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
$Spintharus flavidus.$--A sixth to a quarter of an inch long. The
cephalothorax is nearly circular, and the head small and narrow like
that of Argyrodes, with the hinder middle eyes very far apart. The
abdomen is widest across the front third, where it is two thirds as wide
as it is long, and from here it tapers to a blunt point over the
spinnerets (fig. 302). On the back the abdomen is flat and marked with
white stripes each side, and between them a large pattern in black and
red, lighter toward the middle, where there are two or three pairs of
white spots. The legs are slender like those of Argyrodes, the first and
fourth pairs the same length and twice as long as the second pair. The
tibiæ of the first and second legs are bright orange color, and the
rest, like the cephalothorax, pale yellow. The male has longer legs and
more slender abdomen. They live on low plants, and the web is unknown.
They have been found from Massachusetts to Alabama.
[Illustration: FIG. 303. Euryopis funebris, enlarged four times.]
$Euryopis funebris.$--A little dark-colored spider, with a flat abdomen
pointed behind and bordered with a silver-white stripe. It is almost an
eighth of an inch long. The cephalothorax is small and as wide as it is
long, with the sides rounded. The head is half as wide as the thorax, a
little raised and extended forward over the mandibles (fig. 303). The
front middle eyes are largest and are farther apart and farther forward
than the others. The abdomen is flat and nearly as wide in the middle
as it is long, and tapers to a point behind. The general color is black
or dark gray. The cephalothorax is yellowish under the abdomen and black
in front. The abdomen has a bright silvery stripe around the hinder
half, and inside this the color is black, broken by light spots in the
middle. The legs and palpi are light yellow, with dark rings on the ends
of the joints. The fourth legs are longest. It is shaken from bushes in
summer, or from dead leaves on the ground in winter, and its web is
unknown. It is found from the White Mountains to Alabama.
[Illustration: FIG. 304. Theridula sphærula, enlarged four times.]
$Theridula sphærula.$--This is a very distinct and easily recognized
species, although it is less than a tenth of an inch long (fig. 304).
The cephalothorax is yellow, with a wide black stripe in the middle. The
abdomen is high and round and wider than it is long; it is yellowish
gray, with a greenish white spot in the middle and a black spot on a
slight elevation at each side. There is also a black spot around the
spinnerets. The legs are light yellow. In the male the light parts of
the cephalothorax and legs are orange color, and the markings of the
abdomen less distinct than in the female. It lives on bushes all over
the country.
[Illustration: FIG. 305. Pholcus phalangioides.--A young female in a
natural position hanging in its web.]
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