The Attidæ are jumping spiders, many of them brightly colored and quick
in their movements and living in open places among the tops of low
plants. They are usually short and stout spiders, with a large
cephalothorax, which is wide in front, where the eyes have a peculiar
arrangement in three rows (fig. 118), somewhat as in the Lycosidæ, but
with the middle eyes of the front row much the largest, so that at first
sight many of them appear to have only two eyes. The eyes of the second
row are very small and hard to see, and those of the third row are far
back on the head and usually turned a little backward. The front legs
are usually thicker than the others, especially in the males. The
relative length of the legs is variable, the first pair being commonly
the longest, but sometimes the fourth and even in some species the third
pair. The feet have two claws, with many fine teeth and a thick brush of
hairs. The Attidæ are usually thickly covered with hair or scales, often
brightly colored or iridescent, and their appearance is often entirely
changed by rubbing or wetting.
[Illustration: FIG. 118. Front of head of Phidippus mystaceus, showing
eyes and mandibles.]
They walk backward or sidewise as well as forward, and many of them jump
great distances. They make no cobwebs, but some species make silk tubes
or bags on plants or under stones in which they hide to molt or lay
their eggs or to pass the winter. There are often great differences in
color and markings between the sexes, and the males have peculiar
bunches of hairs and color spots on the legs and head. At the mating
time some of the males have peculiar ways of approaching the female,
holding their legs extended sidewise or over their heads in such ways as
to display their ornaments. These mating habits have been well described
by G. W. Peckham, who has made a special study of this family, in the
_Occasional Papers of the Wisconsin Natural History Society_, of
Milwaukee, in 1889. This family is largely represented in more southern
countries, and our species belong to a great number of genera most of
whose members live farther south.
[Illustration: FIG. 119. Attus palustris, enlarged six times.]
$Attus palustris.$--Large females are quarter of an inch long, the males
a little smaller. The cephalothorax is a quarter longer than wide,
shorter in proportion to its width than in the next species, _Saitis
pulex_, which it much resembles. The two sexes resemble each other in
markings, but the females are lighter and browner and the males darker
and grayer. The cephalothorax has a narrow white middle line, widened
opposite the dorsal eyes, and a shorter white line just below the eyes
on the sides (fig. 119). The edge of the cephalothorax is also white. On
the abdomen the front middle spot is not so distinct as in _pulex_, but
in place of it are two white spots. Behind these is a large transverse
light marking, sometimes broken into two spots. The legs are dark or
light gray, without any distinct markings. The male palpi are smaller
than in _pulex_, though the males are larger. _Palustris_ lives on
plants and makes nests among the leaves.
[Illustration: FIGS. 120, 121. Saitis pulex.--120, female. 121, male.
Both enlarged six times.]
$Saitis pulex.$--This is one of the smallest of the family. It is about
a sixth of an inch long, sometimes even smaller. The colors are various
shades of gray like the ground, and when still it is hard to find, but
it is an active spider and exposes itself by jumping in open places. The
cephalothorax is half longer than wide, longer and narrower than in
Habrocestum and Attus. The abdomen is usually shorter than the
cephalothorax and wider (figs. 120, 121). The cephalothorax has a large
light-colored triangle in the middle, covering the head between the eyes
in front and ending in a point behind. In alcohol this spot disappears,
especially in the males, and the head appears black between the eyes and
light behind and at the sides. The front half of the abdomen has a light
middle stripe, lightest at the edges and darker gray in the middle.
Behind this is a transverse white spot nearly the whole width of the
abdomen and behind it several smaller light markings. In the male these
markings are brighter and the surrounding dark color blacker than in the
females. The legs are marked with indefinite spots of dark gray on a
lighter ground, the contrast stronger in the males. The hairs all over
the body are short and fine and the spines on the legs distinct,
especially in the males.
[Illustration: FIGS. 122, 123. Habrocestum auratum.--122, male. 123,
female. Both enlarged eight times.]
