across the shoulders, narrowing somewhat toward the front and apex; the folium is a broad blanket of yellowish white, which covers the entire dorsal field, extending up in a triangular form toward the front, the apex almost touching the cephalothorax on either side; the base is marked with dark brown; the sur- face is reticulated, and rather sparsely covered with short gray hairs; the ventral pattern is a mottled dark brown figure, with an interrupted band of yellow on either side; the epigynum (Fig. 3a) has a short wide scapus, rounded at the tip, where it is spooned, the channel extending along the lower surface of the scapus; the atriolum is rather high, the portulze on either side prominent. Disrripution: District of Columbia, one specimen only. (Marx Collection.) No. 21. Epeira punctigera Dotescuat. Plate VI, Figs. 4, 4a-b. 1857. Epeira punctigera, Dotescuatn . Tweede Bijdrage t. d. Kenn. d. Arac. Ind. Arch. 1864. Epeira triangula, Knyseriina . . Isis, Dresden, Beschreib. Orbit., p. 98, tab. v., 12-14. 1871. Epeira indigatrix, Kocn, L. . . . Arach. Austral., p. 66, pl. v., 8-9. 1877. Epeira vatia,THorenn ... . . Studi I, Ragni di Selebes, p. 382-384. 1878. Epeira punctigera, Thorent . . . Studi IL, Ragni di Amboina, p. 59. 1881. Epeira punctigera, THorrtn . . . Studi sui Rag. Malesi e Papuani, p. 104, var. vatia. 1889. Epeira punctigera, Marx .. . . Catalogue, 547. 1892. Epeira punctigera, Knyseruine . . Spin. Afner. Epeir., p. 136, pl. vii., 100. Femate: Rather uniform in color, the dorsum a brighter yellow or whitish, the colors evidently faded in alcohol. Total length, 9 mm.; cephaluthorax, 4 mm. long, 3.5 mm. wide ; abdomen, 5 mm. long, 4 mm. wide. Keyserling describes a female 11.2 mm. long, with an abdomen 8 mm. long by 7.2 mm. wide. CrPHALoTHoRAX: The corselet well rounded at margin, rather high, and peaked at the crest ; depressed and wide at the face; fosse not deep, being rather a slit upon the sloping posterior side; cephalic suture distinct ; corselet grooves rather indistinct; color dark uniform yellow, with a yellowish patch at the caput, the base coyered with whitish yellow hairs; sternum yellow, with a broad lighter yellow median band; shield shaped, triangular at the apex, compressed in the middle; sternal cones distinct before coxee-I, III; strong yellow hairs; labium large, subtriangular; maxillee wide as long, subtriangular at tips, which are inclined towards each other; sparsely covered with curved dark bristles. Eyes: Ocular quad on high rounded eminence, front as wide as sides, narrowest behind; the four eyes about equal, and on black rings; MF separated by nearly two diame- ters; MR by about one; side eyes on not very prominent tubercles, barely contingent; SF larger than SR; clypeus height about 2.5 diameter MF; front row slightly recurved, almost aligned, the rear row longer and procurved; space between SF and MF equals at least 1.5 area of MF; space between SR and MR more than twice the area of MR. Lecs: 1, 2, 4,3; stout, well clothed with pubescence ; strong yellow spines, with brown- ish bases; underneath each femur is a single row of long bristlelike spines, and tufts of 164 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. spinous bristles on the coxee; color yellow, slightly tipped at joints with brown; palps marked and armed as legs, but apparently without annuli; mandibles articulated in facial plane, conical; separated at the tips, margins provided with long spinous bristles of yellow color. AppomMeN: Triangular ovate on top, widest at base; dorsum but slightly arched in the specimen in hand; the dorsal folium consists of an anchorlike figure with double flukes; the muscular pits strongly marked; at the margins touched with brown or blackish color; quadruple lines branch from the middle towards the apex, and darkish lateral lines encom- pass the sides, which are yellow; pubescence on the dorsum rather scant, but on the base a tuft of whitish gray bristles, around which are clustered whitish or yellow hairs. The ventral pattern a bluntly triangular patch, narrowing towards the .yellow spinnerets, which it encompasses ; at either corner are broad circular or irregular patches of yellow or yellow- ish white; the base of spinnerets surrounded by an interrupted ring of yellow patches, especially marked with golden yellow hairs, deepening at places into brown; the epigynum (Fig. 4a) has a prominent scapus, which is widest at the base, having a sort of pedestal of yellow color, and enlarged at the middle point, where the channel begins, and again widen- ing towards the tip, which is rounded and spooned; it is bent venterward, the color deep brown and glossy. Mate: I have no male from which to describe, and haye drawn the figure of the male . palp (4b) from a manuscript drawing of Count Keyserling. Disrrisution: Fort Bridger, Wyoming; Washington State. (Marx Collection.) If we accept this species as entirely identical with E. punctigera of Doleschall, it is of wide dis- tribution throughout the world, including the Mauritius (Keyserling) ; Australia, where Koch describes it, and the Malasian Islands, where it is described by Thorell. It is found only on our western coast, which may indicate that its distribution from the east to the west has been by commerce across the Pacific Ocean, in which respect it resembles E. Theisii. No. 22. Epeira mormon Keyser.ina. Plate VI, Figs. 5, 5a. 1882. Epeira mormon, Marx in litt. . . Catalogue, p. 546. 1892. Hpeira mormon, Knyseruinc. . .Spinn. Amerik., iv. Epeir., p. 182, pl. ix., 134. od Femate: Total length, 5.5 mm.; cephalothorax, 2.5 mm. long, 1.7 mm. wide, narrowing to 1 mm. at the face; abdomen, 3.5 mm. long, 2.5 mm. wide. The general colors of this species are uniform yellow in the fore part, with brown and brownish yellow and cretaceous longitudinal stripes upon the abdomen. . CrePHALOTHORAX: Cordate, high in the middle, which is peaked, sloping backward sharply to the truncate base ; corselet grooves distinct ; cephalic suture deeply marked; color yellowish brown, with brown median band from the fosse to the face; skin glossy, slightly pubescent; sternum black or blackish brown, heart shaped, deeply indented at the edges; sternal cones marked; high in the middle, pubescent; labium subtriangular, large; maxillee as wide as or wider than long; obtusely triangular at the tips, which are yellow, while the base is brown in color, thus resembling the labium. Eyres: Ocular quad on a low eminence, most prominent before; decidedly wider in front than behind, and the sides rather longer than the front. MF somewhat larger than MR, separated by about 1.5 diameter; MR propinquate, separated by less than a radius. Side eyes on very slight tubercles, propinquate, not greatly differing in size. MF separated from SF by a space about equal to their area, or 1.38 times the intervening space. The face is yellow, the vertex evenly rounded. The clypeus has a height about 1.5 or more diameter MF. The front row is slightly recurved, the longer rear row slightly procurved. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; uniform yellow, with a slight darkening at some of the tips; pubescence and bristles yellow; well provided with acutely yellowish spines, with rows of especial strength underneath the femora. AgpomMEN: A long oval, rounded both at base and apex; color yellow; the arched dorsum traversed by a folium of blackish brown, with indented margins that inclose a field traversed by three longitudinal stripes of lighter brown. Short gray hairs cover the skin, DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 165 and are tufted at the base, which well overhangs the cephalothorax. The ventral pattern is a broad blackish band, with lighter hues in the middle, which encompasses the spin- nerets, which are of lighter color, and decidedly overhung by the rounded apical wall. The epigynum (Fig. 5a) has a short subtriangular scapus, which extends barely beyond the genital cleft, and is flanked on either side by a slight bowl shaped projection apparently marking the outer walls of the portulz. Disrripution: District of Columbia; Utah. I have seen but two specimens, which are in Dr. Marx’s collection, but the habitat of these indicates a wide distribution from the Atlantic Coast to the Rocky Mountains. No. 28. Epeira reptilis, new species. Plate VI, Figs. 6, 6a-c. 1889. Epeira reptilis, Marx in litt. . . . Catalogue, p. 547. Mate: Total length, 4 mm.; cephalothorax, about 2 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad; abdo- men, about 2.3 mm. long, 1.4 mm. broad. The color is a bright yellow to orange, with a lateral longitudinal band of yellow on the caput, and lateral bands along the cephalic grooves; fosse a deep longitudinal cleft; cephalic suture sufficiently distinct; slightly pubescent. The sternum (Fig. 6b) cordate, longer than broad, yellowish brown color. Labium, tip triangular, compressed at the base; maxilla somewhat longer than wide, obtusely triangular at tip. Eyes: Ocular quad on a rounded eleyation, dark brown in color, the eyes themselves black. The quad wider in front than rear, the sides longer than either; eyes subequal; MF separated by 1.5 diameter, MR by about 1. Side eyes on slight tubercles, contingent, about equal in size. MF removed from SF by about 1.3 their area, or nearly twice their intervening space; front row recuryed, the longer rear row slightly procurved ; clypeus about two diameters MF in height. Lecs: 1, 2, 4, 3; yellow or reddish brown, well armored with long brownish spines; tibia-II without any special thickening or clasping armature, except a few additional ordinary spines towards the tip, which are also found upon tibia-I. The palpal digit is represented at Fig. 6c. AgpomEN: A long oval, rounded at the base and apex, of about equal width through- out; colors yellow, with a silvery gloss. A light folium, almost obliterated in alcohol, passes along near the distinctly marked muscular indentations, and on the apical part of the dorsum are two black longitudinal patches, passing to the apex. The surface is pubescent. The ventral pattern is a black or blackish brown band, which encompasses the spinnerets, of like color, and which are somewhat overhung by the abdomen. The entire skin of this spider is glossy. DisrrrpuTion: Crescent City, Fla. The female of this species has not been taken. (Marx Collection.) No. 24. Epeira forata, new species. Plate VI, Figs. 7, 12. 1889. Epeira forata, Marx in litt... . Catalogue, p. 545 (KrysERLING in Jitt.). 1889. Larinia nigrifoliata, Marx . . . Catalogue, p. 550. FemaLe: Total length, 5 mm.; cephalothorax, 2.5 mm. long, 1.3 mm. wide; abdomen, 4 mm. long, 3 mm. wide. General colors of fore part of body uniform yellow; abdomen cretaceous white, with a black folium. CEPHALOTHORAX: Cordate, high in the middle, sloping backward to the base of the corselet; the fosse a deep conical pit; corselet grooves tolerably distinct; cephalic suture distinct; caput narrow at base, rounded, smooth, but much depressed to the wide face. Sternum shield shape, yellow, slightly pubescent, flat in the middle; skin glossy; only a few whitish-yellow bristlelike hairs; labium subtriangular, about half the height of maxille, which are gibbous, somewhat longer than wide, yellow, with.a few bristlelike hairs thereon. 166 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. Eyes: Ocular quad on a rounded eminence, and nearly a square in form, but widest in front (Fig. 7b); eyes not greatly different in size, but MR appear somewhat the larger; MF separated by about 1.5 to 2 diameters, and MR about 1.5 or a little less; the side eyes on slight tubercles; separated by about a radius; SF somewhat larger than SR; MF sepa- rated from SF by about the area of the former, or 1.5 the dividing interval thereof; SR separated from MR by at least 1.3 the space between SF and MF; clypeus height about 1.5 diameter MF; the front row is almost aligned, the rear row longer and procurved. Leas: Uniform yellow; sufficiently stout, especially at the femora; armed tolerably freely with bristles and sparingly with long, thin, yellow spines; palps colored and armed as legs; mandibles conical, rather long, yellow, and flecked with yellowish brown. AppomeEN: ‘Triangular ovate, the base rounded, high, and overhanging the corselet; the dorsum arched to the distal spinnerets; there are no shoulder humps, but across the base the dorsum is widened, forming from that point toward the apex an isosceles triangle, of which the field is white, and the folium a similar triangle of black, mottled with white spots; a semicircular patch of black marks the upper part of the base, on which are several transverse curved rows of white spots, from the centre of which issue bristlelike hairs; similar hairs are distributed over the dorsal field; the whole surface of the abdomen is beautifully reticulated; the sides are white, as is also the venter; the spinnerets are amber yellow, surrounded at the base with an irregular border of black. The epigynum (Fig. 7c) has the general characteristics of that of E. miniata (scutulata), the scapus being long, though greatly convoluted, sometimes wrinkled, of uniform width throughout, terminating in a deep wide bowl; the whole light yellow; the portule on either side are rounded and hollow bowls of glossy dark brown, open toward the genital cleft, toward which also they narrow; at the part next the scapus and on either side thereof issues a stout, curved horn of similar color and character. Mate: Plate VI., Fig. 12. Resembles the female in color and substantially in markings ; the cephalothorax is cordate, indented at the base, where it is relatively wider than the female, and narrower at the face; the cephalothorax is smooth and glossy; the fosse a longitudinal indented slit; the legs are uniform yellow in color, without any special clasping apparatus, and with only a few long, strong yellowish brown spines upon the tip of legs—I and II, which are arranged in about four rows, both above and beneath; the maxille are relatively longer and feebler than in the female, being much narrower at the tips and con- cave on the front. The ocular quad is quite prominent, much projecting in front, where it is decidedly wider than behind, the front eyes being upon black bases, the side eyes upon tubercles; SF somewhat larger than SR. The humeral joint of the palps is long, the radial and cubital joints short; the digital rounded; the cymbium yellow, covered with bristles, with two: long, strong, curved spines thereon; the embolus much curved. (Fig. 12a.) Length of abdomen, 3 mm.; cephalothorax about the same. The abdomen is a long oval, narrow at the apex, the folium being black, broadest at the base, where there are two circular spots like eyes in the midst of the black. DistripuTIoN: Santa Rosa, Cal. (The Marx Collection.) No. 25. Epeira Theisii Watckenarr. Plate VI, Figs. 8, 9. 1841. Epeira Theis, WALCKENAER . . . Ins. Apt., ii., p. 53, pl. xviii., 4. 1847. Epeira mangareva, WALCKENAER . Ins. Apt., iv., p. 469. 1863. Epeira Oaxacensis, Knyseruinc . Neuer Orbit Sitz. d. Isis, p. 121, pl. v., 15-18. 1871. Epeira mangareva, Kocu, L. . . Arach. Austral., p. 85, pl. vii., 4, 5. 1877. Epeira mangareva, TuorELt . . . Studi, I, Ragni di Selebes, p. 395. 1878. Epeira triangulifera, THoreLti . . Studi, I., Ragni di Amboina, p. 65. 1878. Epeira mangareva, THorett . . . Ibid., p. 65. 1881. Epeira Theisti, Tooreti. . . . . Studi, ITI., Rag. Melesi e Papuani. Principal form FE. Theisii, and varieties E. mangareva and E. triangulifera. 1889. Epeira Theis, MARX . e « « « « Catalogue, p. 548. