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
$Steatoda guttata.$--Only one-tenth of an inch long. The cephalothorax
is high, with scattered hairs, at the base of each of which is a horny
ridge. The cephalothorax is dark brown, with the legs lighter and more
yellow. The abdomen is nearly spherical and hard at the front end, where
there is a ring around its attachment to the thorax. Sometimes the
abdomen is bright yellow or orange, without markings on the back, but
oftener it is partly brown, with two or three pairs of silvery white
spots (fig. 280). The males and females are alike in size and color, and
the palpi of the males are very large, as in _borealis_. They live under
stones at all seasons and mature in April and May.
[Illustration: FIGS. 282, 283, 284. Steatoda marmorata.--282, 283,
markings of the abdomen of the female enlarged twice. 284, head of the
male.]
$Steatoda marmorata.$--About a quarter of an inch long. The
cephalothorax and legs yellowish brown. Cephalothorax smooth, with a few
hairs. Legs covered with fine hair. The abdomen is usually nearly
covered by an oblong dark spot darkened at the edges, where it is
bordered by silvery white (fig. 283). The middle is lighter, with a
central dark stripe. In some individuals the dark markings are broken up
into four pairs of black spots partly connected with a middle line
(fig. 282). The head is wider and the eyes smaller and farther apart
than in the other species, and the front middle eyes are the smallest.
The head is wider in males (fig. 284) than in females, and the mandibles
larger. It lives under stones and leaves at all seasons and occasionally
on bushes.
[Illustration: FIG. 285. Steatoda corollata.--Back of a small female
enlarged four times.]
$Steatoda corollata.$--This, when full grown, is a little larger than
_marmorata_ and darker colored, and the legs are shorter and stouter.
The cephalothorax is dark brown, and the legs lighter brown, with dark
rings at the ends of the joints. The abdomen is yellowish at the sides
and has four or five irregular yellow spots, or pairs of spots, along
the middle of a dark brown oval patch which nearly covers the middle of
the back. In young specimens the abdomen is lighter, with several pairs
of dark spots. The eyes are all nearly the same size, the front middle
pair slightly larger and farther forward than the others. It lives under
stones, like the other species.
[Illustration: FIG. 286. Steatoda triangulosa.--Back of female enlarged
four times.]
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