Part 7

The Lycosidæ are among the commonest spiders, or, at any rate, those most often seen. Most of them live near the ground and move actively about without attempting to conceal themselves. Their colors are black and white or the colors of the ground, stones, and dead leaves, sometimes nearly uniform all over the body, in other kinds arranged in a distinct pattern, with strong contrasts between the light and dark parts. In some species the markings are brighter and more characteristic on the under side than on the back. The legs are long, the fourth pair longest. The spines on the legs are long and often darker colored than the skin, and when the spider is active they stand out from the legs and make them appear larger. The first and second legs are more covered with fine short hairs and have the spines shorter and less easily seen than the third and fourth. The feet have three claws, the under one small and covered by the surrounding hairs. The eyes have a peculiar arrangement, the front row being small and nearly straight, the middle pair of the upper row just above them and much larger, while the lateral eyes of this row are carried back and upward on the sides of the head so that the eyes are really in three rows of four, two, and two (fig. 170). In those species with low heads, like Dolomedes, the upper row of eyes is less curved and smaller, and the whole arrangement resembles that in Tibellus and others of the Thomisidæ. The body is usually long and the head high, the abdomen about as long and as wide as the cephalothorax and as thick as it is wide.

Our largest spiders belong to this family. The females carry their eggs in round cocoons attached to their spinnerets, and the young for a short time after coming out are carried about on the back of the mother. Dolomedes and Ocyale carry their cocoons in the mandibles and spin a loose web in bushes, where the young live for a time after leaving the cocoon. The young of most species pass the winter half grown and mature the next summer. Most of the little spiders seen spinning their threads on the tops of plants and fences in the Indian summer are young Lycosidæ.

Most of these spiders belong to two genera, Lycosa and Pardosa, the first including the larger species, with the eyes covering only a small part of the front of the head and the front row about the same length as the second; the other, Pardosa, consisting of comparatively small species, with the four upper eyes very large and covering the whole top of the head and the front row much shorter than the second.

THE GENUS LYCOSA

The genus Lycosa includes spiders that differ greatly in the proportions of different parts of their bodies. In general, they are large and stout and their legs short compared to those of Pardosa and Dolomedes, the front legs being not much longer than the body. In the short and stout species, like pratensis (fig. 170), the eyes cover only a small part of the head, while in the longer legged and more slender species, like communis (fig. 181), they are larger and spread farther apart. The head is highest behind and rounded downward in front, but less so in those species with large eyes. The spines of the legs are comparatively small and on the two front pairs concealed by the surrounding hairs. The fine flattened hairs on the front feet sometimes form a thick brush on the under side, extending up from the claws as far as the tibia. The colors are all shades of brown and gray.

$Lycosa nidicola.$--When full grown three-quarters of an inch long; the legs short, the longest an inch in length. The color is dull yellow or greenish brown. On the cephalothorax there is a narrow yellow stripe in the middle and one on each side (fig. 166), and on the front of the abdomen the usual pointed stripe, dark at the edges and bordered by lighter bands. On the hinder half of the abdomen are indistinct cross marks. The legs are without markings, and the spines short and hardly visible. The under side of the abdomen (fig. 167) is light in the middle and darker at the sides and marked with small brown spots. The males and young are lighter and more plainly marked than the adult females. This spider lives under stones and other shelters in the woods in a shallow nest, lined with silk, where the female may be found with her cocoon of eggs early in the summer.

$Lycosa pratensis.$--A small species, four-fifths to half an inch long, yellowish brown, with indistinct light and dark markings. The cephalothorax has a middle light band as wide as the eyes, narrowed a little in front of the dorsal groove and broken in the middle by two brown spots (fig. 168). The sides of the cephalothorax near the edge are faintly lighter than the rest. The abdomen has a pointed middle stripe, dark at the edges, extending back half its length, and behind this four or five dark cross stripes. The legs are darker toward the ends; the femora are marked with two broken dark bands, and the patella and tibia of the third and fourth legs have faint dark rings. The spines are small and, on the two front pairs of legs, hardly visible among the other hairs. The under side is light colored, with the ends of the legs darker. The epigynum is short and wide. The males differ little from the females. This does not seem to be a very active spider and is commonly found under stones.