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 167 FrmMaLe: Two specimens, total length, 8.5 (14.2) mm.; abdomen, 5 (10) mm. long, 2.5 (6.9) mm. wide; cephalothorax, 3.5 (5.5) mm. long, 2.5 (4.2) mm. wide. General colors on the fore part a yellowish brown; abdomen, yellow. (Fig. 8.) The species is notable for the wide difference in size of its individuals, as may be seen by the two measurements given above. CrerHaLotHorax: Corselet rounded at margin, high in centre, fosse long and deep; cephalic suture well marked; corselet grooves indistinct; caput somewhat raised from the corselet, but slightly depressed at the face, which is squarish and wide; color uniform yellow, with a dark median longitudinal ribbon from the face along the caput. Sternum slightly longer than wide, with feeble sternal cones; yellow, and lighter cretaceous inter- rupted median band; lip triangular, about half the length of maxillee, which are somewhat longer than wide, and subtriangular at tips, which are directed towards one another; color yellowish brown. Eyes: Ocular quad somewhat longer than wide, and of about equal width in front and behind. MF upon slight projecting tubercles, separated by about 1 to 1.3 diameter; about equal in size to MR, which are separated by about the same distance. Side eyes on tubercles, with a cluster of wide bristles behind them as eyebrows; SF somewhat larger than SR, barely separated; SF removed from MF about 1.3 their area, or about 2.5 the dividing interval of MF; clypeus low, less than one diameter MF in height. Front row recurved; rear row longer and procurved. Leos: 1, 4, 2, 3, as follows: 21.1, 19.7, 18.5, 12 mm. Uniform yellow color, abundantly armed with bristles and hairs, and well provided with spines of dark brown color; palps armed and colored as legs; mandibles long, conical, and not divergent; color of legs. Agpomen: A long oval; the dorsum arched, and somewhat narrower at apex than base; nearly twice as long as wide; color of field yellow, with a broad median longitudinal eretaceous band, which is narrowed at the apex, having a ragged marginal border of black, and a median lanceolated band of yellow. Venter with a median yellow band, with yellow cretaceous border; epigynum (Fig. 8a) has a rather narrow atriolum, out of which rises a stout scapus wide at the base, somewhat constricted at the middle, terminating in a long spoon, widest at the base and rounded at tip, which is dark brown, glossy, chitinous. Mate: Fig. 9, 9a. In color and markings generally resembles the female, but lighter on the abdomen; the corselet differs in its decidedly rounded character, which, however, does not appear upon the sternum; corselet uniform glossy yellowish brown, and some- what elevated; cephalic suture less distinct than in female; clypeus a little higher than in female, and ocular quad more evidently slightly narrowed behind; SF not relatively so widely separated from MF. Legs yellow and darker at joint; tibia-II curved, thickened, with a double row of black clasping spines extending the entire length of the joints on the inside, longer and stouter at the base, and flanked by several ordinary black spines. There is also a double row of spines underneath femur—II, and a small but feebler arma- ture underneath femur-I; spines are abundant upon all joints, of a dark or blackish brown color. Coxa-I has next the trochanter a long, strong, brownish spur, curved at the point; coxa-IV has a conical spur nearer the middle of the joint. DisrripuTion: Male and female, San Diego, Cal. (Marx Collection.) There is prob- ably no American spider with wider exotic distribution than this species. It is reported from New Guinea, where Walckenaer first described it; Cape York, Singapore, Amboia, and is found in New Holland. It is thus dispersed throughout the Australian archipelago and the islands of Malasia. It may have secured its lodgment in California by importation from these quarters, but will probably be found in Central and South America. No. 26. Epeira juniperi Emerton. Plate VI, Figs. 13, 13a-c. 1884. Epeira juniperi, Emerton . . . . N. E. Ep., p. 313, xxxiv., 6; xxxvi., 14, 15, 16. 2 Femate: Total length, 5.5 mm.; abdomen, 4 mm. long, 3 mm. wide. Specimens obtained from Florida through Dr. George Marx retain their color well in alcohol, the fore part being a light yellow, the abdomen green, with bright yellow spots. 168 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. CreHaLorHorax: Corselet rounded, sloping sharply behind, rather high in the middle; base of caput on a level with corselet, but depressed in front; fosse deep; color in some specimens green, or greenish yellow, in others yellow; sternum shield shape, almost as wide as long, with slight sternal cones, colored, as also labium and maxille, pale yellow ; labium triangular; maxillze gibbous, somewhat longer than wide. Eyrs: Fig. 13b. Ocular quad on a rounded eminence, the front wider than rear and about the length of sides; MF larger than MR and black; separated by about 1.75 their diameter; MR separated by at least or more than two diameters. Side eyes on separate tubercles whose bases are contingent, and separated by about one diameter, about equal in size; MF from MR about their area, and from margin of clypeus by about 1.5 diameter ; front row recurved, rear row slightly procurved, and somewhat longer. Appomen: A well rounded oval, a little longer than wide, skin reticulated, without shoulder humps, covered rather scantily with long yellowish bristles, color green, with base bright or grayish yellow. In some specimens the green is more decided, and the yellow shades into green on the dorsal field, base, and sides; no distinct folium marks the dorsum, but a median line of darker green traverses the middle part of the field, from the side and end of which issue brownish lines to the apex. The venter is not distinctly marked, but is covered with green reticulations, as are the sides; spinnerets distal, yellowish brown; the epigynum (Fig. 13c) has a long convoluted scapus, brown below the tip, which is an oval bowl; atriolum wide at base; semicircular portule show on each side, from which issue rounded tongues curyed like a ram’s horn. Disrripution: New England. Specimens received also from Florida, through Dr. Marx. The species is no doubt distributed along the entire Atlantic Coast, and will probably be found much more widely dispersed. No. 27. Epeira Wittfeldz, new species.' Plate VII, Figs. 6, 6a-d; 7, 7a-d. 2 Fremate: Total length, 9 mm.; cephalothorax, 4 mm. long, 3 mm. wide; 1.7 at the face; abdomen, 6 mm. long, 5 mm. wide. This spider in its general characteristics reminds one of E. strix. In its somewhat stout legs, strongly armed with spines, in thé head and eyes, the two species are much alike. The dorsum of the abdomen, however, is more roundly arched in E. Wittfeldze, and the epigyna differ. The colors and general forms of the two animals are also different. CrpHaLoTHoRAx: Cordate, rounded at the sides, indented behind; smooth and glossy ; sparsely provided with hairs; corselet grooves indistinct; cephalic suture distinct; fosse a longitudinal slit, within a circular pit; color yellow; the caput reddish brown, glossy, not depressed, slightly arched to the whitish face, whose margins just below the lateral eyes drop into a decided dewlap. Sternum shield shape, flat in the middle, with faint sternal cones, slightly pubescent, yellow. Labium wide, rounded at the sides; tip triangular; maxille oval, obtusely triangular at tips, inclined toward each other; wider than long; both of these organs yellowish brown. Eyres: Ocular quad on a dark brown eminence, most prominent in front, where it pro- jects over the clypeus; rear eyes but little elevated above the facial surface; the quad is decidedly wider in front than behind (Fig. 6b), and the side about equals front width ; MF larger than MR, separated by about 1.5 diameter, MR but little more than a radius. SF are on blackish tubercles, not greatly differing in size, separated by about a diameter ; SR placed low down upon the face, so that with the four front eyes they appear to constitute an aligned group; MF separated from SF by 2 to 2.5 their intervening space, or 1.3 their area, and MR separated by a much greater relative distance from SR; the forehead is low, almost obliterated; the clypeus shows but a narrowed space between the margin and the base of the central eminence, the margin being removed about one diameter of MF from the latter; front row slightly recurved, rear row procurved. 1 Wittfeld; proper name; after the late Miss Anna Wittfeld, of Merrit Island, Florida. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 169 Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; stout, comparatively short; uniform orange yellow or yellow, without annuli; armed copiously with long yellowish white bristles, and rather short brownish spines; palps colored and armored as legs; mandibles dark glossy brown, corresponding with color of face, and strongly curved at the base; conical, somewhat separated at the tips; but little pubescent, except on inner edges. ApBpoMEN: Ovate; dorsum well arched to spinnerets, which are placed directly under- neath the high apical wall; apex but little if any narrower than base; color yellow or yellowish green, which fades in alcohol to yellow; dorsal folium limited by an indistinct undulating ribbon; with a median longitudinal line branching from about the middle; skin beautifully reticulated and covered quite thickly with short, soft, yellowish hairs; at the sides the greenish yellow color of the dorsum is broken into elongated lobes of dark yellowish brown extending to the venter. The epigynum (Fig. 6c), viewed from the spin- nerets, shows a yellow scapus curved over from the base of the atriolum, like the clasp of a padlock; viewed from the side (6d) the scapus is seen to be free at the apex; the portule on either side are glossy, blackish brown. Mate: Fig. 7. Somewhat smaller than female, being 7 mm. long; otherwise similarly marked, but in the specimens in hand the abdominal folium more decidedly marked. Legs uniform orange yellow; tibia-II not thickened, without any special clasping armature, and not more numerously provided with dark brown spines than leg-I; coxa-I has a marginal spur on the apex; in the palps (Figs. 7a, 7b) the digit is globular, the cymbium yellow and covered thickly with yellowish bristles; the embolus a simple curved hook ; the radial joint boat shaped, covered with a number of long yellowish bristles; the cubital joint also short and rounded; these, like the humeral joint, are uniform yellow in color. Disrrisution: I have collected this specimen in Florida, the only point from which I have specimens. No. 28. Epeira Thaddeus Hern. Plate VII, Figs. 3, 4, 5. 1847. Epeira Thaddeus, Hentz. . . . . J. B. S., Vol. v., p. 473; Id., Sp. U. S., p. 118, pl. 18, Fig. 6. 1879. Epeira baltimoriensis, KeyserLinG. N. Spinn. Amer. i., Verh. d. z. b. Ges. Wien, p. 305, pl. 4, Fig. 8. 1884. Epeira thaddeus, EMErtoN . . . N. E. Ep., p. 309, pl. 34, Fig. 9. 1888. Epeira thaddeus, McCook . . . . Amer. Spiders and their Spinningwork. FremaLe: Total length, 7 mm.; abdomen, 6 mm. long, 5 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 3.5 mm. long, 2.8 mm. wide; measurement taken from one of the largest specimens. The color varies from yellow and cretaceous to the most brilliant purple and pink, marking the species as one of the most beautiful of our indigenous spider fauna, The legs vary in color from yellow to orange yellow and to yellowish brown, a variation which also marks the cephalothorax. CrPpHALOTHORAX: Corselet rounded, truncated, indented at base; dorsum high, arched ; fosse distinct; corselet grooves feeble; cephalic suture distinct; color yellow, flecked with brown, slightly pubescent; head colored as corselet, with dark median band in some speci- mens; caput slopes from the crest, is slightly pubescent, a band of long hairs down the middle; sternum shield shape, as broad as long, indented at edges, with sternal cones, one in the middle, which is raised; color uniform brown, rather glossy; labium, large, tri- angular, and maxille broad as long, subtriangular at tip, colored like sternum. Eyes: Ocular quad on a prominence; front decidedly wider than rear, and about equal to the side in length. Eyes about equal in size; MF oval, on a black base; MR round and yellow; MF separated by about 1.5 to 2 diameters; MR by about their radius; side eyes on tubercles, contingent, but equal in size; MF separated from SF by a little more than their area, and from clypeus margin by about one diameter; front row recuryed, longer rear row procuryed, 170 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; stout, yellow to orange yellow, with brown annuli at tips of joints; well provided with bristles and hairs, rather sparsely with stout spines; palps yellowish brown, armed as legs; mandibles conical, little divergent at tips, and, like the face, some- what glossy. AspoMEN: Globular ovate thickest and widest at the base, arched on dorsum, tapering to distal spinnerets; in gravid females the width is as great as the length; surface retic- ulated; dorsal field without a folium, but with three or four circular longitudinal patches in the median line; an irregular band of color traverses the margin; a deeper color marks the side; the apical half of the dorsum is sometimes marked by median lines of yellow, and has several black spots on either side tapering V-shape to the spinnerets. Venter pattern a triangular patch of yellow, marked with six or eight circular spots symmetrically arranged on either side of the median line. Spinnerets brown; epigynum (Figs. 3a, 3b, 3c) has a tolerably long, yellow, curved scapus somewhat wrinkled, of nearly equal length throughout, slightly tapering and rounded at the tip. The parmula is a thin, elevated plate, scrolled at the top, placed between it and the spinnerets; this is yellow at the base, brown and glossy at the apex and edges, not quite as long as the scapus. Mate: Figs. 5, 5a. The males of this species appear to be rather scarce; at least it has proved so in my collecting. They are colored and marked substantially like the female. Underneath femur-I is a row of four spines, which appear to be smaller in femur-I1 ; tibia-II is not thickened at the apex, but slightly curved, with a row of four strong rounded spines on the apical half; digital bulb globular; radial joint with a strong curved brown spur; cubital joint about the same length as radial; mandibles relatively longer and slighter than in female; the first two femora rather darker than corresponding joints of female. Distrizution: Throughout the Eastern and Middle United States, having been collected in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and as far to the north and west as Wisconsin. I have no specimens from the Pacific Coast. No. 29. Epeira Pegnia Watckenarr. Plate VII, Figs. 8, 9. 1837. Epeira Pegnia, WaALcKENAER . . Ins. Apt., ii., p. 80, No. 69;1 Axppor, G.S., No. 375. 1837. Epeira tytera, WALCKENAER . . . Ins. Apt., ii., p. 81, No. 70.? 1865. Epeira globosa, Keyseruinc . . . Beitr. z. K. d. Orbit. Berh. d. z. b. Ges. Wien, xv., p. 820, pl. 18, Figs. 19-21. 1876. Epeira triaranea, McCook. . . . Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., p. 201, and Ameri- can Spiders throughout. 1878. Epeira globosa, McCook .. . . Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., p. 127. 1884. Epeira triaranea, EMerton . , . N. E. Ep., p. 315, pl. 34, Fig. 9; pl. 36, Figs. 6, 7. 1889. Epeira globosa, Marx. ..... Catalogue. 1892. Epeira globosa, Kryseruinc . . . Spinn. Amer. Ep., p. 159, tab. 8, Fig. 117. FemaLe: Total length, 5 mm.; abdomen, 4 mm. long, 3 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 2 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide. The general colors are yellow and brown for the fore part, and yellow and gray for the abdomen. The abdomen is placed so nearly at right angles to the plane of the cephalothorax as much to shorten the apparent total length. CEPHALOTHORAX: Corselet rounded at sides, truncated behind, elevated at centre, the grooves indistinct, cephalic suture well marked; color yellow, with sometimes streaks of 1 No. 375 of Abbot’s MSS. drawings is undoubtedly Epeira globosa Keyserling, and the drawing cor- responds well with Walckenaer’s description of Epeira Pegnia. Walckenaer makes two varieties of the species. Abbot’s No. 484 seems not a good variety, but rather to be a Theridioid spider. His variety B is Abbot’s No. 375, a female. Abbot’s No. 389 (Var. B, Walckenaer) is an immature male. Abbot’s No. 555 is also a remarkably good drawing of this species, but I have not been able to find it referred to in Walck- enaer’s descriptions. 