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.