$Habrocestum auratum.$--In life this spider is covered with bluish white
hairs that give it a light gray color and obscure the markings. The
markings of the male are so much stronger that those of both sexes can
be best understood by describing the male first (fig. 122). The
cephalothorax has a white middle stripe for a short distance back from
the front eyes and two distinct white stripes from the lateral front
eyes back the whole length. In the middle of the head are two small
white spots and just behind them between the posterior eyes two curved
white lines. The latter marks show indistinctly in the females. Down at
the sides of the cephalothorax are white stripes meeting in front under
the eyes. The abdomen has a white line extending entirely around it and
a middle stripe of varying width.
[Illustration: FIGS. 124, 125. Third and first legs of male Habrocestum
auratum to show differences between this species and the next.--124,
third leg. 125, first leg.]
The female (fig. 123) has only faint indications of the markings of the
cephalothorax, usually a little lighter color in the middle and at the
sides below the eyes. The white stripe around the abdomen is broken into
three pairs of oblique white markings and the middle stripe into several
spots or pairs of spots. There is nothing distinctive in the markings
of the under side or of the legs except the ornaments of the male.
The front legs of the male (fig. 125) in this species are much
ornamented. The femur has long black hairs on the under side. The
patella has long black hairs beneath, a spot of short black hairs on the
inner side, and a crest of long white hairs mixed with shorter black on
the upper side. The tibia is covered with long black hairs except at the
tip, where they are white. There is nothing peculiar about the third leg
(fig. 124). The form and general appearance can best be understood from
the figures.
At the mating time the males, as they approach the females, hold the
front legs extended sidewise and lifted a little from the ground, with
the tibia nearly horizontal and the tarsus turned downward. In this
position they advance slowly, at the same time running rapidly sidewise
from one side to the other and at short intervals jerking the abdomen
and the front legs slightly upward. They go almost close enough to touch
the female and then quickly retreat.
[Illustration: FIGS. 126, 127, 128. Habrocestum peregrinum.--128, female
enlarged six times. 126, third leg. 127, first leg.]
$Habrocestum peregrinum.$--This is about the same size as _auratum_ and
looks very much like it. The female, at any rate in alcohol, has a more
distinct light mark in the middle of the cephalothorax, curving under
the eyes and pointing forward in the middle (fig. 128). The abdomen has
light markings in the middle similar to those of _auratum_, but those at
the sides are less distinct.
The male has the white stripes in the middle and around the abdomen like
_auratum_. The cephalothorax has the same white lines at the sides under
the eyes and at the posterior end. It does not have a middle white
stripe on the head between the eyes or two white spots just behind it,
as _auratum_ has, but the marking behind the eyes is more distinct, as
it is in the female. The front legs of the male (fig. 127) are not
ornamented with long hairs like _auratum_, but the third legs have a
very peculiar shape, the patella being wide and flat, with a dark spot
in the middle of the front side (fig. 126). The shape of this joint is
best shown by the figure. When approaching the female he holds up the
front legs and draws in the third pair so that the ornamented patellæ
show from in front.
[Illustration: FIG. 129. Habrocestum splendens.--Male enlarged eight
times.]
$Habrocestum splendens.$--A little larger than the other species, with
the female distinctly marked with black and white and the male with
brilliant red and iridescent scales. The females are about a quarter of
an inch long, sometimes longer, and the males are a little smaller. The
cephalothorax of the female is covered with brown scales mixed with
black hairs. Across the middle, just behind the dorsal eyes, is a light
band that curves behind the eyes and extends forward in the middle. The
abdomen has a white band in front, one on each side, and one in the
middle, the rest being deep black. The shape of these markings varies
and the black parts are often broken into two rows of spots. The
cephalothorax of the male is covered with dark iridescent scales, with
blue, green, and purple reflections. The abdomen is covered with bright
red shiny scales mixed with fine black hairs. It is lighter in front and
at the sides, and in the middle shows indistinctly through the scales
dark markings like those of the female (fig. 129). The legs are dark
like the cephalothorax.