2 This, according to Abbot’s drawings, appears to be the same species as the above—a female. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 17k brown on the sides, and a brighter yellow band along the margin; dorsum slightly pubes- cent, except at the caput, which is well covered with yellowish gray hairs. Sternum shield shape, about as wide as long, covered with yellowish hairs, brown, with a broad yellow median band. Labium and maxille light yellow, and as in Epeira. Eyes: Ocular quad on a central prominence, wider in front than behind, the side about as long as front; eyes about equal in size; MR amber yellow, MF blackish; MF separated by about 1.5 diameter; MR by less than 1 diameter; side eyes on slight tubercles, barely contingent; SF somewhat larger than SR; MF separated from SF by about or less than their area, and set close to clypeus margin, less than one diameter MF therefrom. Front row recurved, the longer rear row slightly procurved. Leas: 1, 2, 4, 3; stout, well provided with bristles and hairs, and rather sparingly with blackish spines; the color is yellow, with brown annuli at tips of joints and middle of tibia and metatarsus. Palps colored and armed as legs; mandibles conical, tapering to widely separated tips; the base rounded and with a brown chitinous cog. AppomMEN: Triangular ovate, almost as wide as long, widest at the base; carried nearly perpendicularly ; dorsum arched to distal spinnerets. Color yellow, with a cretaceous folial pattern, resembling rudely a butterfly, with outspread wings, on the base, and the body extending backward along the median line. This figure is margined with black, and irreg- ular lines of black pass from the dorsum along the sides toward the venter, leaving the sides marked by a broken band of yellow. Four brownish lines pass from the middle of the dorsum longitudinally to the apex, and spots of black are symmetrically arranged on either side receding to the spinnerets. In front the abdomen is marked by two or three rows of black circular spots; the whole surface is strongly reticulated. The venter has a broad patch of white or whitish yellow, marked in the middle by a lateral band of blackish brown; the epigynum (Fig. 8a, 8b) is marked by a decided scapus. Mate: Closely resembles female in color and markings; the inner apical half of tibia-II provided with a double row of strong clasping spines, and somewhat thicker than tibia-I. The color, in some examples at least, tends to be lighter than in the female, and the markings upon the abdomen are more cretaceous. Disrrreution: My collection places this species from New England southward along the Atlantic seaboard, and westward through Pennsylvania and Ohio, as far northwest as Wis- consin (Professor Peckham); along the Pacific Coast at Santa Cruz, Cal. (Mr. Harford), and San Diego (Mrs. Eigenmann and Mrs. Smith). It will probably be found distributed throughout the entire United States. No. 30. Epeira labyrinthea Hentz. Plate VII, Figs. 10, 11, 12. 1847. Epeira labyrinthea, Hentz... . J. B. S., v., 471, pl. xxxi., 3. 1875. Epeira labyrinthea, Hentz. . . . Sp. U. S., p. 111, pl. xiii., 3. 1884. Epeira labyrinthea, Emerton . . N. E. Ep., p. 314, pl. xxxiv., 8. 1889. Epeira labyrinthea, McCook . . . Amer. Spiders and their Spinningwork. FremaLte: The specimens vary much in size, from the large examples on the Pacific Coast to those which inhabit the Atlantic Coast and interior; I describe from the latter. Total length, 5.5 (8) mm.; abdomen, 3.5 (5.5) mm. long, 2.5 (6) mm. wide; cephalothorax, 2.3 (3) mm. long, 2 mm. (2.5) mm. wide. A large female from the Pacific Coast measures 7 mm. long, of which the abdomen is 4.5 mm. long by 4 mm. wide; the cephalothorax, 3 mm. long, by 2.8 mm. wide in the middle, narrowing at the face to one mm. CrpHAnoTHorax: Blackish brown, with lighter yellow patches on corselet and face; the margin of lighter color; the caput, especially around the eye space, covered with long. white, bristlelike hairs; sternum shield shape, pointed at the apex, but little longer than broad, elevated in the middle, traversed by a wide yellow band, the margins of which are brown; the surface covered with hairs and bristles, and broken by slight sternal cones ; the lip more than half the length of the maxille, which are rounded and as wide as or wider than long; colored as the sternum, except lighter tips. 172 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. Leas: 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows: 12.2, 10.2, 9, 6.3 mm.; color brown at tips of joints, stout, strongly provided with brown spines, and more freely with yellowish white bristles and pubescence ; palps as the legs, but of lighter color; mandibles conical; color, brown, flecked with yellow. Eyes: Ocular quad on an eminence; somewhat narrower behind, sides not longer than front; MF smaller than MR, and separated by about 1.5 diameter or more; MR by about their radius; side eyes on tubercles, barely contingent; SR somewhat, but little, larger than SF, with strong gray eyebrows; MF separated from SF by about their area, and from the margin of the clypeus by about 1.5 their diameter; front row recurved, rear row longer and procurved; all the eyes on dark bases. AppoMeN: A rounded ovate, little longer than wide; arched upon the dorsum, narrower in front than behind, though in some species the difference is small; gravid females are rather widest at the middle and sloping at either extremity ; color brown or brownish yellow, thickly covered with white and yellowish long hairs; central folium wide, the margins consisting of brown longitudinal bands, which inclose a herring bone pattern yellow in color, as shown in the figures, Plate VII. The ventral pattern is blackish brown, with a median band of bright yellow and marginal bands darker yellow; spin- nerets brown, the base darker and encircled by yellow spots. The epigynum (10a) has a wide scapus, somewhat compressed at the base and depressed abruptly at the apex, forming a small oval tip. The portule are well displayed on either side, and the atriolum strongly pubescent. Mate: Fig. 11. Length, 3.5 mm.; in color and pattern differs little from female, but apical parts of femora dull brown; femur-I provided with two rows of formidable spines, particularly long on the outside; tibia-II not thickened, but a few strong spines clustered around the apex. The cephalothorax is about one-fifth longer than broad; in front not quite half as broad as in the middle; dorsum flat, with slight lateral grooves, but a deep median longitudinal fosse; clypeus low; the arrangement of the eyes similar to that of the female, except that the space between SF and MF is relatively less, being hardly greater than the distance which separates MF. Total length, 3.5 mm., but some specimens measure as much as 4.1 mm. DistripuTIoON: This species appears to be widely distributed throughout the United States, and probably inhabits every part thereof. My specimens are from New England, along the Atlantic Coast southward to Florida, and through the entire Middle and Central States. I have numerous specimens from California, and along the Pacific Coast (Messrs. Harford, Orcutt, Dr. Davidson, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Eigenmann), and specimens from the Barbadoes and West India Islands, and from Venezuela (Professor Peckham) and other parts of South America. The tropical and California specimens (Figs. 12, 12a) are usually larger, the annuli upon the legs darker and wider, particularly upon the femora. The colors generally upon the head, cephalothorax, and abdomen are more pronounced, the browns being darker and the blackish colors deeper. The abdomen is more pointed at the apex, wider and more rounded at the base, forming an inverted cone, at the apex of which well underneath are the spinnerets. The spinningwork of these spiders is like that of their Eastern congeners, but the cocoons are longer. No. 31. Epeira anastera Watckenarr. Plate VIII, Figs. 1-4. 1837. Epeira anastera, WALCKENAER. . Ins. Apt., il., No. 4, p. 33; Assot, G. 8., No. 381. 1837. Epeira eustala, WALCKENAER . . Ins. Apt., ii., No. 12, p. 37; Appor MSS., Nos. 119, 120, 361. 1847. Epeira bombycinaria, Hentz. . . J. B. S., 476; Sp. U. S., p. 117, xiii, 16. 1863. Epeira parvula, Keyseruinc . . . Beschr. n. Orb. Isis, p. 131. 1884. Epeira parvula, EMerton . .. . N. E. Ep., p. 317, pl. xxxiv., 12; pl. xxxvii., 1, 2. 1888. Epeira eustala, McCook. . . . . Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., p. 199. 1889. Epeira eustala, Marx... . . . Catalogue, p. 544. 1892. Epeira bombycinaria, Keyseruinc, Spinn. Amerik., iv., Ep., p. 145 pl. 7, Fig. 107, fem. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 173 It is not strange that the remarkable diversity of markings and color upon the dorsum of the abdomen of this spider should have led Baron Walckenaer to erect a number of species thereupon from the manuscript drawings of Abbot in his possession. Im my paper here- tofore referred to,1 I mentioned this fact, and therein gave Epeira eustala as the proper title of this species. The more thorough studies which I gave Abbot’s MSS. in the summer of 1892 showed me that the first description in order is given under the name of E. anastera, on page 33, and is No. 4 of Walckenaer’s descriptions of the Orbweavers. This corresponds with Abbot’s No. 381, which is sufficiently accurate to be recognized as the species under consideration. I have only given in the synonyma these two first occurring names. For the benefit of future students I place in the foot notes the various titles of the species which Walckenaer has given, with their corresponding numbers in Abbot’s drawings.” Femate: Total length, 7.3 mm.; abdomen, 5.3 mm. long, 5 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 29 mm. long, 2.4 mm. wide in the middle, narrowing in front to about a millimetre. The general colors of the fore part of the body vary from yellow and yellowish brown to orange brown; the abdomen from yellow to yellow and dark brown. This organ, however, is greatly varied in markings and shades of color, as illustrated in Plate VIIL., Figs. la-If. Some of the specimens are entirely without color upon the dorsal field, which is white, with a blackish central spot, or with blackish interrupted triangular lines. These variations are not wholly dependent upon the moulting, as they exist in mature females, numbers of which haye been compared with a view to determining this fact. Hentz describes the species as rather inclined to be nocturnal in its habits, being motionless during the day, but active after sunset. It runs with great speed, leaping like an Attus (EK. prompta). Its snare is usually pitched upon shrubs and bushes and among grasses and weeds, and resembles that of E. strix. I have seen it sitting upon its hub in a position which is sometimes assumed by its congeners, the abdomen partly resting upon the broken lines of the hub. The spider matures in June and July, and the young are found later in the season. CrrHALoTHORAX: High in the middle, sharply sloping to the truncated base; sides rounded; dorsal fosse a rather deep slit placed on the sloping base below the crest; cephalic suture distinct; head sloping toward the front; skin smooth, provided with yellow hairs; corselet brown, with flecks of yellow, the head yellow or yellowish brown, as is also the face, except at the posterior part of the ocular quad; partly covered with whitish hairs. Mandibles colored as face and head. The sternum is shield shape, scarcely longer than wide, with marked sternal cones; the centre flattened, the color yellow, with patches of yellow around the margins. Labium subtriangular, wide at the base, yellowish brown, as are the maxille, which are wide as long. Eyes: Ocular quad on a marked prominence, this portion of the face, indeed, seeming to be contracted ; the front slightly wider than rear, and about the width of the sides, the quad forming nearly a square. MF somewhat smaller than MR, separated by twice their diameter or more, and by an even less space from MR; MR separated by about 1.5 to 1.7 their diameter. Side eyes propinquate, separated by about or less than a radius, nearly equal in size, but less than those of the central group; MF separated from SF by about 1.3 their area, or more than twice the distance between them; height of clypeus about 1.5 diameter MF or more; front row is slightly procurved, and decidedly so viewed from behind and above; the hind row is also procuryed, and decidedly longer than the front row, being set well to the side of SR instead of behind it, so much so that the two side eyes appear to form the extremities of the front row. (Fig. 1q.) 1 Notes on the Nomenclature of Orbweavers, Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., page 199. 2Epeira cepina W. No. 13, p. 37; Abbot, Nos. 173, 157. E. apatroga W. No. 23, p. 43; Abbot, Nos. 371, 373, 376. E. spatulata W. No. 24, p. 44; variety C; Abbot, Nos. 171, 366. E. illustrata W. No. 25, p. 45; Abbot, Nos. 186, 187, 188. E. decolorata W. No. 29, p. 49; Abbot, Nos. 345, 390. E. vividia W. No. 38, p. 54; Abbot, No. 474. E. triflex W. No. 48, p. 60; Abbot, No. 112. E. trinotata W. No. 62, p. 75; Abbot, No. 272. E. subfusca W. No. 63, p. 67; Abbot, No. 273. Thus this one most variable species has been described by Walckenaer as eleyen distinct species, and a number of varieties in addition is included under these descriptions. A like confusion marks the descriptions of Professor Hentz, his Epeira prompta, E. hebes, E. foliata, and E. bombycinaria being probably variously marked specimens of the same species. 174 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. Lecs: The legs 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows: 10.6, 9.3, 9, 5.7 mm. They are yellow or yellowish brown, varying to orange brown, with dark annuli not only upon the tips of the joints but between them. They are well covered with yellowish hairs, long upon the femora, and not numerously, with light colored spines with dark bases, which are rather long and thin. The palps are colored as the legs, but not so strongly annulated. Axspomen: The abdomen is subtriangular, widest at the base, which is somewhat con- tracted at the middle front, where it greatly overhangs the cephalothorax. The posterior part is truncated, and the spinnerets set immediately beneath the apical wall. The apex in many specimens is smooth (Fig. 1h), but others, particularly those received from the Pacific Coast, have a blunt caudal tubercle. (Fig. In.) The color is yellow, mottled with black spots upon the margin. The folium consists of a dark brown triangular figure, open at the base, where it is widest, and with a toothed or zigzag margin, which narrows towards the apex. A median line of dark color extends from the front to the apex, with dentations corresponding with the margin, and flanked on either side by lighter color. The sides are marked by a wavy yellow band; the venter is usually a broad reticulated patch of yellow or yellowish brown between the gills and the spinnerets, marked on either side of the median by a row of three or four black circular spots. The epigynum (Figs. 1k and 1m) has a long conical scapus, very wide at the base and diminishing to a sharp point. Mate: Fig. 3. Length, about 4 mm.; abdomen, 2.3 mm. long, 2.1 mm. broad. On the abdomen the male shows the same variety of markings as in the female, with perhaps, judging from the specimens in hand, a tendency to an excess of cretaceous upon the dorsal field. The abdomen appears to lack the caudal tubercle which marks the apex of the female. The cephalic fosse is deeper and longer than, and the cephalic suture not quite as distinct as in the female, and the head apparently more depressed and more contracted at the face, The eyes are as in the female, except that the central prominence is more marked, side rear eyes if anything set even a little lower than in the female; moreover, the ocular quad is a trifle wider in front than behind, instead of being a trifle narrower, as with the female. Digital joint of the palp is distinct, as at Fig. 3a. Disrripution: I have collected this spider along the Atlantic Coast from New England southward to Florida, and westward through Pennsylvania and Ohio and in Texas. It is found to the north in Wisconsin (Professor Peckham), and I have numerous specimens from the Pacific Coast (Dr. Blaisdell, Mr. Curtis, and others), and from Utah. It is found throughout our Southern States, in Mexico, and Central America. It may therefore be regarded as a continental species, and is probably found with some variations in the northern belt of the South American States. E. anastera, variety conchlea McCook. Plate VIII, Fig. In. In the proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, 1888, page 199, I distinguish under the above name those examples of E. anastera which have a decided caudal tubercle upon the dorsum of the abdomen. The specimens bearing this characteristic seem as a rule to be larger and to have more sharply outlined and darker markings, but in other respects do not substantially differ from the typical form as aboye described. The variety is abundant, and indeed prevalent, in California and Florida. No. 32. E. eustalina Marx, variety E. anastera. Plate VIII, Fig. 1p. 1889. Epeira eustalina, Marx . .. . . Catalogue, p. 545 (Keyserling in Titt.). Under the above name Count Keyserling in his manuscript notes described as a separate species what I take to be simply one of the numerous variations of E. anastera. After examining examples named by Keyserling I see no reason for establishing thereon a new species. