The Common Spiders of the United StatesEmerton, J. H. (James Henry)
Science
The Common Spiders of the United States
Emerton, J. H. (James Henry)
Spiders -- United States
The general color of the adult female is yellowish brown, with black and
white markings (fig. 133). Around the front of the abdomen is a white
band, and on the back are two indistinct longitudinal black stripes in
which are four pairs of white spots. The general brown color is produced
by a mixture of scales and hairs of various colors. The females are most
brightly colored just before reaching maturity, and then there is a
large proportion of yellow and orange scales in their covering and the
black stripes and white spots are more distinct. The hairs and scales
are of various shapes, the most common being that of slightly flattened
hairs. The yellow and orange scales are wider and less pointed, and the
white spots have short and wide scales. Under the abdomen the color is
light gray, with two parallel darker stripes. The legs are pale in the
middle of the joints and dark toward the ends and covered with gray and
black hairs. The palpi are light yellow.
In alcohol the orange color disappears almost entirely, the black and
white markings become less distinct, and all the colors browner. The
colors of the male (fig. 134) are entirely different. The cephalothorax
and legs to the end of the tibia are black. The palpi are black, with a
stripe of white scales on the upper side. Around the front end of the
abdomen is a white stripe; the sides are bright orange red and the
middle black. Between the orange and black are three pairs of white
spots. They make a bag of white silk among leaves, in which in the early
summer a male and female may sometimes be found together and in which
the female later makes a cocoon of eggs. The young hatch soon and become
half grown before winter.
[Illustration: FIG. 135. Phidippus mystaceus, enlarged six times.]
$Phidippus mystaceus.$--A stout species half an inch long, gray and
hairy, in alcohol turning brown. The abdomen is light gray at the sides
and dark in the middle, with four pairs of white spots, the third pair
largest (fig. 135). The cephalothorax is round and nearly as wide as
long. The front row of eyes is little longer than half the greatest
width of the cephalothorax. The cephalothorax is flat on top for almost
its whole length and in front about twice the diameter of the largest
eyes in height. The mandibles are large and bright metallic green in
front (fig. 118). The legs are stout and short, the fourth pair
extending little beyond the spinnerets. The first and fourth pairs are
of the same length, but the first are twice as thick as the fourth. The
legs are without markings and darker toward the head. The abdomen is
longer than the cephalothorax and as wide or wider. There is little
difference between the sexes, the males being only a little darker
colored and larger in front. Usually found under stones in a thick silk
nest.
[Illustration: FIG. 136. Phidippus tripunctatus, enlarged six times.]
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