Misumena (p. [25]) is white or brightly colored. The first and second legs are much longer than the third and fourth, and there is great difference between the sexes, the females being large and light colored, while the males are small, and yellow or green, with red and brown markings.
Philodromus (p. [35]) is generally small, with long slender legs, the second pair longest. The colors are generally light gray and brown, sometimes with iridescent scales.
Besides the larger genera are several other spiders belonging to this family. Tmarus caudatus (p. [38]) resembles Philodromus in color and outline, but has besides the caudate abdomen a very different head and thorax, and the hind legs much shorter than the first and second. Ebo latithorax (p. [38]) is a small Philodromus, with a wide body and exaggerated second legs. Thanatus lycosoides (p. [40]) is like a stout Philodromus, with rough hairs and markings, resembling some Lycosidæ. Tibellus duttonii (p. [39]) is a long straw-colored spider, resembling Philodromus in its feet and head, but having a long slender abdomen, with two black spots.
THE GENUS MISUMENA
The Misumenas are the most conspicuous spiders of their family, and are among the few that are popularly noticed. They grow to a large size and are white or brightly colored, and live in open places on flowers. The males and females differ widely. The males mature early and remain small, and are marked with a variety of colors in spots and bands, while the females grow several times as large, lose in great part their markings, and become white or yellow. In both sexes the two front pairs of legs are much longer than the two hinder pairs, and often differently colored. In the young the colors are variable and there is less difference between the sexes. The Misumenas live on plants, among the flowers, especially on large flat clusters, like those of carrot and thoroughwort. They stand among the flowers, holding by the hind legs, with the front legs extended or bent in stiff and awkward positions, and wait for insects to alight on the flowers within their reach. Whether spiders prefer flowers colored like themselves is an unsettled question; at any rate, Misumenas of all colors and both sexes have been found on white flowers. Occasionally individuals are found on flowers of exactly the same color as themselves; for example, deep yellow M. aleatoria on the wild indigo, Baptisia tinctoria, and the reddish M. asperata on the flowers of sorrel, Rumex acetosella. The adult females of vatia and aleatoria are easily mistaken for each other. Both vary in color from white to deep yellow, and grow to a large size, but they can be distinguished by the difference in the shape of the head. Asperata is perhaps the most common species. The female seldom grows as large as the others, and does not lose entirely the red markings of the abdomen and legs. The scattered stiff hairs also distinguish it from the others. The males of the different species are distinct enough one from the other, though they differ widely from the females. The shape of the head and the markings around the eyes are much the same in both sexes, and by these males and females of the same species may be recognized.