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 175 Toe ANGULATA GROUP OF EPEIRA. One meets a series of small Epeiroids, mostly of the Angulata group, which are char- acterized by several common features, and some of which are difficult to distinguish one from another. They all possess a peculiarly shaped epigynum, which is generally char- acterized by having a long convoluted scapus of cretaceous or whitish yellow color, of about equal breadth throughout the stalk, and widening at the tips into a broad spoon or ladlelike oval. This peculiarity at once strikes the observer, and compels him to place the species together in one group. Moreover, he observes that they are all small, being about 5 mm. in length, a little more or less. These species are furthermore found to resemble one another in the general shape of the face and arrangement of the eyes; an agreement which extends to the form of the cephalothorax, which is somewhat oval, rounded at the margins of the corselet, pitched high in the middle, and sharply slopes before and behind. The resemblance is further seen in the strong, well arched shape of the caput, rather squarish in its general contour, and wide at the face. Looking at the abdomen, the series is at once seen to be divided into two sections, of which one, like Epeira juniperi and E. linteata, has an ovate abdomen, smooth upon the surface, that is, without shoulder humps. Comparing the above two species, one remarks a difference in the shape of the atriolum, which in E. juniperi is divided in the posterior part, leaving the portule rather distinct, and having curved, pointed, or ram’s horn proc- esses issuing from the inner side of the bases. E. linteata has an atriolum that is more or less continuous, being somewhat bowl shaped, from the middle of which the scapus arises, and this is shorter than E. juniperi’s. The abdomen of Linteata is also more triangular in shape than that of Juniperi. Passing to the other, or Angulata section, the differences are not so marked, and the species are often difficult to determine. The species which I take to be typical of the well known Hentzian Epeira scutulata, which must now yield to the prior name of Walckenaer, E. miniata, is distinguished by two leaflike appendages (Plate VIII., Fig. 8c), which arise from the base of the atriolum near the issue of the scapus, and are held aloft upon a short stalk, which, like the leaflike process, is black. E. Mayo has the same characteristic scapus (Plate VIII., Fig. 11a), though perhaps a little more rounded or ladlelike; but the atriolum is without the leaf shaped appendages, and sends out two broad curved sides, which in some specimens unite underneath the tip of the scapus, seeming to form a con- tinuous bowl. In other specimens these are seen really to be separate, and to form simply flanking walls of the portule. In E. Bonsall (10b), on the contrary, the epigynum strongly resembles that of E. juniperi, having the ram’s horn appendages to the inner bases of the portule. The tip of the scapus is not quite so circular as that of Mayo, but this may be an individual characteristic. The abdomen of E. Bonsall is at once distinct from that of Juniperi, by being subtriangular, having short shoulder humps, and possess- ing V-shaped rows of brownish spots approximating at the apex. E. Pacificze differs from the other species of the section to which it is most closely allied, by the strong character of the dorsal folium; by the deeper brown bands upon the legs, and the median annuli; by the generally stronger and darker colors of the whole animal; and, moreover, by the form of the epigynum, the scapus of which is much conyoluted, issuing from the base of a bowl shaped atriolum, which is continuous both in front and behind, and not dividing underneath the tip of the scapus, as is the case in Mayo, from which species it also differs by the general markings and color. It is possible that future students, who may be favored with more numerous specimens from which to judge, may find that these characteristics, some of them at least, are more individual than specific; or, that instead of giving good grounds for specific distinction, may simply establish varietal forms of one common species, of which HE. miniata may be held as the principal form. I have presented these differences as they appear to me, in the hope to simplify and economize the labors of naturalists, who are sure to find, as I have found, much labor and perplexity in discovering good characteristics by which to distinguish this perplexing group. 176 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. No. 38. Epeira linteata, new species. [ Plate VIII, Figs. 5, 6. Femare: Total length, 4 mm.; abdomen, 2.6 mm. long, 2.6 wide, narrowing to 1 mm.; cephalothorax, 2 mm. long, 1.6 wide; about the face, 1 mm. wide. CEPHALOTHORAX: Corselet a rounded oval, peaked in the centre, sloping sharply down behind, with a smooth flat surface, and with almost an equal slope toward the front; fosse almost obliterated; cephalic suture not prominent; corselet grooyes indistinct; color yellow, with streaks of brown; caput and face covered with long yellowish-white hairs. Sternum shield shape, truncated in front; sternal cones; yellowish brown; slightly pubescent ; labium sub-rectangular at base and triangular at tip; maxille rounded at margins; as broad as long; color as the sternum. Eyes: Ocular quad without a decided prominence; its eyes about equal in size; the front about equal to the length and a little wider than the rear. MF dark colored, sepa- rated by about 1.5 diameter; MR amber, and separated by about one diameter. Side eyes about equal in size, placed on a slight tubercle; SF separated from MF by about the area of MF; the two eyes contingent, and SR so nearly on a line with SF that they seem to be grouped rather with the front than the rear row. The space between SR and MR equals at least three, perhaps four, times the space between MR. The front row of eyes is almost aligned, being only slightly recurved; the rear row is much procurved; clypeus high, its margin separated from MF eyes by about twice their diameter. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; stout for so small a species; armored with yellow spines and long bristlelike hairs; the joints appear to lack annuli, but my specimens have been much injured in the alcohol. Mandibles subconical, diverging slightly at the tips, a little reced- ing beneath. AxspomMeN: Subtriangular, and without dorsal tubercles. At the widest part it is about as broad as long; is highly arched, rounding from the cephalothorax to the apex, and marked by a broad, white, capelike folium, with denticulate edges, extending from the spinnerets to the base, and overlapping the basal front in a scalloped point. (Plate VIIL., Fig. 5b.) This white patch is broken in the centre by a dark interrupted band, dividing on either side of the median line. The sides, like the centre, are yellow brown, marked with reticulations at the venter. The epigynum has a short scapus broadened at the tip (Figs. 5c, 5d), and appears to proceed from a bowl shaped atriolum, that in one specimen at least (5d) seems to pass out beneath. Mate: The male (Fig. 6) differs little in its markings from the female. It is somewhat smaller in size, and is distinguished by a palpus whose digital bulb is given at Fig. 6b. This species resembles in many particulars E. miniata, but differs in the form of the eyes (5f), especially in the location of the rear lateral eyes. It also lacks the well developed dorsal tubercle upon the base of the abdomen which characterizes E. miniata, and the epigynum is distinctly different. The species is probably a little more closely related to Emerton’s Epeira aiboventris. Disrrisution: The only specimens which I have, four females and one male, were col- lected in North Carolina. No. 34. Epeira corticaria Emerton. Plate VIII, Figs. 7, 7a-d. 1884. Epeira corticaria, Emerton .. . N. E. Ep., p. 300, pl. 33, Fig. 14; pl. 35, Fig. 9. Femate: Total length, 7 mm.; abdomen, 5 mm. long, 5 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 2.5 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide. CePHALOTHORAX: Longer than broad; rounded at the edges; cephalic suture deep; somewhat flattened on the top; the fosse well marked; corselet grooves not prominent; color yellow, with a patch of brown around the fosse and on the base of caput; head but little depressed, wide in front. Sternum dark or blackish brown, with decided sternal cones, slightly covered with yellow pubescence; labium subtriangular; maxille slightly longer than broad, and subtriangular at the tip. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 177 Eyes: Ocular quad on a decided prominence, about as wide as high; MF about equal to MR in size; MF separated by about 1.5 diameters, and by about an equal space from MR. The latter separated by about one-half diameter; side eyes separated by a slight space. SF larger than SR, the latter being placed well to the side of the former, and in their curyature. The front row recurved, rear almost aligned; SF separated from MF about 1.3 the space which divides the latter, or about the area of the latter; SR from MR by about twice the area of the latter; clypeus about 1.5 to 2 diameters MF. Lees: 1, 2, 4,3; stout, well armed with yellow spines and bristles with dark bases; joints with brown apical and median annuli; palps colored and marked as legs; mandibles conical, yellow. AxppomEN: Triangular ovate; the length about equals the breadth across the base, at which point are two well-developed tubercles. The color varies from dark brown to yellow- ish brown. The tubercles are beautifully reticulated, as is also the subtriangular basal front, which slopes rather sharply to the cephalothorax; in the middle of the base is a cruciform marking of yellow color. The folium is somewhat undulated laterally, but indi- viduals vary in this respect. The dorsum is well arched, the spinnerets distal. A squarish patch of brown marks the venter, bordered with a broad reticulated yellow ribbon; the spinnerets are brown, except a slight ring of yellow. The epigynum (Fig. 7d) has a well developed scapus, broad at the base and narrowing toward the top; it is much wrinkled and curved, as shown in the side view (7b), and extends well over the portule. Distripution: Massachusetts and New York; probably all of New England and the northern Middle States. Specimens received from Mr. Nathan Banks, Ithaca, N. Y. No. 35. Epeira miniata Watckenarr. Plate VIII, Figs. 8, 9; Pl. X, Figs. 7, 8. 1837. Epeira miniata WALCKENAER . . Ins. Apt., ii., No. 17, p. 39; Appot, G. S., Nos. 228, 229, 230. 1837. Epeira cingulata WaucKENAER . Ins. Apt., ii, No. 18, p. 40; Axpor’s “Belted Spider,” Nos. 232, 365. 1837. Epeira guttulata, WatckENAER. . Ins. Apt., ii., No. 65, p. 78; Aspot, G. S., No. 233. 1837. Epeira bivittata, WALCKENAER . . Ins. Apt., ii., p. 78, No. 66; ABpor, G.S., No. 234. 1850. Epeira scutulata, Hentz... . . 18% doisty ie UGH wobl IS Sios WE iis jos IPA Sony, BP 1879. Hpeira punctillata, Keysertine . Neue Spinn. aus Amer., i., Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien, p. 304, pl. iv., 7, male palp. 1889. Epeira scutulata Marx ..... Catalogue, p. 547. 1892. Epeira scutulata Kryseruinc . . Spinn. Amerik. Ep., p. 129, tab. vi., 96, fem. In giving the synonyma of this beautiful species I have been guided by my studies of Abbot’s MSS., and my notes thereon show that I regard Nos. 228, 229, and 230 as the same species, and consider that 230, an immature male, also belongs to the same species. No. 228 resembles those forms in my collection in which two oval white patches stand out prom- inently upon the dorsal base of the abdomen between the tubercles. The colors are yellow, the round whitish patches red. The dorsal tubercles are strongly suggested in No. 228, but are represented in No. 229, which is distinctly marked by the V-shaped rows of black spots on the margin of the folium. No. 230 of Abbot is a yellow specimen with brownish folium, and a red bow along the abdominal front. The V-shaped spots show distinctly in this example, which, like No. 227, is an immature male. Abbot’s Nos. 232 and 233 appear to be the same species, although the abdominal tubercles are indistinctly indicated, or so nearly wanting that one hesitates to decide. They are beautifully colored. No. 233 has the ceph- alothorax and legs of greenish yellow; the abdomen green and yellow, with a median lateral stripe of brown with yellow centre; the eight V-shaped spots are brown within yellow circles. No. 233 (Epeira guttulata, Walck.) has the cephalothorax, legs, and abdom- inal front yellow, the abdomen orange brown, with eight black V-shaped spots within yellow circles. I place this number in the synonyma with less confidence than the others, 178 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. but on the whole think there is not much doubt that it is correctly placed as here. Abbot’s No. 234, Epeira bivittata, Walck. (II., page 78), is probably the same; the central folium is vermilion or lake color, as are also the eight V-shaped spots. The remainder of the abdomen is green, with yellowish-white bands. The legs and cephalothorax are also green, with orange yellow annuli. Abbot’s No. 365, which Walckenaer regards as identical with his Epeira cingulata (Abbot's No. 233), is without doubt a beautiful example of Hentz’s E. scutulata. Abbot has desig- nated it in his brief notes as “none so pretty;” he beat it off of a sumac bush. The general color of the abdomen is green; but a T-shaped figure of delicate ash color defines the dorsal folium. The V-shaped spots are included within contiguous circles of dark pinkish color, and the circular spots upon the dorsal front are similarly marked. The cephalothorax and legs are light yellow. The abdominal tubercles on this specimen are plainly indicated in Abbot’s drawing—so much more distinctly indeed than in No. 228 (E. miniata) that I have hesitated whether it would not be right to accept this as the type of the species, although