Mr. Peckham says that when the male approaches the female he lifts his
abdomen into an almost vertical position so that the red color shows
from in front. Then he rises on the tips of his feet and, with the front
legs off the ground and pointing forward, he dances back and forth
sidewise in front of her, gradually drawing nearer. At intervals he
stops and turns his back to her, then faces her and dances again.
[Illustration: FIGS. 130, 131. Neon nellii.--131, female enlarged
sixteen times. 130, side of cephalothorax, showing position of eyes.]
$Neon nellii.$--This is one of the smallest spiders of the family, only
a tenth of an inch in length. The general color is dark gray, darkest
toward the head. The cephalothorax is high, the highest part being a
little behind the middle, from which it curves downward to the front
eyes and slopes abruptly backward (fig. 130). The eyes are large and
prominent, the front row nearly straight and as wide as the widest part
of the cephalothorax. The posterior eyes are nearly as large as the
front middle pair and are in the middle of the cephalothorax. The
abdomen is a little longer and wider than the cephalothorax (fig. 131).
The cephalothorax is smoky gray, darker toward the front and darker in
males than females. The abdomen is gray, with yellowish markings in a
herringbone pattern through the middle. Common under stones and leaves
at all seasons.
[Illustration: FIG. 132. Zygoballus bettini.--Female enlarged eight
times.]
$Zygoballus bettini.$--This is a very beautifully colored spider, having
in life spots of white hairs and shining scales of the color of copper
and bronze. The cephalothorax of both sexes is high and wide in the
middle and slopes down steeply from the posterior eyes under the front
of the abdomen (fig. 132). The top of the cephalothorax between the eyes
is nearly square. The posterior eyes are almost the full width of the
cephalothorax apart, and the front row of eyes is nearly as long. The
cephalothorax is dark brown covered with iridescent scales. The legs are
pale, except the dark femora of the first pair and dark spots on the
ends of the joints of the fourth pair. In the male all the legs are a
little darker than in the female and without the spots on the fourth
leg. The abdomen of the female is light brown, marked with white in a
row of irregular spots. In the male the abdomen is brown, covered with
shining scales and with a white band around the front and two white
spots on each side. The mandibles of the male are much elongated and
bent apart at the ends to make room for the long claw. At the inner
angle is a large tooth, and there is another one of complicated shape on
the middle of the under side.
[Illustration: FIG. 133. Phidippus multiformis.--Female enlarged six
times.]
$Phidippus multiformis.$--This is a very common spider on plants
throughout the summer. It matures in July, and the males and females are
so little alike as to be taken for different species. The males (fig.
134) are black, with white and orange markings on the abdomen, while the
females are brown mixed with black, white, and yellow scales and small
white spots.
[Illustration: FIG. 134. Phidippus multiformis.--Male enlarged six
times.]
The usual length is about a third of an inch in both sexes. The
cephalothorax is nearly as broad as long, and the abdomen of the female
as wide as the thorax and a little longer.
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.]
$Phidippus tripunctatus.$--Black, with three bright white spots on the
back of the abdomen (fig. 136). Large females are half an inch long and
the males a little smaller. Though the general color is black, it is
modified, especially in fresh specimens, by white hairs on parts of the
body. The joints of the legs are grayish in the middle and black toward
the ends. There are white hairs on the front of the head and upper side
of the palpi and a white band around the front of the abdomen, plainest
in the males. The three large white spots on the abdomen correspond to
the second and third pairs in _mystaceus_ (fig. 135) and _multiformis_
(fig. 133), and the other pairs, though generally present, are small and
inconspicuous. On the under side of the abdomen are usually two gray
stripes. This is a common spider all over the country. It lives under
stones and sticks and passes the winter half grown in a thick silk bag.
[Illustration: FIG. 137. Plexippus puerperus.--Female enlarged six
times.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 138, 139. Plexippus puerperus.--138, male enlarged
six times. 139, front of head of male.]
