192 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



gathered up between them the ordinary coil of silk thread. Then she 

 stretched forward the two fore legs upon one side of her body and grasped 

 the trapline just in front of her face, and bent the other two fore pairs of 

 legs around toward the ball within which the insect was swathed and 

 which was held well elevated within the mouth. The two bent fore legs 

 evidently assisted in mani^julating the food while the spider made a meal. 

 This seemed as odd a posture as that assumed during the swathing of the 

 fly. (See Fig. 185.) 



When the snare has been sprung and the spider wishes to tighten it, 



she does so by apparently first drawing upon the trapline with the fore 



feet, accomplishing the movement after the manner of Epeiroids 



by placing one claw before the other, as a sailor ascends a rope 



hand over hand. At the same time, or innnediately thereafter, 



she executes a similar movement with the two hind feet, only reversing 



the direction. It should be said that during the process of snapping the 



net, the hind pair of feet hold to the trapline and never let go until the 



spider abandons licr position to visit the snare in search of prey. The 



third pair are also held i]i position, so that when the hind feet begin to 



pull backward, shoving hand over 

 hand, so to speak, under the trapline 

 towards the point of attachment, an 

 amount of slack is formed between 

 these feet and those of the third 

 pair, which very soon rolls up into 

 the coil of slack line which has just 

 „ ^. ^ ,. . , been described. It is thus quite pre- 



FiG. 185. Hyptiotes eating an insect. _ _ ^ ^ 



pared for another spring of the snare. 



I have observed the same peculiar use of the hind legs when the 



spider had occasion to raise herself from beneath upwards. Epeiroids 



ascend a dropline head uppermost, pulling themselves hand over 



_ - ? liand, and allowing a coil of thread to accumulate between the 

 up Cables ' . ^ . 



palps and the jaws. Hyptiotes, instead of turning and ascend- 

 ing liead foremost, mounts tail foremost, keeping her claws attached to 

 the trapline and drawing herself up hand over hand, following the method 

 by which she draws herself backward in order to tighten her snare. It 

 presents a very odd appearance to see her ascending a dropline in this 

 position, literally "backing" up it, although one is not so much struck 

 with tlie oddity of it when he sees her recovering after snapping her 

 snare. 



Tlie Triangle spider has the habit of violently oscillating her web, 

 just as do many of the Orbweavers ; that is to say, slie not only draws 

 it back and forward by snapping her tra|)iinc, but sliakos it up and 

 down or to and fro. 



According to Professor Thorell, the males of Hyptiotes are extremely 