the description occurs much later in order in Walckenaer’s publication. However, I have little doubt that No. 228 is identical with Hentz’s E. scutulata, and there- fore conclude to give it the priority. Fremate: Total length, 4.5 mm.; abdomen, 3 mm. long, nearly 4 mm. broad; cephalo- thorax, 2-+- mm. long, somewhat less in width; head about half as wide as cephalothorax. CrPHALOTHORAX: Corselet rounded ovate; cephalic suture, fosse and grooves distinct; caput slightly depressed, pubescent, with a few bristles; sternum slightly longer than wide, with sternal cones, somewhat arched, pubescent, yellowish brown. Labium triangular, base wider than length; maxillee as wide as long. Eyes: Ocular quad about as wide in front as long and wider than rear; MF black, separated about 1.75 diameter; MR amber, about equal to MF, and separated one diameter ; side eyes barely contingent, equal, SF removed from MF less than alignment of the latter, or about 1.3 their intervening space; front row slightly recurved, rear row longer and slightly procurved; clypeus about 1.5 diameter in height. Leas: 1, 2, 4, 3; stout for so small a species, clothed freely with strong hairs and dark spines; color varying from yellow to light brown, and without distinct annuli; the palps resemble the legs; the mandibles are conical, not divergent. ApBpoMEN: ‘Triangular ovate, much broader at base than apex; the base, which over- hangs the cephalothorax, slopes downward thereto, forming a triangular front, thus leaving the abdomen divided by a ridge into two well defined slopes. The anterior part is in some species darker in color, has a lateral row of circular spots, and on the crest two bright white oval spots; beyond this sometimes rosy tints. Sheulder humps well defined, darker in front, in the rear tipped at times with white; dorsum abruptly arched to the spinnerets. The color in many specimens is grayish yellow, in others pale yellow, and in some quite white, with reticulated markings. An indistinct triangulated folium marks some specimens; on each dorsal margin is a row of four brownish yellow spots within white circles, which converge to the apex in V-shape. In some specimens these are quite distinct, in others apparently wanting. The ventral pattern is a dark brown median band, with light yellow and gray margin; spinnerets dark; epigynum with a short somewhat sinuated scapus, well rounded at the tip. Mate: Total length, 3 mm.; cephalothorax slightly longer than broad, and ridged in the centre as in female; abdomen slightly longer than broad; shoulder tubercles less prom- inent than in female. Adult specimens in hand (California) have a triangular dorsal folium with scalloped edges sharply marked by dark brown interrupted lines, punctuated at points with black spots. In several immature specimens from Florida and elsewhere the markings closely resemble that from which Hentz described the species, an immature male; V-shaped black dots mark the margin of the dorsum, narrowing to the apex, and four somewhat similar spots are on the base in front. In some immature specimens from California, when freshly taken, the abdomen was prettily tinted with pink hues. (Plate VIII, Fig. 9a.) Length of legs (1, 2, 4, 3), 7, 5.2, 4.7, 3.1 mm.; tibia-II is not thickened or otherwise mod- ified, and the cox are without spurs. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 179 DisrripuTion: I have specimens from New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and California; Hentz described it from Alabama; Dr. Marx has it from the District of Columbia, Illinois, and Texas. This indicates that it inhabits the entire southern portion of the United States, as far north as the District of Columbia, and westward to California. I have no specimens from any of the Northern or Middle States, except one from Wisconsin, marked doubtful. The coloring and dorsal markings vary greatly in specimens under observation, the difference not dependent upon moulting changes, as it shows in mature examples. Colors range from dark yellow, with blackish or brown spots, to white; pale yellows, pinks, and even greenish tints appear on fresh specimens. The V-shaped circular spots on the dorsum are sometimes distinct, and again disappear, giving place to a triangular folium with interrupted margins. No. 36. Epeira Bonsalle, new species. Plate VIII, Fig. 10. Femate: Total length, 5 mm.; abdomen, 3.5 mm. long, 3 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 2 mm. long, 1.75 mm. wide. CrPpHALOTHORAX: Corselet well rounded, elevated in centre, deep rounded fosse; corselet grooves sufficiently distinct; cephalic suture deeply marked, separating the head decidedly from the corselet; the head slightly depressed toward the face, where it is not narrowed ; color, yellow to yellowish brown, with a lighter stripe on the margin. Sternum shield shaped, with slight sternal cones, color yellow, slightly clothed with long yellow hairs. Maxillze subglobose, decidedly broader than long; cut square at the tip; labium triangular, colored as maxillee, and is about half their height. Eyes: Ocular quad almost a square; but very slightly narrower in front than behind; MF black, MR amber color; MF separated by about 1.5 their diameter; MR slightly larger and separated by about 1.3 diameter; front row slightly recurved; rear procurved. (Fig. 10a.) Side eyes on slight tubercles, propinquate, SF the larger. SF separated from MF by a little more than the area of the latter; SR from MR by at least 1.3 the area of the latter ; MF from the clypeus margin by about 1.5 their diameter. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; stout, yellow, without decided annuli, armed with strong bristlelike hairs and strong long spines. The palps are similarly armed. AspoMEN: Subtriangular, with slight basal tubercles, at which point the width about equals the length; dorsum rounded, and well arched to the distal spinnerets; color green, with a folium yellow at the margin, green in the centre, except at the median line, which again is yellow. Branching longitudinal lines mark the apical part of the folium, and on either side within the yellow irregular folial margin is a row of four brownish spots, approximated toward the apex in V-shape. The venter is greenish yellow, except the epigynum, which is brown, of which the scapus is rounded, wrinkled, of nearly equal thickness throughout, except at the tip, where it broadens out into a heart shaped spoon of at least twice the width of the base. A minute tonguelike appendage extends from each of the portuli. Disrripution: This species, of which I have but one specimen, was received from California. It strongly resembles E. miniata, of which it may possibly be a variety, or .variant form, No. 37. Epeira Mayo, new species. Plate VIII, Fig. 11. 1889. Epeira Mayo, Marx in litt. . . . Catalogue, p. 546 (Keyser tina in Titt.). FremaLe: Two specimens, one 5 mm. long, the other 4.5. In general form and char- acter this species resembles closely E. miniata. It appears to me to be a variety thereof after studying the type upon which Count Keyserling in his MSS. notes established the above. The abdomen is more ovate than E. miniata, not so wide relatively across the base, nor so sharply ridged in the dorsal crest. The V-shaped folial spots are wanting, and no distinct folial pattern appears, only irregular, waving, pale lateral lines, which give an 180 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. indistinct suggestion of a folium. The epigynum differs in the greater length and decided convolution of the scapus. The cochlear in E. miniata is more prolonged and slightly compressed in the middle, while that of E. Mayo is almost a circular bowl. The leaflike appendages of the atriolum in E. miniata are wanting, or at least are folded down, in E. Mayo. Disrrizution: Two females, one in my collection from Wisconsin and one in the Marx Collection from Minnesota. The known patria is thus the Northwestern United States. No. 88. Epeira bispinosa Krysertrna. Plate IX, Figs. 3, 3a-b. 1884. Epeira bispinosa, Knyseruinc . . Neue Spinn. Amerik., vi. p. 531, xiii., 30. 1892. Epeira bispinosa, Keyseruinc . . Spinnen Amerik. Epeir., p. 124, vi., 92. Femate: ‘Total length, 5 mm.; cephalothorax, 2.5 mm. long by 2.1 mm. broad; abdomen, 3.5 to 4 mm. long by 4.5 to 5 mm. wide at the base. Colors, fore part of body brown, abdomen yellow. This spider is distinguished from E. miniata by the arrangement and relative size of the eyes, especially of the middle group, the midfront eyes of Bispinosa being almost twice as widely separated as those of Miniata and decidedly smaller; the ocular quad is relatively wider in front than rear, and the clypeus much higher. The legs also are annulated, and the epigynum has a longer and more convoluted scapus, like E. Mayo. CrepHaLorHorAx: A long oval; the crest high; corselet brown, with a lighter marginal band; caput yellow, flecked with brown; the whole sparsely covered with hair. Sternum almost as broad as long; raised in the middle; with decided cones; yellowish brown color; labium long, subtriangular. Leas: 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows: 9.4, 8.10, 5.2, 7.3 mm. Color, yellowish brown, with annular markings; well provided with hairs, bristles, and spines. Eyes: Ocular quad on a well rounded prominence, the sides about equal to front, the latter wider than rear; MF separated from 2 to 2.5 times their diameter, and are much smaller, from one-third to one-half, than MR, which are separated from one another about a diameter and a half. The side eyes on prominent tubercles, well separated ; SF somewhat larger than SR, and about or a little more than the size of MF, from which they are divided by about the area of MF. Front row recurved, rear row longer and slightly pro- curved; clypeus is high, about the space between MF. AspoMEN: Triangular ovate; with prominent shoulder humps, basal front subtriangular ; dorsum arched from crest to distal spinnerets; color yellow, surface reticulated, lines of brownish color extending longitudinally in the middle of the dorsum, and laterally along the sides and underneath to the venter; ventral pattern squarish, yellow, reticulated, and bordered with brown; spinnerets dark brown, mottled at the edges with whitish and yellow spots. The sides are yellow, with alternate black and white, running vertically from the venter to the dorsum. The epigynum (Plate IX., 3b) has prominent bowl shaped portulze ; the scapus long, much sinuated, and terminates in a wide spooned bowl. DisrrisutTion: Southern California; Fort Yuma, Ariz. (Marx Collection); Keyserling locates it in Central America, Panama, and Hayti. The specimen is probably widely dis- tributed throughout the semitropical parts of North America. No. 89. Epeira Pacificz, new species. Plate XI, Figs. 15, 16. Femate: Total length, 5 mm.; abdomen, 4 mm. long, 4 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 2 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide. CEPHALOTHORAX: Oval; corselet well rounded at the edges, rather high in the middle, sharply sloping backward, caput inclined forward to the face; corselet grooves distinct; cephalic suture decidedly marked ; color, dark brown, with flecks of yellow on the median base; grayish white hair rather sparsely distributed over the surface. The caput is strong, squarish, wide at the face, well rounded, colored as the cephalothorax, with a yellow patch at the eye space; sprinkled with gray hairs, more abundant upon the face and eyebrows. Sternum shield shape, not greatly pointed at the apex; longer than broad; sternal cones DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 181 distinct, covered slightly with gray hairs; a uniform brown; labium triangular; maxillee as wide or wider than long, subtriangular at the tips; both colored as the sternum, but a rather lighter hue. Eyes: Ocular quad on a rather squarish rounded eminence, of which the front is more pronounced; MF upon separate tubercles, black, about the size of MR, which are bright amber color; the quad barely longer than wide, slightly wider in front than behind ; MF separated by about 1.75 diameter; MR by about 1.5; side eyes upon slight tubercles, about equal in size, contingent; SR well to the side and separated from MR by 1.3 the area of the latter. MF separated from SF by little more than their area, or 1.3 their interval; the height of the clypeus equal to about 1.5 diameter MF; front row but little recurved, rear row longer, and from the same aspect procuryed, but viewed from above but a little, is aligned. Lees: 1, 2, 4,3; yellow, with darker annuli at the tips, and slight annuli at the middle of the metatarsus and tibia; freely provided with grayish yellow hairs, bristles, and dark long spines; the palps are colored and armed as the legs; mandibles subcylin- drical, long, strong, brownish yellow, pubescent. AspoMEN: Subtriangular, thickened at the base, which rises almost perpendicularly from the corselet, forming an angle with the dorsal field; the latter arched to the apex, which slightly overhangs the spinnerets. The abdomen is thus divided into two sub- triangular fields; the front is mottled cretaceous and blackish, punctuated with numerous black spots; reticulated, with a lanceolated cretaceous band between the shoulder humps; the dorsal field is cretaceous or yellow, which color extends along the inside and posterior of the rounded, strongly marked shoulder humps; between the humps, in one specimen, are two oblong bright white patches, which take the place of the cretaceous extension above referred to. The dorsal field is marked by a decided folium, which occupies half thereof; it is outlined by a cretaceous undulating margin, within which extends a parallel line of black to the apex; beyond this are yellowish shades extending to the median pattern, which is an interrupted cretaceous or yellow ribbon. The venter is a brownish yellow ribbon, compressed in the middle, with wide semicircular patches of reticulated white and yellow on each side, which merge into similarly colored stripes along the sides of the abdo- men. The epigynum has a long, yellowish white, convoluted scapus (Fig. 15a), whose stalk is of about equal width throughout, and terminates in a widened and rounded spoon. The atriolum rises from the margin of the genital cleft as a hollow bowl or shell, from the base of which the scapus originates. : Mate: Fig. 16. Resembles in general form and markings the female. The cephalo- thorax is more oval, the head relatively narrower at the face, the legs have wider and darker annuli at the tips; the abdomen is relatively narrower at the base than the female, though with the same general conformation, and with smaller shoulder humps; the folium is outlined at the margin by an interrupted waving band of black, margined by white. A brownish yellow median line shoots between the shoulder humps, sending forth four longi- tudinal branches of like color along the middle of the folium to the apex. Tibia-II is not thickened, and has no distinctive clasping spines; is simply provided with three rows of long brownish spines. Tibia-I is greatly longer than tibia-II, and has more spines thereon. Femora-I and II are covered, except near the bases, with wide dark brown annuli; the palpal digit is globular, glossy, and brown; the cymbium blackish, covered well with grayish hairs. ' Disrripution: I have three females and one male of this species, received from Cali- fornia; and two other females and an immature male from San Diego, Cal. Tuer Larcer ANGULATA. The smaller Angulata above described might, perhaps, be properly assigned to a sub- genus. Its principal characteristics, apart from the small size of its species, would be a high and subconical corselet ; an epigynum with a scapus much conyoluted or wrinkled, ter- minating in a ladlelike tip; an abdomen of marked triangular form; a diminished interval 182 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. between the midfront and sidefront eyes as compared with the typical Epeira.! To this group might also be assigned E. forata, E. linteata, and E. juniperi, although their abdomens are not distinctly triangular, and lack shoulder humps. The larger Angulata, whose descriptions follow,? may be regarded as among the more typical Epeira. They all make the typical Epéiroid wheel shaped web, which is often very large, and occupy, especially during the day, a leafy nest above and at one side of the snare, which they command by a taut trapline attached to the hub thereof. In some parts of the United States the most common Orbweavers belong to this group. One at least, E. angulata, is distributed throughout the entire country; and two, E. diademata and E. angulata, are common in Europe, the former, indeed, being the best known garden Orb- weaver. fal i XI A528, /2,13,7¢ No. 40. Epeira gemma McCook. Plate X, Fig. 6; Pl. IX, Figs. 1, 2. 