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.