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.