1888. Epeira gemma, McCook . . . . . Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., p. 193. 1889. Hpeira gemma, Marx... . . . Catalogue, p. 545. 1892. Epeira gemma, Keyseruinc . . . Spinn. Amerik., Epeir., p. 115, vi., 85. Femae: Total length, 19 mm.; abdomen, 16.7 mm. long, 16 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 6.9 mm. long, 6 mm. in the middle, and 2.8 mm. wide. One large specimen in my posses- sion measures over 20 mm. in length. General colors yellow, with brown or darkish markings, and for the fore part yellow and brown. CEPHALOTHORAX: Cordate, the base indented; corselet rounded at the edges, rather low, the fosse a deep rounded pit; corselet grooves tolerably distinct; cephalic suture sufficiently marked ; color yellowish brown, with a gray median band, which is chiefly marked out by long gray bristles; gray hairs abundant over the surface, which is glossy. The caput is depressed, flattish upon the top, subtriangular at the base, wide, squarish at the face, colored as the cephalothorax, with yellowish longitudinal bands upon the sides. Sternum heart shaped, pointed at the apex, about one-fourth longer than broad, raised in the middle; sternal cones before coxa-III, and more rounded ones before coxse-I, II; a decided cone opposite the lip; color ruddy brown, covered with golden yellow and long bristlelike hairs. Labium subtriangular; maxillee gibbous, somewhat longer than wide; both these organs brown, with yellow tips, and the maxillee with a few brownish spines and yellow bristles, Eyes: Ocular quad on a well rounded prominence, length not greater than width in front, the front decidedly wider than rear; MF on separate tubercles, larger than MR, sep- arated by at least 1.5 diameter; MR separated by not more than one diameter. Rear eyes on tubercles, not contingent; SF somewhat larger than SR; SF removed from MF by about 1.3 their area, or at least twice or more their intervening space; SR from MR by 2.5 to three times the area of the latter. The height of clypeus about 1.5 to 2 diameters MF, with a row of strong yellowish bristles along the margin; the space between the eyes is also sparingly marked with shorter bristles; front row slightly recurved, rear row slightly procurved. Lees; 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows: 23 (24.2), 22.5 (23.2), 21.5 (21.6), 14.75 (15.5) mm. Stout, thickly covered on all sides with long yellowish bristles and yellow spines, which are numerous along the metatarsus and tibia; these are particularly abundant underneath femora-II; color yellow, strongly annulated with brown at tips of joints and along femora underneath. Palps colored and armed as legs; mandibles strong, conical, brown, glossy, with yellowish tips and yellowish white bristles upon the inner sides. AppoMEN: Triangular ovate, slightly longer than wide, highly arched on the dorsum from the cephalothorax, which it overhangs, to the distal spinnerets; basal front subtri- angular, high, marked at the summit by two large Conical humps; color blackish brown, +I venture to propose for this group the subgeneric name “ Burgessia,’’ in honor of the late Mr. Edward Burgess, of Boston, the editor of Professor Hentz’s ‘‘ Spiders of the United States,’ who was favor- ably known as an entomologist, and later was an eminent designer of sailing yachts. ? Epeira gemma, angulata, diademata, Nordmanni, cavatica, Silvatica. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 183 interspersed at irregular intervals with yellow spots. Along the dorsal median extends a narrow band of yellow, upon which are placed two angular or lance-head markings, pointed forward, the first of which is placed about the middle of the basal part and the second near the crest. This color band continues more or less regularly along the dorsum to the apex, and in some examples reminds one of Epeira diademata’s pattern. About the middle of the dorsum is a shield shaped figure with scalloped edges, blackish brown in color for the most part, though interrupted by yellow lines of a herring bone pattern; a narrow yellow border encompasses the folial shield; color of dorsum and posterior half of shoulder humps yellow. Dark brown waving and interrupted lines extend along the sides, between which are small round spots, distributed laterally along the sides with more or less reg- ularity. A broad brownish band extends along the venter from the spinnerets to the epigynum, bordered along either side by a yellow band more or less interrupted in various specimens, with a median band which is sometimes divided longitudinally. The epigynum (Plate IX., 1d) is provided with a rather short scapus, wide at the base, and terminating in a well defined spoon. It has a wide subtriangular atriolum, but rather small for such a large species; the scapus is short, but little differing in width throughout, and terminates in a rounded, heart shaped, brown, chitinous tip, which is spooned. Mate: Plate IX., Fig. 2. Although I have received a large number of females of this species I have but one mature male thereof. It is small, compared with his mate, haying a total length of 8 mm. The cephalothorax is a longer oval than in the female, having at the base a width of 3.5 mm. The color is yellowish brown; it is less pubescent than the female, the fosse a longitudinal slit, with a rectangular depression around it. The eyes are arranged about as in the female; the mandibles are much feebler, comparatively longer, and semiconcave upon the front surface, with a rounded cog at the base. The legs are yellow, with decided median annuli upon the tibia and metatarsus; spines yellow, with brown bases, and are particularly long underneath femur-I, where they are grouped and clustered about the middle. Tibia-II is not swollen, and has no special clasping apparatus. The palpal digit is globular, with a strong hooked process at the base of the cymbium. (Fig. 2a.) The abdomen is shaped as in the female, though much smaller, with decided shoulder humps, and strong spinous bristles of yellowish bright color sparsely scattered oyer the surface. DistripuTion: This is one of the largest orbweavers of the Pacific Coast, and is found from San Diego northward as far as British Columbia. Numerous specimens have been received from Mrs. Eigenmann, Mr. Orcutt, Dr. Davidson, Dr. Blaisdell, Mr. Curtis, and others; from Utah (Professor Orson Howard); and the Marx Collection notes it from Dakota, Montana, and Louisiana. The spider makes a large circular web characteristic of the Angulata group to which it belongs, and rests in a nest of rolled leaves or dome shaped rubbish placed on the upper side of its snare. No. 41. Epeira bucardia, new species.! Plate IX, Figs. 4, 4a-d. FemMALeE: Among collections sent from Southern California I have a single specimen, a mature female, which on the whole appears best classified with the genus Epeira. Its total length is 5 mm. The color is bright yellowish brown, mottled with black and darker brown. CrepHALoTHoRAX: A rather long oval, corselet well peaked in the centre; head slightly depressed; caput strongly marked with dark longitudinal lines; sternum smooth, glossy, dark brown (Fig. 4a); almost as wide as long, with slight sternal cones. Eyes: In their grouping the eyes approximate more closely Zilla than those of the typical Epeira. (Fig. 4c.) They do not greatly differ in size, the side eyes being smaller and the midrear pair the largest of all. The drawing of these eyes is unfortunately very imperfect. 1“ Bucardia,” an ox heart. The single specimen of this species was unfortunately lost during the drawing of plates, and I am not able to revise my original notes of description. The plate haying been printed before this loss was discovered, I cannot omit the species, as I otherwise would have done, but submit description as above without revision. 184 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; yellowish brown in color; strongly annulated at the joints, and between the joints of femora and tibie. The palps are yellow; the mandibles conical, parallel, but divergent at the tips; dark brown. Appomen: Subtriangular, or cordate; as wide across the base as the length; strongly marked shoulder humps (Fig. 4b, side view) upon the dorsum, which is yellow, mottled with undulating and transverse black bands, which constitute an irregular folium, occupying most of the dorsum. The apical part of the abdomen is marked by a black foliated figure, in the centre of which may be seen the dark branching lines so cémmon in spiders. The base of the abdomen appears to be divided into two parts by a natural constriction, which, although it may have been caused by the shrinking of the skin in the abdomen, has been represented in the figure. Underneath the color is yellow, mottled with black. (Fig. 4a.) The ventral pattern is a broad, black brown median band, bordered with yellowish white, in the lower portion of which, near the spinnerets, are two whitish spots. The epigynum has a horseshoe shaped atriolum (Fig. 4d), the ends and ridge of which are black and corneous. The scapus is short, narrow, but widening at the tip like a spoon. Disrrisution: Southern California, one female. No. 42. Epeira Nordmanni Tuoretr. Plate IX, Figs. 5, 6, 7; Pl. XI, Fig. 5. 1870. Epeira Nordmanni, Toorrty. . . Synonyms European Spiders, p. 4 1884. Epeira Nordmanni, Emerton . . N. E. Ep., p. 301, pl. 33, Fig. 6. Femate: Total length, 15 mm. for largest specimen, smallest adult specimen, 9 mm.; abdomen, 11 mm. long, 9 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 5.5 mm. long, 4 mm. wide; width of the face, 2 mm. CrrHALOTHORAX: A rounded oval, somewhat flattened on top; fosse a deep semicircular pit; corselet grooves distinct, but interrupted; cephalic suture distinct; caput slightly depressed ; surface smooth, without pubescence ; color, brownish yellow, with dark shades of brown. Sternum shield shaped, bluntly pointed at the apex; raised in the middle; sternal cones prominent, especially opposite coxee-I, III, most prominent of all in front of labium; sparsely covered with white hairs. Labium wide, obtusely triangular at tip; at least half as high as maxillee, which are slightly longer than broad, tips subtriangular; color of sternum, lip, and maxille dark brown, tipped with yellow. Eyes: Ocular quad elevated; length slightly greater than frontal width, narrowest behind; MF largest, separated by about one diameter; MR separated by 0.7 diameter. Side eyes on high tubercles; barely contingent; SF larger than SR; MF separated from SF by about 1.3 their area; SR from MR by from 2 to 2.5 area of latter. Clypeus about 1.5 diameters MF high; front row slightly recurved, the longer rear row slightly procurved. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3; stout; armed with numerous yellow spines with brown bases, and stout bristles; color, yellow or cretaceous, with apical brown annuli; femora-I, IJ, in some specimens are bright brown, in others yellowish brown. The palps stout, heavily armored and yellow, except at tips of digital joints; mandibles conical; strong, slightly divergent at tips, colored as cephalothorax. AxspomMEN: Triangular ovate; two prominent shoulder humps; the basal front slopes toward cephalothorax, forming an equilateral triangle; dorsum arched in a long triangle to the spinnerets; the apical wall about two-thirds the thickness of the base. Color yellow to yellowish brown; marked on the dorsal front by a light Y-shaped figure; the arms of the Y extend between the shoulder humps, thence following the median line. This bright yellow band passes onward with interruptions nearly to the apex. On either side of the lower half is a row of five semilunar dashes of brown color, converging to the spinnerets ; in some specimens on the lower part of the abdomen these marks are almost entirely united by a band of brown, as in Plate IX., Fig. 5. The yellow color of the sides is crossed by four or five series of brown lines, drawn from common points on the dorsum at the margin of the folium, and widening as they pass around the sides toward the venter. Ventral pattern a dark brown oyal band, marked by two bright yellow roundish spots near DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 185 the middle, and two triangular yellow marks at corner of the gills, and four patches at base of the dark brown spinnerets. The epigynum (6a) has a prominent scapus, wide at the base, narrowing toward the tip, which is spooned; and in some specimens the seminal chambers are prominently displayed, as in Plate XI., Figs. 5a, 5b. Mate: Plate IX., Fig. 7; Plate XI., Figs. 5a, 5b. Differs little in markings from female; cephalothorax a warm yellow or yellowish brown ; legs bright yellow, with brown annuli; abdomen with cretaceous field and shield shaped folium, with denticulate edges ; shoulder humps not pronounced, and appear in some specimens almost wanting. Tibia—II curved, thickened, and provided on the inner and under side, from about midway, with a double and partly triple row of black, toothlike clasping spines. Coxa-II has at its base a long rounded spur, and coxa-I at the articulation with the trochanter a brown, short, chitinous, curved spur. The palpal bulb is rounded, the base provided with a blunt, curved spur; the radial joint much widened at the base, the apex a truncated cone; the cubital joint is short, rounded, and provided with two long spines. Disrrisution: This is a European species, and may have been introduced by com- mercial intercommunication. My specimens locate it along the Atlantic Coast from New England to North Carolina, in the Adirondack Mountains, and in Pennsylvania. Dr. Marx notes it as far north as Maine, and through Massachusetts to Pennsylvania. It will prob- ably be found to affect more closely mountain regions or high elevations. No. 48. Epeira cavatica Kryser.inc. Plate X, Figs. 1,2; Pl. XI, Fig. 6. 1881. Epeira cavatica, Keyseruinc . . Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien, p. 269, xi., 1. 1884. Epeira cinerea, Emerton ... . N. E. Ep., p. 302, pl. 33. 