$Plexippus puerperus.$--Very variable in size, from a third to half an
inch in length. The females (fig. 137) are pale, light yellow, or almost
white, with a few black spots, while the males (fig. 138) have the
cephalothorax and legs brown, sometimes almost black. In both sexes the
mandibles are large and the cephalothorax high and flat on the top as
far back as the hinder eyes. The front middle eyes nearly touch each
other. The lateral eyes are half their diameter higher than the front
ones. The middle eyes are nearer the lateral than the dorsal. In the
males the front eyes are nearly their diameter above the mandibles, and
below them is a white band and a line of white hairs from the middle of
the head down to the base of the first legs. The legs are rather slender
in both sexes and long in the males. The fourth pair are longest in
females, and in males the first and fourth are the same length. The
markings of the abdomen are much alike in both sexes, with two light
stripes, more definite in the males, bordered by a few small black spots
irregularly arranged. The stem of the abdomen is long, and the abdomen
and thorax appear farther apart than in many species. In the females the
cephalothorax is pale, with a few gray spots from the middle toward the
sides. In the males the legs are dark brown except the inner half of the
femur of the third and fourth, which is light like the abdomen. The male
cephalothorax is dark and has a square white spot between the eyes, two
white lines pointing up from the third and fourth legs each side, and
two short white lines under the dorsal eyes. The under side of the
thorax and legs is dark or light like the upper side. The underside of
the abdomen is usually darker in the middle and sometimes has a few
black spots each side. This is a common spider in the southern states
and has been found as far south as Brazil.
[Illustration: FIGS. 140, 141. Dendryphantes militaris.--140, female.
141, male. Both enlarged six times.]
$Dendryphantes militaris.$--This spider resembles in many ways the next
species, _Dendryphantes æstivalis_, but is one-half larger and has a
shorter and wider cephalothorax. The general color is brown, covered
with gray and black hairs. The abdomen of the female is brown, with
white at the front end and four pairs of oblique white marks in the
middle and four at the sides (fig. 140). In the male the cephalothorax
has a white band on each side under the eyes and a white band around the
abdomen, with a dark middle area (fig. 141). The dark parts of the legs
and cephalothorax are darker than the same parts in the female. The
palpi are slender in both sexes, and in the male the palpal organs are
small for so large a spider. The mandibles of the male are widened at
the end and have a strong projection with two teeth on the inner
corners.
[Illustration: FIGS. 142, 143, 144. Dendryphantes æstivalis.--142, male.
143, dark variety of female. 144, light variety of female. All enlarged
six times.]
$Dendryphantes æstivalis.$--One of the most common Attidæ, on all kinds
of bushes and small trees, and one of the most variable in size and
color. Large females are from a fifth to a quarter of an inch long, and
the males are smaller. The females are of two varieties, which run into
each other. The light variety (fig. 144) has the light parts white or
light yellow and the dark parts dark brown covered with white hairs and
scales. The cephalothorax is dark brown, thinly covered with scales, so
that the dark color shows between them in places. The legs are light
yellow and translucent, indistinctly ringed with brown at the base and,
near the tip of each joint, all covered with greenish white hairs. The
palpi are light and without rings except on the femur and patella. The
abdomen is brighter yellow than the thorax, with four pairs of purplish
brown spots, the second pair largest, connected with a paler brown
middle marking. The abdomen has beneath a purple brown stripe in the
middle and oblique brown marks at the sides. Sternum, maxillæ, and
mandibles light brown. The dark variety (fig. 143) is generally smaller
and covered with longer hairs and scales. The legs and palpi are more
distinctly ringed with brown. The dark spots on the abdomen are larger
and more closely connected, so that the markings appear as light spots
on a dark ground.
In alcohol they become bright red and afterward fade to a dull red color
that remains for a long time, both varieties in this condition looking
much alike.
The males (fig. 142) differ, at first sight, extremely from the females.
The legs are ringed as in the female and the brown parts are wider and
less obscured by white hairs, while the white parts are whiter. The
cephalothorax is dark brown, with a white stripe on each side under the
eyes bending toward each other but not connected. The front of the head
is also white and covered with long white hairs. The palpi have the
femur dark brown at the base and white at the end. The patella and tibia
are brown, and the tarsus is brown, with white hairs on the upper side.