$Lycosa polita.$--This is a short-legged species resembling in size and color Lycosa pratensis. The hairs are very short and often entirely absent from the cephalothorax, which is smooth and shining. The eyes are very close together, especially the two of the middle row, which is much shorter than the front row (fig. 171). The cephalothorax and legs are often light brown without any markings, but in some individuals there are irregular dark marks along the sides of the thorax and broken rings on the legs. The abdomen is gray, light in the middle, with dark transverse marks behind and closely placed dark spots at the sides, much as in Tegenaria medicinalis and Amaurobius. The abdomen is light underneath, with a darker middle line and irregular oblique rows of spots at the sides.

$Lycosa nidifex.$--This spider lives in sandy regions,--the females in holes ten or twelve inches deep, the adult males on the surface of the ground. The males (fig. 174) are half or five-eighths of an inch long and spread two inches. They are colored like the sand,--a little redder sometimes in the middle spots and on the femora, and gray at the sides. There is a spot in the middle of the abdomen edged with black and a black band on each side of the head divided in front, the branches extending to the lateral eyes of both rows. The ends of the palpi and the spinnerets are black. The mandibles are black, except in the middle, where they are covered with bright yellow hairs. On the under side (fig. 175) the two front pairs of legs, sternum, and mouth parts are black, the hinder legs and abdomen light sand color, like the back. The female (fig. 173) is larger,--three-quarters of an inch or more in length. The color is more gray or slate color, darker in front and lighter behind, as in the male. The cephalothorax has a light gray band in the middle, and the abdomen a middle dark band broken at the sides by three or four pairs of light spots. The front two pairs of legs are thicker than the others and more closely covered with hair in both sexes.

In August the males wander about on the sand and are easily caught. Though their color is much like the sand, the marks of the back and legs make them more easily seen than L. cinerea (fig. 177) and other sand spiders. The females live in holes three-quarters of an inch wide and ten inches or more deep. The sand is held together by silk, which is very thin below but thicker toward the opening. Sometimes bits of sticks and straw are fastened around the hole, but as often it is entirely clean and not concealed in any way. The females keep near their holes and drop into them at the least fright. As one walks across the neighborhood no spiders are to be seen, only open holes. After a short time they come to the surface, at first slowly, but sometimes, as they see the place clear, with a sudden jump, and stand over the hole ready to drop back into it. The color of the females is more gray or slate color than that of the males. The markings of the abdomen are larger and more distinct, but the black on the thorax and front legs is less marked than in the males.

$Lycosa carolinensis.$--This is one of the largest spiders living in the northern states, and it resembles in size and color the famous Tarantula of southern Europe (fig. 175). The female is sometimes over an inch in length, with the fourth legs an inch and a half long, so that it spreads over three inches. The males have the legs as long but more slender, and the body is smaller, measuring three-quarters of an inch. The color is gray mixed with brown, like the fur of a mouse, the males lighter than the females.

On the under side the whole body is black, including the first and second joints of the legs and the maxillæ. The legs are light gray, with dark bands at the ends of the joints. The mandibles are brown, with orange-yellow hairs on the front. There is sometimes a little yellow on the ends of the first and second legs and palpi of the male.

The female makes a hole, but not a deep one, and hides in it with her eggs, but is often found running about on the ground.

$Lycosa cinerea.$--A common spider on beaches and sandy fields all over this country and in Europe (fig. 177) The general color is dirty white covered with small black and gray marks, so that, when it lies flat on the sand, it can hardly be distinguished from it. The body is half an inch long, and the fourth legs nearly an inch. The under side is white or gray, and the whole body covered with white and gray hairs. The legs are marked with indistinct dark rings, two or three to each joint. On the cephalothorax the spots radiate irregularly from the dorsal groove; the space between the eyes is dark, and the mandibles are dark brown. The markings of the abdomen are broken up into small spots, so that there is little of the usual figures. The male palpi are long and slender and the ends very small.

