Pardosa consists of comparatively small spiders, all of them long legged
and slender. The head is high in front, and the four upper eyes large
and spread over the whole front of the head (fig. 200). The front row of
eyes is plainly shorter than the second row. The colors are generally
dark, often black, and with white markings. The spines of the legs are
long, even on the front pairs, and the whole body is often covered with
long hairs. To show the comparative size of the different species of
this genus, all the figures are made on the same scale, four times the
real size.
[Illustration: FIGS. 186, 187, 188. Pardosa lapidicina.--186, female
enlarged four times. 187, side of cephalothorax. 188, epigynum.]
$Pardosa lapidicina.$--Four-fifths of an inch long and with long legs,
the fourth pair three-quarters of an inch long. The color is black, the
whole body being covered with black hairs that obscure the few light
markings (fig. 186). When looked at closely, especially after being wet,
the legs appear a little lighter colored toward the ends, and the
femora faintly marked with light rings. In the middle of the
cephalothorax there is a large light spot, widest just in front of the
dorsal groove, and at the sides are rows of irregular light spots. On
the abdomen are three or four pairs of light spots near together in the
front half, and behind are two rows of spots meeting over the
spinnerets. On the under side the color is a lighter gray than on the
back. The color, as in all spiders, varies according to age, the young
and freshly molted having a deeper black color, while older ones are
gray. The epigynum is shown in the figure (fig. 188), and is quite
constant in shape. It distinguishes this species from _greenlandica_
(fig. 189), for which it is most likely to be mistaken. The male differs
little from the female. This spider lives among gray stones in the
hottest and driest places from Connecticut to Labrador.
[Illustration: FIGS. 189, 190. Pardosa greenlandica.--189, female
enlarged four times. 190, epigynum.]
$Pardosa albomaculata$ or $greenlandica.$--This species resembles
_lapidicina_ (fig. 186), but is a little larger and not quite as long
legged. It has longer hairs and is marked with bright white spots on a
black ground. There are two rows of white spots on the abdomen, and
others along the sides of the cephalothorax and on the legs (fig. 189).
Wet in alcohol it shows similar irregular markings on the abdomen as
_lapidicina_, but the light spots on the thorax are smaller, the middle
one extending forward only to the dorsal groove. The epigynum (fig. 190)
is large and distinct. Its outline has been compared to that of a
decanter, narrow in front and rounded out at the sides behind. There is
a long narrow middle lobe, generally widened at the end, but varying
much in shape. At the front end of the epigynum are two small
depressions. It resembles the epigynum of _glacialis_ (fig. 192), but is
always longer and narrower and has the middle lobe straighter and more
distinct. White Mountains, on bare stones. Rocky Mountains, Canada, and
Greenland.
[Illustration: FIGS. 191, 192. Pardosa glacialis.--191, Female enlarged
four times. 192, epigynum.]
$Pardosa glacialis$ or $brunnea.$--One-third of an inch long. Color dark
brown with some light markings. In the middle of the cephalothorax is a
light stripe, widening and fading out toward the eyes and divided by a
dark middle line, widest in front and extending back as far as the
dorsal groove (fig. 191). On each side is a light stripe extending under
the eyes to the front of the head. The abdomen has the middle pointed
stripe light colored, and sometimes there are four or five pairs of
small spots of white hairs on the hinder half. In alcohol there are
obscure cross markings and black spots. The legs are marked with
longitudinal dark and light lines. On the under side there is usually a
light middle stripe on the front of the sternum, and the middle of the
abdomen is lighter than the rest. The whole body is hairy; there are
long black hairs on the front of the head, and the spines are long and
colored like the legs. The epigynum (fig. 192) has a narrow middle lobe
transparent at the end so that it is difficult to see, and dark brown
pieces at the sides, with the outer ends turned forward. The shape can
best be understood from the figure. The epigynum varies, but
distinguishes this species plainly from _greenlandica_ (fig. 190), with
which it is likely to be associated. The male palpi are large and black
at the ends, the tarsus oval and pointed, and the tibia short and as
thick as long. This spider has been found all over Canada and as far
north as Greenland. It is common in the White Mountains and has been
found as far south as Connecticut.
