[Illustration: FIG. 453. Web of Argiope riparia in an oval opening among plants from which the leaves have been drawn away by the spider. At the left of the web is a screen of irregular threads.]
[Illustration: FIG. 454. Egg cocoon of Argiope riparia in marsh grass. Natural size.]
$Argiope transversa.$--This species is a little smaller than _riparia_. It lives in the same places and matures a little later, about September 1. The abdomen is more pointed than that of _riparia_ (fig. 455). The ground color is white or light yellow, and is crossed by a great number of black transverse lines, which are sometimes obscured, especially in young spiders, by a thick covering of silvery-white hairs. The cephalothorax is covered with white hairs through which the dark markings on the sides show indistinctly. The legs are light yellow, with black bands at the ends and middle of each joint. The femora of the first legs are sometimes entirely black. The young have the back entirely white. The markings of the under side are similar to those of _riparia_. The male (fig. 456) is colored like the female, but is only a fourth as large. The legs are yellow, marked with black spots, but have no rings. It has the same habits as _riparia_. It remains in its web later in the season, and makes a cocoon flattened on the top (fig. 458) instead of narrowed to a neck, like those of _riparia_.
[Illustration: FIGS. 455, 456. Argiope transversa.--455, female. 456, male. Both enlarged twice.]
[Illustration: FIG. 457. Web of Argiope transversa in an opening among marsh grass, covered above by wilted ends of grass leaves.]
[Illustration: FIG. 458. Egg cocoon of Argiope transversa in marsh grass.]
This species often makes its web in marsh grass, which it draws away and fastens with silk (fig. 457). As the surrounding grass becomes long and weak, it sometimes falls away, leaving the web in a basket of grass fastened firmly enough together to remain standing.
The Tetragnathas are slender, usually straw-colored spiders, living in their webs among the long grass in meadows and near water. The legs are slender, the cephalothorax narrow, and the abdomen long and cylindrical. The mandibles are large in both sexes, and in the males are very long and furnished with long teeth at the end and along the inner margin. When pairing, the male and female hold each other by the ends of the mandibles. The eyes are in two rows nearly equal and parallel, and the distance between the lateral pairs varies in different species. The palpi are long and slender in both sexes, and in the males their proportions differ according to the species. The legs are also long and slender, and vary in length from _grallator_, where the female has the first legs ten times as long as the cephalothorax, to _laboriosa_, in which they are seven times as long. The webs are generally inclined and may be nearly horizontal or nearly vertical, according to the place where they are made (fig. 459). The inner spiral is small and has a hole in the middle (fig. 460). The spider stands in the web with the legs extended forward and backward close to each other, except at the ends, where they are turned outward (fig. 459). On account of their similar size and color, the species look at first sight much alike, but there are differences in the arrangement of the lateral eyes and the length of the legs, palpi, and mandibles.