The abdomen is white in front and around the sides. The middle is dark
brown, with a few yellow and greenish scales. The brown area is often
notched at the sides in four points and sometimes indistinctly divided
into four pairs of spots, as in the female. The male palpi are large for
the size of the spider, and the palpal organ extends back beyond the
tibia.
[Illustration: FIGS. 145, 146, 147, 148. Icius palmarum.--145, male.
146, female. Both enlarged six times. 147, front of head of male. 148,
abdomen of female to show a variety of marking.]
$Icius palmarum.$--This is very common on trees and bushes, and may be
mistaken for _Dendryphantes æstivalis_, which it much resembles. It
differs from _æstivalis_ in both sexes in being a little smaller and
more slender and in the females lighter colored. In the males the head
is wider, the front legs longer and darker colored than in _æstivalis_,
and the mandibles longer and more nearly horizontal.
The living female has the legs and palpi transparent white, sometimes a
little darker at the ends of the joints. The whole body is covered with
light gray or white scales mixed with fine black hairs. The abdomen has
a row of darker triangular spots in the middle and oblique rows of small
spots at the sides. In alcohol the legs become yellow and the rest of
the body red, as in _æstivalis_, afterward fading to a dirty yellow. The
markings of the abdomen become more distinct and in some individuals
form four large dark brown spots.
The males have the front legs very dark brown. The other legs are
transparent white. The cephalothorax and abdomen are dark reddish brown
mixed with shining greenish white scales and sometimes copper red around
the eyes. On each side is a white stripe the whole length of the body,
the two meeting in front below the eyes. The mandibles, maxillæ, and
palpi are dark brown. Some males show indistinctly dorsal markings of
the abdomen like the female. The mandibles of the male are longer than
those of the female and more or less turned forward according to their
length. In some the mandibles are only a little longer than those of the
female, and in these the patella and tibia of the front legs are not
much longer than the femur. In others, usually larger spiders, the
mandibles are nearly as long as the cephalothorax and extend forward
horizontally, the maxillæ are longer, and the first pair of legs have
the patella and tibia one and a half times as long as the femur. The
female is longer in proportion to its width than in _æstivalis_ and has
the front legs stouter. The epigynum has two small anterior openings
directed forward instead of toward each other, as in _æstivalis_. This
and the next species live on low bushes all summer.
[Illustration: FIG. 149. Icius mitratus.--Male enlarged six times.]
$Icius mitratus.$--This species closely resembles _Icius palmarum_,
differing mainly in color. The legs are all white in both sexes, and the
mandibles of the male are white and not long and horizontal, as in
_palmarum_. The females resemble _palmarum_ so closely that it is
difficult to tell them apart. The cephalothorax is a trifle wider, and
the abdomen narrower, and the front legs longer than in _palmarum_. The
general color is whiter, and the spots on the abdomen are more distinct,
as in fig. 148. The male has the legs white or a little greenish, with
long white hairs, those on the front legs longer than the diameter of
the legs. The rest of the body is white, except a light brown stripe in
the middle of the cephalothorax and abdomen, covered with light yellow
hairs, through which three or four dark spots show indistinctly on the
abdomen (fig. 149). When fighting with other males, or when approaching
the female, the hairy front legs are straightened and extended sidewise.
[Illustration: FIGS. 150, 151. Icius elegans.--150, female. 151, male.
Both enlarged six times.]
$Icius elegans.$--A little bronze green spider, from a sixth to a
quarter of an inch long. The cephalothorax is two-thirds as wide as
long, with the sides nearly straight and parallel in the female but
widened behind the middle in the male. The abdomen of the female is oval
and nearly twice as long as wide. The color is bronze green, changing in
some lights to copper red. The legs are yellow, with longitudinal dark
stripes, except the front femora, which are dark brown. The males are
much more brightly colored. The legs are orange, darker toward the ends,
with fine dark longitudinal stripes. The ends of the front tibiæ are
dark brown and have long brown hairs on the inner and upper side. The
palpi are orange, darker toward the end. The sides and hinder part of
the cephalothorax are orange, and there is a white line over the coxæ.