$Lycosa kochii.$--This is a common species in the woods, and is colored brown and gray, like dead leaves (fig. 179). It is half an inch long when full grown, and the fourth legs three-quarters of an inch. The upper eyes are larger than in pratensis and nidicola, and cover half the width of the head, as in communis. The cephalothorax is light gray in the middle and dark at the sides and around the front of the head. The legs are gray, lighter toward the body and darker toward the ends, marked with indistinct rings, two or three to each joint. The abdomen is gray, with broken darker gray markings forming indistinctly a row of transverse marks in the middle. The sides are darkest toward the front end, where there are two black spots. The under side is lighter than the back. The epigynum (fig. 180) differs from that of the related species, having the middle lobe narrow in front and wide and triangular at the end.

$Lycosa communis.$--This is a common spider in pastures, running in grass or hiding under stones. It varies in color from light gray to almost black, but the markings are almost always the same and distinct. On the thorax there is a middle stripe extending forward to the eyes, and a narrower one between the eyes to the front of the head (fig. 181). At the sides are light stripes nearly as wide as the middle one extending under the eyes to the front of the head. On the abdomen the front pointed stripe is large. The light stripes at the side of it are wide and distinct, uniting on the hinder half of the abdomen into a middle stripe, broken sometimes into a row of four or five spots. In dark individuals this light marking is yellow and more strongly defined than in lighter ones. On the thorax, especially in light colored-spiders, there are usually two or three light marks radiating from the dorsal groove. The legs, except the ends of the first and second, are marked with rings at the ends and middle of the joints, indistinct in light spiders and brighter in dark ones.

The length is two-fifths to half an inch. The legs are long, the fourth pair three-quarters of an inch in length. The second row of eyes is a little wider than the first, and the second eyes are large and their diameter apart (fig. 182). On the under side of the abdomen are two dark stripes meeting at the spinnerets so as to form a horseshoe-shaped figure, but in some very dark individuals the whole under side of the abdomen behind the epigynum is dark colored. There is little difference between the sexes. The females carry eggs in June and July.

$Lycosa scutulata.$--This is a large and well-marked species, over half an inch in length and with hind legs over an inch long (fig. 183). The legs are yellowish gray without markings. The cephalothorax is dark gray, with a light middle stripe and one on each side extending under the eyes to the front of the head. There is also a narrow light line on the edge of the thorax at the sides. In the middle of the abdomen is a dark stripe, with five or six pairs of light spots, those of the front pair being only partly inclosed by the stripe. At the sides of the middle stripe are narrower light bands, and beyond these fine light and dark oblique lines. On the under side the whole body is light gray.

In the males the front legs are a little longer and much darker colored than the others. The male palpi are slender, and the tarsi small for so large a spider. The second row of eyes is a little wider than the front row.

$Lycosa ocreata.$--The female may easily be mistaken for young L. kochii (fig. 179) or communis (fig. 181), but the male is conspicuous on account of the dark head and front legs and especially the thick covering of black hairs on the tibiæ of the first pair. The cephalothorax has a distinct light middle stripe, narrower and straighter in the male (figs. 184, 185). The middle of the abdomen is yellow, with the pointed stripe only a little darker and marked with black spots around the edges. At the sides the abdomen is brown, broken in spots, and in the middle of the hinder half are three or four cross marks. The legs are yellowish and ringed with gray in the females. In the males the femora and the sides of the thorax are much darker brown, and the tibiæ of the front pair dark and thickly covered with hairs. The male palpi have the patella and tibia thickened and about as wide as long. The front legs are plainly thicker than the second in both sexes. The second row of eyes is wider than the first. The length of either sex is a little over quarter of an inch. The legs are slender and thinly covered with long fine hairs. The longest leg is about half an inch.

THE GENUS PARDOSA

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.

$Pardosa lapidicina.$--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.

$Pardosa albomaculata$ 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.

$Pardosa glacialis$ 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.

$Pardosa tachypoda$ 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.

$Pardosa pallida.$--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.