Part 5

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.

$Neon nellii.$--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.

$Zygoballus bettini.$--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.

$Phidippus multiformis.$--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.

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.

$Phidippus mystaceus.$--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.

$Phidippus tripunctatus.$--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.

$Plexippus puerperus.$--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.

$Dendryphantes militaris.$--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.

$Dendryphantes æstivalis.$--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.

$Icius palmarum.$--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.

$Icius mitratus.$--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.

$Icius elegans.$--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.

$Mævia vittata.$--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.

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.

$Epiblemum scenicum.$--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.

$Marptusa familiaris.$--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.

$Hyctia pikei.$--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.