[Illustration: FIGS. 193, 194, 195, 196. Pardosa tachypoda.--193, female
enlarged four times. 194, cephalothorax and palpus of male. 195,
epigynum. 196, palpus of male.]
$Pardosa tachypoda$ or $montana.$--This is a Canadian and White Mountain
spider found as far south as Massachusetts (fig. 193). It is smaller
than either _greenlandica_ or _glacialis_ and larger than _nigropalpis_
and _albopatella_. The colors are more like the last two species, but
the legs are darker and more distinctly ringed. The light markings of
the cephalothorax and abdomen are less distinct and more broken and
irregular. The epigynum (fig. 195) has a characteristic shape different
from any of the allied species, the two anterior depressions being wide
apart and the middle ridge narrow and rounded at the end. The male palpi
(fig. 196) are rather slender, as in _lapidicina_, and uniformly
colored, and all the differences between the sexes are less strongly
marked than in _nigropalpis_ and _albopatella_.
[Illustration: FIGS. 197, 198, 199, 200, 201. Pardosa pallida.--197,
female enlarged four times. 198, under side of female. 199, back of
male. 200, front of head. 201, end of palpus of male.]
$Pardosa pallida.$--One-fifth of an inch long and brightly marked with
black and brown on a light yellow ground (figs. 197, 199). The
cephalothorax is narrower than in most species. The cephalothorax has
two wide gray stripes and a fine black line on the edge at each side.
The abdomen has the middle pointed stripe light brown with a broken
black edge. On each side is a black band, made up of spots closer toward
the middle and more scattered toward the sides. The legs are light
yellow, with a few black spots near the body. The spines of the legs are
long but not dark colored. On the under side there are dark spots on the
sternum near the base of each leg, and sometimes two rows of spots or
two bands nearer the middle. On the under side of the abdomen are two
black stripes, sometimes connected behind. In the males (fig. 199) the
colors are darker and the dark markings larger. The ends of the palpi
are large and covered with black hairs.
In one freshly molted young male there was hardly any trace of the spots
on the sternum. The male palpi were dark gray with black hairs, except
the tarsus, which was light colored, with a dark spot in the middle and
a few black hairs. The markings of the abdomen were very indistinct, and
the light color brownish, while the thorax and legs are slightly green.
The first femora were black toward the end.
[Illustration: FIGS. 202, 203, 204. Pardosa nigropalpis.--202, female.
203, male. Both enlarged four times. 204, end of palpus of male.]
$Pardosa nigropalpis.$--About quarter of an inch long. Black and gray.
The male with head and palpi black (fig. 203). In the female the
cephalothorax has a large light middle stripe, widest between the eyes
and the dorsal groove, and a narrow light stripe on each side (fig.
202). The abdomen is light in the middle for its whole length in an
irregular stripe partly divided by faint cross lines of gray. The sides
are darker and spotted with black. The legs are faintly marked with
darker rings. In the male the contrast between the light and dark
markings is greater, the markings of the cephalothorax are smaller and
brighter, and the head and palpi are black and covered with black hairs.
[Illustration: FIGS. 205, 206, 207. Pardosa albopatella.--205, female.
206, male. Both enlarged four times. 207, end of palpus of male.]
$Pardosa albopatella.$--Smaller than _P. nigropalpis_, but resembling it
in shape and color (figs. 205, 206). The middle stripe of the
cephalothorax is narrower. The middle stripe of the abdomen is narrower
and brighter at the front end. The femora are distinctly marked with
four rings, and the other joints less plainly. In the male the ends of
the legs are pale, without rings, and the rings of the femora are broken
into spots except on the front legs, where the femora are black. The
palpi (fig. 206) have the femora black and the patella white. The tibia
is dark, and the tarsus is dark at the base and white toward the tip.
[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.
[Illustration: FIGS. 213, 214. Dolomedes tenebrosus.--213, female
enlarged twice. 214, front of head.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 215, 216. Ocyale undata.--215, female enlarged
twice. 216, front of head.]
[Illustration: FIG. 217. Nest of the young of Ocyale undata in a
wild-rose bush. One-third the real size.]