The upper part of the cephalothorax and abdomen is covered with greenish
yellow scales. On the front of the head are two tufts of long hairs,
yellow mixed with black, pointing forward and a little inward between
the middle and lateral eyes. On the hinder end of the abdomen is an
iridescent purple spot. The abdomen is green on the under side, and the
sternum and coxæ are orange. In alcohol all the colors become dull. The
mandibles are slender, and the claw short and strongly curved inward
toward the point. In the male the mandibles are a little longer and
hollowed a little on the inner side. The male has the first pair of legs
much longer and larger than the others. In the female the fourth legs
are longest.
[Illustration: FIG. 152. Mævia vittata.--Female enlarged six times.]
$Mævia vittata.$--This is a brightly colored spider about a third of an
inch long and with unusually long legs for this family,--the fourth pair
longest in the females and the first and fourth of equal length in the
males. The female (fig. 152) has the legs and palpi translucent yellow
or greenish white. They are marked with indistinct light gray rings and
black spots at the base of the hairs and spines. The cephalothorax is
dark brown between the eyes and translucent like the legs in the
thoracic part. There is a fine black line in the middle and one on each
side and a few gray marks radiating from the dorsal groove. The whole
top of the cephalothorax is covered with greenish yellow scales mixed
with gray hairs. The eyes are black, and sometimes there is a red stripe
under the eyes at the sides. The abdomen is covered with scales which in
the middle and at the sides are gray and mixed with black hairs. There
are two longitudinal bands of light red and indistinct angular marks of
the same color in the middle of the hinder half. On the under side the
colors are light gray and yellow, with spots of darker gray on the
abdomen.
[Illustration: FIGS. 153, 154. Mævia vittata.--Males enlarged six times.
153, dark variety with long hairs on front of head. 154, light variety
colored like the female.]
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.
The general color is gray, with long gray and white hairs. The
cephalothorax has a dark brown band along the edge on each side, which
is larger and darker in the males. The abdomen has in the middle a
yellowish white marking covering half its width, the front half straight
and the hinder half notched at the sides. The legs are darker at the
ends of the joints and light in the middle. The under side of the
abdomen has a dark middle stripe.
[Illustration: FIG. 158.--Hyctia pikei, enlarged eight times.]
$Hyctia pikei.$--A slender species a quarter to a third of an inch in
length, with the abdomen twice as long as the cephalothorax, and in
general appearance like a seed or piece of straw (fig. 158). The whole
body is covered with silvery white hairs mixed with a few longer black
ones. The markings of the back in the male are a dark middle stripe on
the abdomen, partly divided by notches into four spots and a fine middle
line and two less distinct side lines on the cephalothorax. In the
female the stripe on the abdomen is less definite and is broken up into
spots, and in young spiders the whole body is pale yellow or greenish.
The front legs are as long as the abdomen in both sexes, colored brown,
and with the middle joints thickened. They are not much used in walking,
being extended straight forward and raised enough to clear the ground
while the spider walks with the other six. The other legs are pale and
slender.
The elongated shape of this spider distinguishes it from all the other
common Attidæ. The markings and the position of the legs, two pairs
pointing forward and two backward, increase the long appearance. The
basal joints of the fourth legs are brought close together, and those of
the first pair almost as close. The labium and maxillæ are a little
longer than usual and are partly covered by the first legs.
I have found this spider common on sand grass, where nothing else grows,
and the young lying lengthwise on the leaves could hardly be seen. They
mature in the middle of the summer. When the male approaches the female
he raises the front legs at an angle of sixty degrees with each other,
raises the abdomen a little, and advances by short runs, twitching the
front legs and abdomen every few moments.
[Illustration: FIGS. 159, 160. Cyrba tæniola.--159, female enlarged
eight times. 160, profile to show flatness of the back.]
