478 Handbook of Nature-Study 



The funnel-shaped webs in dark corners of cellars are made by a 

 species which is closely related to the grass spider and has the same general 

 habits, but which builds in these locations instead of in the grass. 



LESSON CXI 

 THE FUNNEL WEB 



Leading thought The grass spider spins funnel-shaped webs in the 

 grass to entrap the insects of the field. This web has a back door. 



Method Ask the pupils to observe a web on the grass with a spider 

 within it. 



Observations i. What is the general shape of the web? Is there a 

 tunnel leading down from it? Why is it called a funnel web? 



2 Of what use is the funnel tube, and what is its shape ? Where does 

 it lead, and of what use is it to the spider? Can you corner a spider in its 

 funnel tube ? Why not ? 



3. How is the web made? Is there any regularity in the position of 

 the threads that make it? How is it stayed in place? 



4. Touch the web lightly, and note how the spider acts? Jar the 

 web roughly, and what does the spider do? 



5. What insects become entangled in this web? 



6. Compare this web with similar funnel webs found in corners of 

 cellars, sheds or piazzas, and see if you think the same kind of spider made 

 both. 



THE ORB-WEB 



Teacher's Story 



Fall the structures made by the lower creatures, the orb- 

 web of the spider is, beyond question, the most intricate 

 and beautiful in design, and the most exquisite in work- 

 manship. The watching of the construction of one of 

 these webs is an experience that brings us close to those 

 mysteries which seem to be as fundamental as they are 

 inexplicable in the plan of the universe. It is akin to 

 watching the growth of a crystal, or the stars wheeling 

 across the heavens in their appointed courses. 



The orb-web of the large, black and yellow garden spider is, perhaps, 

 the best subject for this study, although many of the smaller orbs are far 

 more delicate in structure. These orb-webs are most often placed ver- 

 tically, since they are thus more likely to be in the path of flying insects. 

 The number of radii, or spokes, differs with the different species of 

 spiders, and they are usually fastened to a silken framework, which in 

 turn is fastened by guy-lines to surrounding objects. These radii or 

 spokes are connected by a continuous spiral line, spaced regularly except 

 at the center or hub ; this hub or center is of more solid silk, and is usually 

 surrounded by an open space; and it may be merely an irregular net- 

 work, or it may have wide bands of silk laid across it. 



The radii or spokes, the guy-lines, the framework and the center of 

 the web are all made of inelastic silk, which does not adhere to an object 

 that touches it. The spiral line, on the contrary, is very elastic, and ad- 



