ARGIOPE AND HER RIBBOXED ORB. 



101 



preceding attachment. The figure re})resents the species in the act of ascend- 

 ing the hne and swinging lier abdomen from the point 3. Tlie natural 

 u[»lift of licr body, combined with the crosswise motion of the abdomen, will 

 cause the direction to ])e along the dotted line towards the point 4, where the 

 next attachment will be made. After that attachment the abdomen, still 

 manipulated in the same way, will be carried across and upward to the 

 point, 5, and so on until the band is completed. As the spinning is thus 

 repeated alternately from side to side, and the ribl)and first fastened to one 



radius and then to its opposite, there nat- 

 urally results the peculiar zigzag formation 

 known to all observers of this web.^ 



The lialnt of spinning the white shield 

 and zigzag ribbons is deeply imljedded in 

 the species. One sees it continually in very 

 young spiders, and at all the ages of the ara- 

 nead until its death. It is extremely persist- 

 ent, and it is rare to find any hidividual 

 under normal conditions that does not make 

 the whole or a considerable part of this char- 

 acteristic spinningwork. 



I venture to give some extracts from 

 notes of observations upon the daily move- 

 ments of Cophinaria. They were made at 

 my request, by a gentleman, Mr. 

 Benj. H. Hunt, resident in Frank- 



Fk;. 95. Manner of spinning the zigzag ribbon. fofd, OnC of tllC OUtcr Wards of 



The spider is represented as having spun the 1)1,^1.^,1^1,^1,;., 2 Qi*,-,/^^ +1>; , ; ,,,.,, ,1 ... , 1 , 



V, ., , o A o r, JO, • ^^ .J. i nilauel]>iiia. "^ onice tins louri a w; s natle 



bands 1-2 and 2-3, and has just started to ^ ■> 



make 3-4, swinging the abdomen across from I liaVC been able tO folloW tllC life of tllis 



3 to 4 while she climbs the radial lines. • xi, i i • j i 



species through long periods, even up to 

 her death, by means of colonized individuals. But at that time I was not 

 so situated as to make such consecutive observations, and I insert these notes 

 of a " lay observer " because they are not only accurate and ]>i(|uaiit, Imt vary 

 the point of view and thus add value to the study. 



The sj)ider was reiiorted as first observed on August oOth. 1 will take 

 up the journal at a little later date. The spider was at the time fully mature 



A Spider 

 Diary. 



1 This description is tlu' iv.><ult of a iiuiiiIrt of observations. It was several years aftci- 

 T had (lescril)e(l before the riiihi(leli)hia Aeadeniy of Xatnral Sciences the manner in wliich 

 this spinning was done ere I was able to see the actnal o])eration. It was jileasaiit to frnd 

 that I had antii-ijjated the mode with absolnte accnraiy, and thns again shown that the 

 naturalist can at times truly " predict." 



- ^Ir. Hunt liccaine interested in oni' of these siiidci-s ol)served on his prenuses. n'i)orte<l 

 the fact to me, and following my instructions was able to place in my hantls several new facts. 

 Many persons living in rural parts and suburl>s i-ould iciidi r valuabU' service to natural history 

 by thus taking up one creature ami following its l)clia\ lor closely ami contimially, taking care 

 to record evcrytiung seen, with sucii rough draw ings as migiit be i)ossible. 



