Misumena vatia is the largest species and lives all over this country and Europe. It is sometimes half an inch long, and the first legs spread an inch and a half [(fig. 77)]. It is white, with sometimes a crimson spot on each side of the abdomen and another on the front of the head between the upper eyes. The sides of the thorax are a little darkened with yellow or brown, which extends around the head to a distinct opaque white spot under and between the eyes [(fig. 76)]. This white spot widens below over the mandibles and above under the eyes and around the eyes of the upper row. The shape of this mark and the greater height of the head distinguish this species from aleatoria (figs. [79, 80]). On the back of the thorax is also a distinct opaque white spot. The first and second legs have usually a light brown mark on the upper side, but this is sometimes absent.

The male [(fig. 78)] is only a quarter or a third as long as the adult female. The front legs are proportionally longer than in the female, and the abdomen smaller and more pointed behind. The males are strongly marked with reddish brown on a light ground. The thorax is dark at the sides, while the front of the head is white like that of the female.

Misumena aleatoria.—The female of this species grows nearly as large as vatia, and in some places is much more common. It is white or yellow, but does not have the crimson markings at the sides of the abdomen or between the eyes. The head [(fig. 79)] is rounder than in vatia and much lower in front, and there is a narrow white stripe under the eyes that divides at the sides, one branch passing around over the mandibles and the other close under the eyes. The sides of the cephalothorax are gray or green. The abdomen usually has no markings except a little gray color in the middle, but sometimes it has two rows of dark brown spots [(fig. 81)], and in such individuals the legs are also marked with brown at the ends of the joints. The males are very small and strikingly colored [(fig. 82)]. The two front pairs of legs are brown, the cephalothorax green, and the abdomen yellow. The shape of the head and the white under the eyes are the same as in the female.

Misumena asperata.—The males and females of this spider are more alike than in vatia and aleatoria. The adult females are always pale and sometimes white, but seldom lose entirely the reddish bands around the legs. Both sexes are covered with short stiff hairs about their length apart all over the upper part of the body and legs. The usual color is pale yellow, with dull red markings. The thorax is reddish at the sides. The abdomen has two red bands or rows of spots on the hinder half, meeting behind. In front are a middle pair of spots and two side bands that spread apart in the middle and meet again at the spinnerets. The tibia and tarsus of the front legs are marked with a narrow red ring at the base and a wider ring near the end of each joint. The female is a quarter of an inch long and the male about half that length. The markings of the male are like those of the female, but the spots are larger and more deeply colored. The male palpi are larger than in the other species.

The male M. spinosa of Georgia resembles asperata, but the legs are much longer and the ends of the palpi smaller.