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
[Illustration: FIGS. 208, 209. Pirata piraticus.--208, female enlarged
three times. 209, front of head.]
$Pirata piraticus.$--A small and active spider living in short grass in
summer and under leaves in winter. The colors and shape of the body are
much like _Lycosa pratensis_ (fig. 168), but the legs are proportionally
larger and longer, and the colors brighter. The length is about a
quarter of an inch. The front and second rows of eyes are of the same
length, those of the second row large and their diameter apart (fig.
209). The eyes of the upper row are nearly as large as those of the
second, and twice as far apart. The color is pale yellow, with gray or
black markings. The cephalothorax has a narrow light line in the middle
and one on each side (fig. 208). In the middle of the front of the
abdomen is a light stripe with dark edges, which tapers into a line or
row of spots behind the middle. At the sides of this are light stripes
that unite behind, and outside of these are dark markings becoming
smaller behind. The legs have conspicuous dark spines, especially the
hinder pair, and are faintly marked with rings or sometimes are without
markings.
Dolomedes and Ocyale differ in many respects from the other Lycosidæ.
They are more flattened, have the head lower, and the eyes all more
nearly of the same size. The front row of eyes are small and near
together. The upper row is about twice as long and strongly curved, and
the eyes are nearly equal in size and twice as large as those of the
front row (figs. 214, 216). In Dolomedes the lower eyes are about half
as high as the top of the head. In Ocyale they are lower and farther
apart, and the head resembles still more Tibellus of the Thomisidæ. Both
Ocyale and Dolomedes resemble this family in their flattened body and
wide thorax.
[Illustration: FIGS. 210, 211, 212. Dolomedes sexpunctatus.--210, female
enlarged twice. 211, under side of cephalothorax. 212, one of the feet,
showing three claws.]
$Dolomedes sexpunctatus.$--Dark greenish gray or, in young spiders,
yellow, with a silvery white line each side the whole length of the
body, meeting in front under the eyes and reaching back to the
spinnerets (fig. 210). In the middle of the cephalothorax is a narrow
light line. On the hinder half of the abdomen are four pairs of small
white spots, and sometimes another pair near the front end. On the under
side the general color is lighter, and there are six dark spots on the
sternum (fig. 211). The cephalothorax is three-quarters as wide as long,
but looks narrower on account of the white stripes. The abdomen is
proportionally longer than in _tenebrosus_ (fig. 213). The full-grown
female is six-tenths of an inch long, with a spread of an inch and
three-quarters. In winter and spring the half-grown young are very
common everywhere. It lives near water and runs easily on it, each foot
making a depression on the surface without becoming wet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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