1889. Epeira cavatica, McCook . . . . Amer. Spiders and their Spinningwork. (Ibid., FE. cinerea, ad part.) 1892. Epeira cavatica, Keysertinc. . . Spinn. Amerik., Eper., 118, vi., 87. FremaLe: Total length (two specimens), 18 mm., 13 mm; abdomen, 12.8 mm., 10 mm. long, 11.3 mm. and 7 mm. broad; tephalothorax, 7 mm. long, 5.8 (6) mm. broad; width of head, 2.5 mm. CrrHatotHorax: Corselet yellow, with brownish hue at sides and on grooves and median fosse; moderately high; sparsely covered with long, fine pubescence; fosse and cephalic suture deep; head depressed, flat on top, rather narrow at the face. Sternum codi- form; longer than broad, with sternal cones; covered with bristles; color of sternum, labium, and maxillze, brown, the latter lighter and yellow at the tips. Eyres: Ocular quad elevated, the width in front greater than length, and narrowest behind; MF separated by 1.5 diameter; MR somewhat smaller than MF, separated by two- thirds diameter; lateral eyes smaller, nearly equal in size, separated by about their radius; MF from SF about 1.5 their area. Clypeus 1.5 to 2 times diameter MF; front eye row slightly recurved, longer rear row procurved, Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows: Two specimens, 29 (32) mm., 27.6 (31) mm, 25 (28.5) mm., 17.2 (19.5) mm. Color yellow, with median distal brown annuli. In some specimens the median rings are extended almost to cover the metatarsi and patellee; long and not robust, thickly covered with bristles and gray pubescence except at the tarsi, and with yellow spines, brown at the base. Palps yellow, armed as legs; mandibles yellow or brown. Appomen: Yellowish or brownish color, and in many specimens, on account of the numerous gray hairs and white bristles which densely cover the dorsum, assuming in life a quite gray appearance; dorsum arched in gravid specimens, subtriangular, with shoulder humps; on the basal half a rather indistinct folium, broadest in front, narrowing toward the apex, the edges bordered by a yellow scalloped band; the sides with dark black stripes extending to the venter, which has a broad black band in the centre passing from the gills and surrounding the spinnerets; this at each side bordered by a narrow, yellow, curved stripe; at base of spinnerets on either side two small yellow spots; epigynum rather short, wide at the base, channeled throughout, somewhat narrowing toward the tip; a line of 186 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. hairs marks the middle, and the seminal chambers (Plate XI., 6) are well displayed. The scapus is longer than that of E. gemma, which it resembles. Mate: Total length, 12.6 mm. (in one specimen 15 mm.); abdomen, 6.3 mm. long, 4.9 mm. wide; cephalothorax, 7 mm. long, 5.4 mm. wide; face, 2 mm. wide; resembles in form and color the female. (Plate X.,3; Plate XI., 9b.) The legs are much longer relatively than those of the female, as follows: Two specimens, 38 (41) mm., 34.5 (40) mm., 19.5 (23) mm., 29.5 (32) mm. These members are indeed enormously long; in one specimen the first leg measures 48 mm., the second 43 mm. ‘The thighs and femur of legs-I, II, are formid- ably armed with spines; a slight hook marks coxze-I. The tip of tibia-II is not thickened, nor armed with special clasping spines; but legs-I and II are both provided with numerous long spines, bristles, and hairs, especially on the femora beneath. Disrrieution: I haye not collected*this spider elsewhere than in the Adirondacks of New York, in New England, and in New Jersey, where it was colonized. It has been taken in Maine, New Hampshire (Mrs. Mary Treat), and is found in New England gen- erally. Dr. Marx records it as collected in Kentucky and Tennessee. Its distribution is probably limited to the more northern belt of States, particularly along the seaboard, and it will probably be found to prefer mountainous and elevated locations. No. 44. Epeira angulata (Currck). Plate X, Figs. 3, 4,5; Pl. XI, Figs. 2, 3, 4. 1757. Araneus angulatus, CLerck .. . Aran. Svec., p. 22, 1, tab. 1, Figs. 1, 2, 3. 1757. Araneus virgatus, Cuerck . . . . Ibid., p. 41, ii., tab. 2. 1761. Aranea angulata, Linnaeus . . . Faun. Suecica, Ed. ii., p. 487, 1999. 1775. Aranea angulata, Fasricius . . . Systema Entom., ii., p. 414, 29. 1778. Aranea angulata, De Grrr . . . Mem. des Ins., vii., p. 221, pl. vii., 1. 1789. ] have examined only one specimen, from Moscow, Russia, sent me by Professor W. Wagner, but in this these cones are very decided. DESCRIPTION OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 187 those of the European examples. The clypeus of the American specimens appears to be somewhat higher. CepHALorHorax: A rounded oval; the fosse semicircular; skin glossy; color dark brown, with yellow patches on the caput base; corselet grooves rather indistinct; cephalic suture distinct; covered with yellowish-white hairs. Sternum cordate; sternal cones not very prominent, except one in front of the labium; skin glossy, covered freely with gray hairs; dark brown color, with yellow median band. Labium subtriangular at the tip, rounded at the sides; maxille broad as long. Leas: Stout; 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows (a large specimen): 35, 31, 26, 19 mm.; another example measures 31.9, 30.2, 27.9, 19.8 mm.; joints strongly annulated, both at tips and middle; heavily clothed with yellow spines with brown bases, and with dark bristles; palps stout, yellow, with brown annuli. Mandibles conical, parallel; dark brown, with yellow fronts. Eyes: Ocular quad elevated; length about equal to width; broader in front than rear ; MF somewhat larger than MR, and separated by about or less than 1.5 their diameter; MR separated by about one diameter. Side eyes on tubercles; separated by about their radius; SF slightly larger than SR. Space between SF and MF about 1.5 area of the latter, or at least three times intervening space of MF; both eye rows slightly procurved; clypeus margin distant from MF 38 to 3.5 diameter of latter. AspomMeNn: Subtriangular; wide at the base across the shoulder humps; front subtri- angular, overhanging the cephalothorax; color grayish yellow or yellow with velvety brown markings; the surface dotted over with numerous short, whitish, thick hairs among the pubescence. On the high basal front is a yellow pattern, often assuming the shape of a lyre or the letter U. The folium is shield shaped, with scalloped edges, forming in the middle part a scalloped band of yellow, which unites with a broad band of like color Across the dorsal base and the posterior face of the shoulder humps. Wide scalloped bands of yellow, mottled with brown, extend from the shoulder humps, narrowing toward the apex, from which brownish belts, mottled with yellow, extend to the venter. The ventral pattern is a broad trapezoid of brown, with yellowish margins, and three dark, rounded, yellowish spots along either side of the marginal line at the corners and middle; spinnerets distal, though slightly overhung by the high apical abdominal wall. In the epigynum (Plate XIL., Figs. 4b, 4c, and Figs. 4d, 4e) the atriolum is distinguished by a high tubular pedestal; the scapus is long, subcylindrical toward the basal part, which is about equal in length throughout, and beyond the middle part widens slightly into a long spoon shaped tip, whose bowl in some species appears to be more decidedly marked from the shaft than in others. Mare: Resembles the female in color and markings (Plate XI., Figs. 2, 3); is 6 mm. in length. The tibia of the second leg enlarged, and armed with rows of black, short, clasping spines; underneath the femora, especially femur-I, are rows of long acute spines. The abdomen bears the shoulder tubercles, and has a folium resembling that of the female. A specimen from Russia (Professor W. Wagner) is somewhat longer, but otherwise resembles the American specimen (Plate XI., Fig. 3) collected in Connecticut. DisrrinuTIon: This species is one of the largest and, in certain parts, the most common of our spider fauna. Along the Pacific Coast and in Texas it reaches enormous proportions, one specimen from- Texas having an abdomen which measures 18 mm. in length and a cephalothorax 12 mm. long and 9 mm. wide. I have specimens from various parts of Cali- fornia (Mrs. C. R. Smith, Mrs. Eigenmann, Mr. Orcutt, Drs. Blaisdell and Dayidson); have collected it in the Adirondac&® Mountains and the Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, as well as in New England. The collection of Dr. Marx has specimens as far to the Northwest as Portland, Ore.; I have specimens from Wisconsin (Professor and Mrs. Peckham); it may therefore be considered as inhabiting the entire United States. Its distribution throughout Continental Europe is quite general, and it probably inhabits the northern shores of Africa, Palestine, and other parts in Asia. It is thus one of the most cosmopolitan of our orb- weavers. It appears to have experienced little change in form and general characteristics, but is substantially the same in all climates and environments. 188 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. No. 45. Epeira silvatica Emerron. Plate X, Fig. 9; Pl. XI, Fig. 9. 1884. Epeira silvatica, Emerton . ...N. EH. Ep., p. 30, xxxiii., 13. 1892. Epeira silvatica, Keysertinc. . . Spinn. Amerik., p. 117, tab. vi., 86. Femare: Total length, 14.5 mm.; abdomen, 8.8 mm. long, 7.5 mm. wide; cephalo- thorax, 7 mm. long, 5.7 mm. wide; face, 2.9 mm. wide. CEPHALOTHORAX: Corselet moderately arched; median fosse large; cephalic suture dis- tinct; mouth parts, palps, legs, and sternum dark reddish brown, and well covered with white hairs. Eyes: Ocular quad elevated; front about as wide as sides, and a little wider than rear; MF separated by about 1.75 diameter; MR somewhat smaller, and separated by about their diameter; side eyes not contiguous; on tubercles; SF a little smaller than SR, and remoyed from MF by about 1.75 area of latter. Front eye row slightly, rear row distinctly, procurved; clypeus about 2 MF high. Lees: 1, 2, 4, 3, as follows: 244 mm., 22.3 mm., 21.6 mm., 14.5 mm.; with both median and distal brown annuli; stout; metatarsi-I, IJ, III, shorter than their tibiz; well armored with hairs and bristles, and yellowish white spines, with brown bases. ABDOMEN: Ovyate; with conical shoulder humps; the dorsum arched to the distal spinnerets; ground color yellow, densely covered with small brown lines and spots; folium indented at the margin, wide in front, narrowing to the apex, color brown, with slashes of black or blackish. On the basal front is a median yellowish spot; the sides are streaked “with brown undulating bands inclined towards the spinnerets. The venter is covered with whitish hairs; is brown, with two indistinct small light bands bent towards each other. The pubescence, which is very dense upon the whole abdomen, consists of whitish bristles with dark base, and shorter ones, mostly curved, brown at the base and yellowish at the tip. Disrrizution: New England, New York in the Adirondacks and central parts, Penn- sylvania, Eastern Ohio; Dr. Marx reports it at Washington, D. C., Colorado, and Fort Yukon, Alaska. It may be distinguished with some degree of accuracy from E. angulata by the form of the ocular quad, which is relatively higher and less narrowed behind; the difference between MF and MR in size is also less pronounced; moreover, the epigynum is relatively wider at the base, longer, narrower, and more attenuated, terminating in a slightly hollowed tip. Emerton’s description is not satisfactory; he makes no mention of the eyes, and presents no figure thereof; his drawing of the epigynum does not appear to be accu- rate, at least I am not able to find any specimens marked as figured by him; in the absence of a typical specimen one is therefore unable to sharply indicate distinctive characteristics. No. 46. Epeira diademata (Currcr). Plate X, Fig. 10; Pl. XJ, Figs. 10, 11. 1678. Araneus rufus cruciger, Lister. . De Aran. Angl., p. 28, tit. 2, Fig. 2. 1757. Araneus diadematus, CLerck. . . Aran. Suec., p. 25, No. 2, pl. 1, Fig. 4; Araneus Peleg, ib., pl. 1, Fig. 5, p. 27. 1778. Aranea cruciger, De GEER. . . . Mem. Hist. Ins., t. 7, p. 218, No. 1, pl. ii., £3, 6, 7. 1793. “ Crown spider,’ Martyn . .. . Aranei, pl. 2, Fig. 5. 1802. ‘ 7 : 7 S ’ - \ . . my * PLATE III. Fig. 1. Epeira cucurbitina, female, <2. (Page 149.) Fig. 2. E. cucurbitina, male, X 2; 2a, palp. Fig. 3. E. cucurbitina, male, color variation, California; 3a, side view; 3b, epigynum; 3c, side view. Fig. 4. E. vertebrata, male, <3. See Plates IV., V. (Page 151.) Fig. 5. E. vertebrata, female, <3. See Plate IV., Fig. 1. Fig. 6. E. marmorea, female, <2. (Page 143.) Fig. 7. E. marmorea, male, * 2. Fig. 8. E. patagiata, female ; 8a-8f, varied markings on the dorsum of same, * 1. Fig. 9. E. patagiata, male, <1}. (Page 138.) (298) Vol.II].American Spiders. . BEATE 2.3, Epeira displicata, 4,5,E verteébrata 6,7, E.marmorea. 8,9, E.patagiata. Fig. Fig. SD mo PLATE IV. Epeira vertebrata, female, dark variety, <2; la, ventral view; 1b, face and jaws; lc, 1d, epigynum, viewed underneath, and reverse view; le, same, side view. See Plates III., V. (Page 151.) E. balaustina, female, <2; 2a, ventral view of abdomen; 2b, face and jaws; 2c, epigynum. (Page 155.) E. Ithaca, female; 3a, face and jaws; 3b, ventral view; 3c, epigynum, seen under- neath the last moult; 3d, male palp. (Page 152.) E. placida, female, <2. (Page 153.) E. placida, male, * 2; 5a, palp. E. cucurbitina, female, <2. (Page 149.) E. foliata (folifera), female, <3. The name E. folifera is erroneously inserted upon the page title. E. foliata (folifera), male, <3; side view. (302) Vol. lI]. American Spiders. P/N Ge. Ve PEpeira verlebirata. Ano. DalauSstina, (Sie. lide: TSeplaciaa, 6 edispltcata. 7 O E-hollipera) bo 52 Go) Sl Sa PLATE V. Epeira carbonaria, female, <3; la, 1b, epigynum; Ic, epigynum, side view. (Page 157.) E. carbonaria, male, <3; 2a, tibia-II, clasping spines; 2b, palp. Verrucosa unistriata, female, <2; 3a, side view; 3b, epigynum; 3c, eyes and face. (Page 200.) Epeira vertebrata, male palp; 4a, same, opposite side and colored; 4b, 4c, coxal spurs. See Plates III., IV. (Page 151.) E. bivariolata, female, <2; 5a, abdomen, to show apical blisters; 5b, epigynum. (Page 159.) . bivariolata, male; 6a, palp. (Page 160.) . ravilla, female, * 2; 7a, epigynum, probably immature. . ravilla, male, <2; 8a, palp. (Page 161.) BH oe fe . carbonarioides, female, x 2. (Page 158.) (306) Vol. Ill. American Spiders. —S 2. Epeira carbonaria. 3.Verrucosa unistriata. 4.Epeira vertebrata. 5,6.E.bivariolata 7.8.E.ravilla. J.E.carbonarioides PLATE VI. Fig. 1. Epeira volucripes, female, <2; 1a, 1b, epigynum, front and side view. (Page 162.) Fig. 2. E. volucripes, male, <2; 2a, palpus. . tranquilla, female, <2; 3a, epigynum. (Page 162.) . punctigera, female, <2; 4a, epigynum; 4b, male palp. (Page 163.) By 10) 4. E Fig. 5. E. mormon, female, <2; 5a, epigynum. (Page 164.) 6. E. reptilis, male; 6a, sternum, labium, and maxille; 6b, palpus. (Page 165.) E. . forata, female, dorsal view, *3; 7a, side view; 7b, eyes, face, and mandibles ; 7c, epigynum. See Fig. 12. (Page 165.) 2 98 oo ie] . Theisii, female, <2; 8a, epigynum. (Page 166.) va oR co ic} . Theisii, X 2; 9a, palpus. Fig. 10. E. tetragnathoides (Drexelia directa), female, <3; 10a, epigynum; 10b, epigynum of another specimen. See Plate XXII. Fig. 11. E. tetragnathoides (Drexelia directa), male, <3; lla, palp. Fig. 12. E. forata, male, <4; 12a, face and eyes; 12b, palpus. Fig. 18. E. juniperi, female, <2; 13a, side view; 13b, face; 13c, epigynum. (Page 167.) (310) Vol. Ill. American Spiders. PLATE VI. |.2,Epeira volucripes. 3.E.tranquilla. 4E.punctigera. 5.E.mormoan. 6.E.reptilis HAZ jeatovee (6), 8) (2 Aner IO.11,Ovexelia directa. I3.Epeiva junipert. bad Biss Jae, BE Figs. Fig. 5. Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Fig. 8. Fig. 9. Fig. 10. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. PLATE VII. Nephila Wilderi, female, natural size; la, side view in outline; 1b, epigynum. See Plate XXIII. Nephila Wilderi, male, natural size. 3, 4. E. Thaddeus, female, x 2; 3a, 3b, epigynum, front view and side views; 3c, same, oblique view, to show the genital barrier; Fig. 4, highly colored specimen. Epeira Thaddeus, male, * 2; 5a, palpus. (Page 169.) Epeira Wittfeldee, female, <2; 6a, side view; 6b, eyes and mandibles; 6c, epigy- num. Epeira Wittfeldee, male, <2; 7a, 7b, palpus. (Page 168.) Epeira Pegnia (globosa, Keyserling), female, <2; 8a, epigynum. Epeira Pegnia, male; 9a, palpus. (Page 170.) Epeira labyrinthea, female, * 2; 10a, epigynum of California variety. Fig. 12., Epeira labyrinthea, male; lla, palpus. (Page 171.) Epeira labyrinthea, California variety ; 12a, side outline of abdomen ; 10a, epigynum. (314) 1.2, Nephila wilderi. 3,4,5, Epeira thaddeus. 6,7 E.Wittfeldee. SJ,e globose, ION ie E laby rine: Fig. 1. Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5, Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 9 Fig. 10 Fig. 11 Fig. 12 PLATE VIII. Epeira anastera, female, <2; dorsal view; la-lg, forms of dorsal pattern of abdo- & & & & men; lh, side outline, 2; 11, outline of another specimen, variety conchlea, <2, showing caudal extension of abdomen; 1m, In, epigynum; lq, eyes. . anastera, male, * 2; 2a, terminal joints of palp. (Page 172.) . anastera, male; showing variant form. . anastera (E. mirabilis); abdomen, with peculiar dorsal folium, * 2. . linteata, female, * 3; 5a, natural size of body; 5b, ventral view, 3; 5c, 5d, posterior and anterior views of epigynum ; df, eyes. . linteata, male, drawn from imperfect specimen; 6a, natural size; 6b, palpus. (Page 176.) . corticaria, <3; 7a, side view, <3; 7b, 7c, epigynum. (Page 176.) . miniata (scutulata), female, <5; 8a, side view, <5; 8b, eyes; 8c, epigynum. (Page 177.) . . miniata, male, <5; 9a, immature male, dorsal view, <5; 9b, palpus. . Bonsalle, female, dorsal view, without legs, 5; 10a, face and eyes; 10b, epigy- num. (Page 179.) . Mayo, female, <4; lla, epigynum. (Page 179.) . eustalina, female, < 2; 1p, eyes. (318) Vol. IH. American Spiders. PLATE VII. fete EINE! anastera. 5.6.E.lJinteata. 7 E.corticaria. Srdjciminiatra, lOvE. Bonsall. I].E.Mayo. I2.E.eustalina. ; os ; ; : : , ; 7 : i > ™ * , | 7 '‘ bees ‘ _ PLATE IX. Epeira gemma, female, X 2; la, side view, <2; 1b, ventral view, <2; 1c, face and jaws; ld, le, epigynum; 1f, same, viewed from beneath. (Page 182.) FE. gemma, male, <2; 2a, palpus. See Plates X., XI. (Page 183.) E. bispinosa, female, < 2; 3a, abdomen, side outline, X 2; 3b, epigynum. (Page 180.) E. bucardia, <4; 4a, ventral view; 4b, side view; 4c, eyes; 4d, epigynum. (Page 183.) Figs. 5, 6. E. Nordmanni, female, <2; 6a, epigynum. See Plate XI. (Page 184.) Fig . 7. E. Nordmanni, male, <2; 7a, palpus. (322) _ Vol.UI. American Spiders. [ra Epeiiice gemma. 6) E. DISD ime Sak 4,.E.bucardia. 516./, Enordimen |. PLATE X. Fig. 1. E. cavatica, female, x2. See Plate XI. (Page 185.) Fig. 2. E. cavatica, male, X 2. Fig. 3. E. angulata (bicentennaria), <1. See Plate XI. (Page 186.) Fig. 4. E. angulata (bicentennaria), <4, young specimen. Fig. 5. E. angulata (bicentennaria), immature male. Fig. 6. E. gemma, <1. See Plates IX., XI. (Page 182.) Fig. 7. E. reticulata,! female, <2, new species. See Plate XI., Fig. 7. Fig. 8. E. recticulata, male, X2. See Plate XI., Fig. 8. Fig. 9. E. silvatica, female, <1.5. See Plate XI. (Page 188.) Fig. 10. E. diademata, female, <1. See Plate XI. (Page 188.) Fig. 11. E. gemma, female, *1.5. (Page 182.) 1 When writing the descriptive text of this species I classified it with E. miniata (page 177), which it closely resembles, having at that time concluded that I was wrong in treating it as a new species. Sub- sequent study led me to think the specimen different from E. miniata, and I therefore retain my original name of the species in the plates, although too late to make proper correction and description in the text itself. (326) iders PLATEX Vol. Ill, American Sr |, 2, Epeira cavatica. 3, 5, E. angulata. 6, I! E.qgemma. /, 8, E. reticulata 9 E. silvatica. 10, E. diademat C} | ‘S inhale my oo . ve PLATE XI. Fig. 1. Epeira angulata-Columbia, female; natural size; la, face; 1b, epigynum; lc, side Fig. 2. E ices ees Fig. 4 Fig. 5. E Fig. 6. E Fig. 7. E Fig. 8. E Fig. 9. E Fig. 10. E Fig. 11. E. Figs. 12, 13, Fig. 15. E. Fig. 16. E. view; ld, epigynum of European E. angulata, showing corneous cones along the edge of the genital cleft, lacking in E. angulata-Columbia. See Plate X. (Page 186.) . angulata, male, <1, drawn from European specimen (Russia); 2a, palpus. (Page 187.) . angulata, male (New Hampshire), <1; 3a, palpus. E. angulata-bicentennaria (Pennsylvania); 4a, dorsal view of abdomen (specimen from Adirondacks, N. Y.), 1.5; 4b, epigynum, front view; 4c, side view; 4d, 4e, enlarged views, front and side, of epigynum (Adirondack specimen). . Nordmanni, female, ventral view of abdomen; 5a, epigynum; 5b, side view. See Plate IX. (Page 184.) . cayatica, female, epigynum; 6a, male palp. (Page 185.) . reticulata, face and eyes of male. See Plate X. . reticulata ; face and eyes of female; 8a, epigynum. . silvatica, dorsal view; 9a, epigynum. (Page 188.) . diademata, *1.5; 10a, ventral view, 1.5; 10b, face; 10c, epigynum; 10d, side view. (Page 188.) diademata, male; lla, 11b, palpus. (After Blackwall.) 14. E. gemma, female; views from behind, from front, showing various colors and markings. (Page 182.) Pacificee, female, <3; 15a, epigynum. (Page 180.) Pacific, male, <3; 16a, palpus. (Page 180.) (330) Vol. Il. American Spiders. | WANE ox x) es— Fi0d Iiby 3b Ib 1.2.3. Epeira angulata. 4, Ep. bicentenaria. 5. £. nardmanni. 6.£.cavatica. 7.8.E. reticulata, 9. silvatica, 10. Il, €. diademata. 12.13. 14.E. gemma 15.16. Ep. pacifica, Fig. eo ES GP ES PLATE XII. Ordgarius cornigerus, female, <3; 1a, side view; 1b, face, 6, to show the knobby forehead; 1c, gravid specimen, with dorsal cones and markings nearly oblit- erated ; 1d, epigynum. (Page 197.) Ordgarius bisaccatus, female, * 2; 2a, epigynum. (Page 198.) Ordgarius bisaccatus, male; 3a, natural size; 3b, palpus. Marxia stellata, female, <2; 4a, outline side view; 4b, epigynum. (Page 193.) Marxia stellata, male, <2; 5a, palpus. (Page 194.) Verrucosa arenata, female, 8; 6a, side view; 6b, face; 6c, epigynum. (Page 200.) Verrucosa arenata, male; 7a, palpus. (Page 201.) Gea heptagon, female, <4; 8a, side view; 8b, face; 8c, sternum and mouth parts. (Page 208.) (334) Vol. Ill. American Spiders. PISAT ESXi eA 4 al tang »'9, ec! HU, ve at sa ca |.Ordgarius cornigerus. 2.3.0. bisaccatus. 4.5. Marxia stellata, 6.7. Verrucosa arenata. 8. Gea heptagon, ion I Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7. Fig. 8 Fig. 9, Fig. 10. Fig. 11 Fig. 12 PLATE XIII. Wagneria tauricornis, female, x 4, side view; la, epigynum; 1b, side view; le, face; 1d, sternum; le, dorsal view of body, <4. (Page 204.) Wagneria tauricornis, male, side view, <4; 2a, palpus. (Page 205.) Kaira alba, female, <2; 3a, side outline; 3b, eyes; 3c, epigynum. (Page 202.) Wixia ectypa, female, * 2; 4a, side outline ; 4b, face; 4c, sternum and mouth parts; 4d, epigynum. (Page 205.) Wixia ectypa, male, X 2; 5a, palpus. (Page 206.) Carepalxis tuberculifera, female, side view, <4; 6a, epigynum; 6b, 6c, face; 6d, epigynum. (Page 207.) Marxia nobilis (stellata-nobilis), female, <2; 7a, side view; 7b, face and eyes; 7c, epigynum. (Pages 194-5.) Marxia nobilis, male, *2; 8a, palpus. (Page 195.) Marxia nobilis, female, <2. (Page 195.) Marxia grisea, female, X3; 10a, side view; 10b, eyes; 10c, epigynum. (Page 195.) Marxia mesta, female, 2; 11a, abdomen, side outlined; 11b, epigynum; Ile, side view. (Page 196.) Gasteracantha maura, female, X2; 12a, epigynum. (Page 210.) (338) Vol. Ill. American Spiders. PEATE tit be eee 2 Wagneria tauricornis. 3.Kaira alba 4,5. Wixia Ectypa. 6. Carepalxis tuberculifera. 7.8.9. Marxia nobilis. l0.M. grisea. 1|.M.maesta. 12. Gasteracantha maura. PLATE XIV. Argiope avara (Eagle Pass, Texas), female, <1}; la, epigynum. (Page 222.) Hentzia basilica (Washington, D. C.), female. See Plate XXIII. Epeira spinigera, female, *3 (Santa Rosa, California); 3a, side view of abdomen; 3b, epigynum; 3c, side view of same; 3d, epigynum (after Cambridge). (Page 191.) Epeira spinigera, male. Epeira nephiloides, female, x2. See Plate XXII. (Page 190.) Epeira nephiloides, female (after Keyserling); 6a, side outline; 6b, epigynum. Gasteracantha pallida (Tucson, Arizona), female, <3. (Page 209.) Gasteracantha preciosa (Buena Vista Lake, California), female, X3; 8a, epigynum. (Page 211.) Gasteracantha cancriformis, female; 9a, epigynum. (Page 211.) (342) Vol. III. American Spiders. PEATE KIN. Argiope. Epeira. \Gasteracantha. is alk ‘ar ples: b> jen “ithe ‘i as 5 —_ 4 A i bs - a 2s : , =— repee Aor omit i. 0 a Fs ; ae rs . ee Lida 9 0 awe ie A PLATE XV. Fig. 1. Argiope cophinaria, female, natural size. See Plate XVI. (Page 217.) Fig. 2. PLATE XXV. Tetragnatha elongata (grallator), female, x 2; 1a, side view; 1b, eyes; lc, epigynum ; 1d, sternum, maxillee, and fangs; le, undulate fang, greatly enlarged. (Page 260.) Tetragnatha elongata, male, * 2; 2a, face and mandibles; 2b, palp, much enlarged. Tetragnatha extensa, female, < 2; 3a, side view; 3b, face; 3c, face; 3d, base of fang. Tetragnatha extensa, male, <2; 4a, face and mandibles; 4b, bifid spur on fang, enlarged; 4c, palp. (Page 259.) Tetragnatha extensa, female, <3; 5a, side view, *3; 5b, side view of young female, <3; 5¢e, epigynum; 3c, 5c, face and fangs; 5d, sternum and maxille; 5x, male, dorsal view; y, palp. Tetragnatha Banksi, male, side view, * 2; 6a, eyes and fangs; 6b, palpus. See Plate XXVIL., 4. (Page 262.) Tetragnatha laboriosa, female, <3; 7a, side view; 7b, face; 7c, sternal parts; 7d, epigynum. (Page 262.) Tetragnatha laboriosa, male, 3; 8a, face; 8b, palp. (Page 263.) Eugnatha vermiformis, * 2, female; side view, <3; 9a, dorsal view of abdo x3; 9b, outline to show vermiform shape of abdomeh; 9c, sternal parts; face and mandibles; 9e, epigynum. (Page 264.) Eugnatha pallida, female, natural size; 10a, side view, 3; 10b, dorsal view of abdomen, * 3; 10c, face and mandibles; 10d, epigynum. (Page 265.) Pa Eugnatha pallida, male, x3; lla, face and mandibles; 11b, palpus. ; “} si (386) Val. Ill. American Spiders. PLATE XXV. ke |,2, Tetragnatha elongata. 3,4, T. extensa. 3,o.xJ. extensa. 6, T. banksi.7,8,T. laboriosa. 9,E ugnatha vermiformis. 10,1, E. pallida. Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Fig. 8. Fig. 9. Fig. 10. PLATE XXVI. Pachygnatha autumnalis, female, <4; la, side view; 1b, eyes, face, and jaws; lc, sternum and mouth parts. (Page 268.) Pachygnatha autumnalis, male, * 4; 2a, face ; 2b, palpus. Pachygnatha Dorothea, female, <4; 3a, face. (Page 270.) Pachygnatha Dorothea, male; 4a, face; 4b, palpus. Pachygnatha Curtisi, male, <4; 5a, side view; 5b, face; 5c, jaw and fang; 5d, palpus. (Page 271.) Pachygnatha tristriata, female, *3; 6a, side view; 6b, epigynum. See Plate XXVIIL, 1. (Page 270.) Pachygnatha xanthostoma, female, <4; 7a, face; 7b, epigynum ; 7c, section of skin enlarged to show reticulations. (Page 269.) Pachygnatha xanthostoma, male, <4; 8a, face ; 8b, palpus. Pachygnatha brevis, female, <4; 9a, eyes. (Page 267.) Pachygnatha brevis, male, <4; 10a, palpus. (Page 268.) (390) Vol. II]. American Spiders. PLATE XXVI. La,Pachygnatha autumnalis. 3.4.P Dorothea. 5.P.curtisi. 6.P tristriata. 7 8.P xanthostoma.9.10.P brevis. 6: PLATE XXVII. Uloborus geniculatus, female, <3; la, face, eyes, and mandibles; 1b, sternum and maxille ; le, epigynum; Id, calamistrum (this figure is inverted). Uloborus geniculatus, male, * 3; 2a, palpus. (Page 273.) Uloborus plumipes, female, <4 ; 3a, side view of body; 3b, face, eyes, mandibles ; 3c, epigynum; 3d, first leg to show tibial brush; 3e, cribellum (c) in situ. (Page 274.) Uloborus plumipes, * 8, young female; 4a, sternum and maxille; 4b, U. plumipes, <8, young female (California), variation of color. Uloborus plumipes, male, «8 (after Emerton); 4a, palpus. Hyptiotes cavatus, <4, female; 6a, side view, *4; 6b, sternum and maxille; 6c, face; 6d, calamistrum; 6e, cribellum (c) in situ; 6f, cribellum; 6g, epigynum. Hyptiotes cavatus, male, <4; 7a, palpus. (Page 276.) Theridiosoma radiosum, female, “8; 8a, side view, <8; 8b, color variation, <8; 8c, sternum and maxille; 8d, eyes and mandibles; 8e, epigynum. (Page 257.) Theridiosoma radiosum, male, <8; 9a, sternum and maxille; 9b, 9c, 9d, views of palps. (894) Val. II. American Spiders. f 8b 8e 9a ,2, Uloborus geniculatus. 3,5, U.Americanus. 6.7, Hyptiotes cavatus, 8,9, Theridiosoma radiasum, a gg bo PLATE XXVIII. Pachygnatha tristriata, male; la, eyes; 1b, jaws; 1c, palp. (Page 270.) Pachygnatha brevis, male, mandible and fang. (Page 268.) Pachygnatha furcillata, female, outline of cephalothorax and mandible. (After Key- serling.) (Page 271.) Tetragnatha Banksi, male, 4; 3a, dorsal view, <3. See Plate XXIV. (Page 262.) Eucta lacerta, male, eyes and mandibles. See Plate XXIV. (Page 266.) Uloborus Americanus, male, <4; 5a, eyes; 5b, palp; 5c, Abbot’s drawing, No. 44. (Page 274.) The figures which follow are copies made from Abbot’s manuscript drawings, upon which Baron Walckenaer based his descriptions of many American spiders, and on the authority of which I have changed the accepted nomenclature of a number of species. (See page 133 of this volume.) I give a few examples here in order that students who cannot consult the manuscripts in the Kensington (London) Museum may judge for themselves as to the correctness of my decis- ion. The numbers attached are those of Abbot’s figures. Acrosoma sagittatum, No. 50; Fig. 8, A. gracile, No. 548 ; Fig. 9, A. reduvianum, No. 367; Fig. 10, Epeira Pegnia, Nos. 375, 555; Fig. 11, E. miniata, No. 365; Fig. 12, E. eustala, No. 119; 12a, No. 120; Fig. 13, E. conspicellata, No. 121; Fig. 14, E. Benjamina, No. 126; Fig. 15, E. arabesca, No. 346; Fig. 16, Argiope cophinaria, No. 151; Fig. 17, Verrucosa arenata, Nos. 165, 181; Fig. 18, Argyroepeira venusta, No. 118. (398) Val. {Il American Spiders. PLATE XXVIII. |, Pachy gnatha tristriata, 2,P brevis. 3,P furcillata, 4 Tetragnatha Banksi. 0, Eucta lacerta. 6,Uloborous Americanus. 7, Acrosama sagittatus. 8, A. gracile. 9, A. reduvianum. 10, Epeira Pegnia. Il, E.miniata. 12,E.eustala. 13,£. conspicillata. 14, E.Benjamina, 16,E.arabesca. (6,Argiope cophinaria. !7, Verrucosa arenata: |8, Argyroepeira venusta. ) 1 PLATE XXIX. Theridium Foxi, male, * 8, new species; la, sternum and mouth parts; 1b, face and mandibles; le, palpus. (No verbal description is made.) Agalena curta, new species, male, x3. (No verbal description is made.) Agalena curta, female, <3. The specimens of this species were collected in Cali- fornia. They are distinguished from Agalena neevia, not only by color and marking, but by the character of the short spinnerets. Dictyna philoteichous McCooxr, female, <3. Simon (Hist. Nat. Ar., Vol. I, page 235) thinks this to be D. civica Lucas. It may be D. volupis Krys. Dictyna philoteichous, male, <3; Fig. 5 is a mature male; 5a, the immature, show- ing the difference between the two, and the greater resemblance of the latter to the female. N Agalena neevia, female, = 2; Ga, eyes. Segestria canities McCoox, female, 2; 7a, eyes. See Vol. II., page 1385. M. Simon expresses the opinion in his Natural History of Spiders, New Edition, Vol. II., page 322, that this species does not belong to Segestria. See Index. Cteniza Californica, female, *1.5, the well known American trapdoor spider; 8a, eyes. Atypus Abbotii, female, X15. See Vol. I., page 325; Vol. II., page 138. Misumena yatia, female, <2; 10a, eyes; 10b, young example, <3. See Vols. IL. IL, Index. Phidippus opifex (McCook), female, <2; 1la, eyes. See Vol. II., page 149. Phidippus Johnsoni, female, * 2. See Vol. II., page 331. Zygoballus bettini, female, <3. See Vol. II., page 31. Astia vittata, male, X2. See Vol. II., page 52, and Index. (402) Vol. II American Spiders. PLATE XXIX, |, Theridium Foxi. 2,3, Agalena curta. 4,5, Dictyna philoteichous. 6, Agalena navia. 7, Segestria canities. 6,CtenizaCalifornica. 9,Atypus Abboti. 10, Misumena vatia. I, Phidippus opifex. 12, P. Johnsoni. 13, Zygoballus bettini. 14 Astia vittata. PLATE XXX. Lycosa tigrina McCoox, female, 1.5; 1a, ventral view, X 1.5; 1b, ventral view of young specimen, a male; lc, epigynum. Lycosa tigrina, male, < 1.5. Lycosa arenicola ScuppEr, female, *1.5; 3a, side view, 1.5; 3b, ventral view, X 1.5. Lycosa arenicola, male, < 1.5. Lycosa ramulosa, female, <8, new species; 5a, ventral view; 5b, face; 5c, epigynum. This beautiful spider was sent me by the late Mr. John Curtis from California. (No verbal description is made.) Lycosa ramulosa, male, 3; 6a, palpus. Pucetia aurora McCoox, female, X 1.5; 7a, face; 7b, ventral view, <1.5. See Vol. Il., page 147. Pucetia aurora, male, <1.5; 8a, side view, 3. (406) Vol. Ill. American Spiders. 3 PAE Xs \ 2, Lycosa tigrina. 3,4, L. arenicola. 5,6, L.ramulosa. 7.8. Pucetia aurora. » ey i is tp eae at ; i " i HF Wk ah Ag ‘ v a x ve AY hee ina t J + i ai 7% ay 7 i ih Wee i oa { va pe a m Wee AN 2 4 4 <> ict Mos a 25) = See; - £ Sas tts: x syiiessrsytes +: $53: ste! dye "35