The males are of two very different colors. One kind (fig. 154) resembles the female. The red bands on the abdomen are broken up into rows of spots connected with the middle angular markings. The gray and black spots on the legs and cephalothorax are larger, and there are several black marks on the front of the abdomen. The palpi are bright orange yellow, with the tibial hook black and a black spot on the inner side of each joint. The size of the black spots varies in different individuals, and so this passes into the other variety (fig. 153), in which the cephalothorax and abdomen are entirely black and the palpi black, except a few orange hairs on the outer side. The black cephalothorax and abdomen are covered with dark greenish shining scales. The legs in this variety are transparent white except the hairs, and on the front of the head are three tufts of long hairs which are wanting in the light-colored males. [Illustration: FIGS. 155, 156. Epiblemum scenicum.--155, female. 156, male. Both enlarged six times.] $Epiblemum scenicum.$--This is the common gray and white spider that lives on houses and fences (fig. 155). It is about quarter of an inch long, the cephalothorax half longer than wide, and the abdomen a little wider and longer. The front of the head around and above the eyes is white. There is a white stripe on each side of the cephalothorax, and in the middle two white spots, one each side of the dorsal groove. On the abdomen there is a white stripe across the anterior end, and two oblique marks on each side. The legs are gray, with white rings not very distinctly marked, and the palpi white. On some individuals the white marks are more definite than on others, the gray ground having but few white scales mixed with it. In others yellow and white scales are largely mixed with the gray, and so the contrast with the white spots is less. The males (fig. 156) differ but little in size, color, or markings from the females, but the male mandibles are much larger and extend horizontally in front of the head, sometimes two-thirds as long as the cephalothorax. This is a common European, as well as American, spider. It is occasionally found on the ground or on plants, but commonly on and about houses. [Illustration: FIG. 157. Marptusa familiaris.--Female enlarged six times.] $Marptusa familiaris.$--This is another common species on fences and the outside of houses (fig. 157). When full grown it is half an inch long. The whole body is much flattened, and both the cephalothorax and abdomen are widened in the middle. The cephalothorax is rounded at the sides and three-quarters as wide as long, and the abdomen is half as wide as it is long. The legs are long and stout, the fourth pair one-half longer than the abdomen.