$Cyrba tæniola.$--A small flat spider, nearly black, the females quarter
of an inch long, and the males a sixth of an inch (fig. 159). The
cephalothorax is one-half longer than wide, very low and flat, with the
sides parallel for half its length. The front middle eyes are large and
close together, the lateral eyes half as large and a little separated
from them. The first legs are twice as thick as the others and have the
femora flattened, but in the female the fourth legs are longest. The
abdomen is as wide as the cephalothorax and a little longer. The hairs
all over the body are short. The cephalothorax is black, smooth, and
without markings. The abdomen is dark gray, with two rows of white spots
often indistinct and perhaps sometimes absent. The legs have the femora
and patella and tibia of first and second pairs black or dark brown and
the other joints light and black at the ends. The under side is black.
The sternum is very short, so that the basal joints of the front legs
touch each other.
[Illustration: FIGS. 161, 162. Hasarius hoyi.--161, young female enlarged
six times. 162, abdomen of adult female to show difference in markings.]
$Hasarius hoyi.$--This species may be known by its peculiar colors,--the
dark portions brown or black and the light parts white and orange brown
(figs. 161, 162). These colors are, as usual, brighter and the markings
more distinct in the males. In front around the eyes the cephalothorax
is covered with white hairs. At the sides a white band extends backward
under the eyes, turning inward but not reaching the middle line. There
is a light band, part white and part orange, around the abdomen and
several angular marks in the middle, two of them in the hinder half,
sometimes united into a large spot. In alcohol, and less plainly seen
when alive, is a light band under the hairs, extending across the middle
of the cephalothorax and forward on the sides under the eyes.
In females all these markings are less distinct, but traces of them can
be found in most individuals. The colors are more brownish, and the
markings of the abdomen smaller and more uniform in shape. The markings
of the legs are dark on the middle joints and light at the base and on
the tarsi, with strong contrasts in color in the males and little in the
females. The length of this species is about a quarter of an inch for
large females. The males are smaller.
[Illustration: FIGS. 163, 164. Synemosyna formica.--163, female enlarged
eight times. 164, side of female.]
$Synemosyna formica.$--A small spider so much like an ant as to be often
mistaken for one (fig. 163). It is about quarter of an inch long and
very slender. The cephalothorax is narrowed behind and the abdomen in
front, and each has a deep depression in the middle. The stem of the
abdomen is flat, and widened behind so that it is nearly as wide as the
ends of the thorax and abdomen, which it connects. The front middle eyes
are large and cover two-thirds of the width of the front of the head,
and the rest of the eyes are small. The legs are all slender, the hind
pair longest. The general color is black, with yellowish or orange-white
markings. There is a triangular white spot in front of the dorsal
groove, and one on each side widening downward under the posterior eyes.
On the abdomen there is a white stripe extending downward from the
dorsal depression on each side and uniting in a large white patch
underneath (fig. 164). In pale individuals the whole front half of the
abdomen is light yellow or orange brown. The second legs are entirely
white, the others partly black. The male has the head higher and is
darker colored and more slender.
This spider not only resembles an ant in form and color but moves like
an ant. It does not jump like most Attidæ, though it can do so, but
walks and runs irregularly about and lifts its first legs high like the
antennæ of ants.
[Illustration: FIG. 165. Lyssomanes viridis, enlarged six times.]
$Lyssomanes viridis.$--A bright green spider common in the southern
states. The arrangement of the eyes differs from that usual in the
Attidæ by the front lateral eyes being higher and closer together, so
that they are over and behind the front middle pair (fig. 165). The
cephalothorax is narrow in front,--not much more than half as wide as it
is across the middle. The abdomen is narrower than the thorax and more
than twice as long as wide. The female is a third of an inch in length,
and the male quarter of an inch. The legs are long and slender, the
first pair longest and thickest, in the male half an inch in length and
in the female a little shorter. In the female the mandibles are vertical
and about as long as the height of the head. In the male they are as
long as the cephalothorax, curved apart, and extended almost
horizontally in front of the head. The color is light transparent green,
sometimes without any markings. Usually there are four pairs of small
black spots on the abdomen, and there are black spots around the eyes,
except around the front pair, where there is a little orange color. They
live on low bushes and mature early in the summer.