$Dolomedes tenebrosus.$--This is one of our largest spiders, spreading
its legs over four inches. The color is light and dark gray. The legs
are indistinctly marked with light and dark rings and have long dark
spines (fig. 213). The thorax is dark in the middle and lighter toward
the eyes. On each side are light bands that extend around under the eyes
and meet in front. The abdomen has three pairs of transverse dark
stripes, each with a light border on the hinder edge. The cephalothorax
is four-tenths of an inch long and three-tenths wide, half as wide in
front, and nearly straight on the front edge. It is rounded in the
middle, but not very high, and just behind the eyes is nearly flat. The
under side of the thorax and legs is light colored, without markings,
the abdomen a little darker. The abdomen is as long as the thorax,
widest across the middle, and a little pointed behind. The male has
longer legs and is more slender and strongly marked; under the fourth
femora near the end is a bunch of stiff hairs. The male palpi are long,
with large tarsi and palpal organs and a long hook on the outer side of
the tarsus. They live near water, on the ground or low bushes. The
female carries her cocoon in her mandibles and makes a large bunch of
silk in the bushes, in which the young live for some time after
hatching.
$Ocyale undata.$--When full grown over half an inch long, the thorax
quarter of an inch, and the first and fourth legs an inch long. The
thorax is almost as wide as long, and the head not much more than half
as wide (fig. 215). The abdomen is long and narrower than the thorax and
a little pointed behind. The color is a light brownish yellow, with a
wide darker and browner band on the middle of both thorax and abdomen.
This band is bordered by a white line a little curved in and out toward
the tail. In younger spiders the color is lighter and yellower; the
middle stripe has the edges more undulating, and in very young ones it
is serrated or even broken up into spots. The legs, which are plain in
adults, are sometimes marked with rings in the young. The front end of
the stripe is sometimes divided into two. These spiders live on bushes,
without any web, until they have young. In the latter part of summer the
females carry their flat cocoons under them, holding on with the
mandibles. When the young are about to hatch the female builds a mass of
web (fig. 217) three or four inches through, in which she leaves the
cocoon, and the young come out and live for a time together in the web.
[Illustration: FIGS. 218, 219. Oxyopes salticus.--218, female enlarged
six times. 219, front of head.]
$Oxyopes salticus.$--The eyes are in three rows, the front one of two
small eyes, the second of four eyes, and the upper of two. The head is
wide and less separated from the thorax than in Lycosa and very high in
front. The cephalothorax is two-thirds as wide as long and rounded both
in front and behind (fig. 218). The abdomen of the male is smaller than
the cephalothorax, but that of the female is wider and longer. It is
widest in the middle, rounded in front, and pointed behind. The legs are
slender, the first pair longest, but all nearly of the same length and
with very long spines. The colors and markings are very variable. The
legs are white or pale yellow, with black spines. The light parts of the
body are the same color, with brown and black markings. There are
usually four brown stripes on the cephalothorax from the eyes backward,
and two black lines in front from the lower eyes down the front of the
mandibles (fig. 219). The most constant mark of the abdomen is a pointed
middle spot extending as far as the middle of the back. This is
generally surrounded by light color, and at the sides are narrow oblique
brown marks. There are sometimes fine black lines on the under sides of
the femora and a wide black middle stripe under the abdomen. The males
are sometimes colored like the female, and vary from this to black
abdomen and palpi, with the rest of the body pale. A very common species
in the southern states in the early summer, running on low bushes. There
is another Oxyopes about the same size that has been found a few times
as far north as New England.
[Illustration: FIG. 220. Oxyopes viridans.--Young female enlarged four
times.]
$Oxyopes (Peucetia) viridans.$--This is a common and conspicuous spider
in the South. It is a bright transparent green, with red spots and black
spines. It grows to a length of three-quarters of an inch, but is found
in great numbers early in the summer, when it is only a quarter of this
size (fig. 220). The head is narrower than in _O. salticus_, and the
lateral eyes so high that they appear to belong to the upper rather than
the middle row. The abdomen is the same width as the back part of the
cephalothorax and tapers a little toward the spinnerets. The first pair
of legs is longest and the second next. The general color is green, with
the space between the eyes red, red spots and black spines on the legs,
and two rows of red spots on the abdomen, sometimes united into a
stripe, with pairs of white spots surrounded by red.