254 



AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



brief period. Here is a young Argiope which on first observation had two 

 insects trussed up, one on either side of her central web, near 

 Trussing ^j^^ outer margin of the orb. On the second observation, an 



Captives. 



hour afterward, one of these was cut loose, and the spider held it 



under its jaws while 

 fed upon it. Here 

 on a large insect, 

 side of her shield. 

 This is an observa 

 Another observa 

 illustrate this point. 



she rested on her shield and there 

 is another Argiope, engaged in feeding 

 and has two other insects, one on either 

 swathed and trussed ready for use. 

 tion which is frequently made, 

 tion made upon Acrosoma rugosa will 

 When the observation began Rugosa 

 had just captured a fly. A second fly 

 struck the web, and the spider rushed 

 to it, leaving fly No. 1 trussed up and 



hanging by a short cord. She seized the second 



victim, held it a second or two, then slowly re- 

 volved it, using the third and fourth 

 pairs of legs. The fourth leg was also 



pine- Flies ^^'^'^^^ ^^^ pulling out the enswathing thread. 

 A slight enswathment was placed upon 



the insect, and it was left hanging in the snare. 



Rugosa then returned by a 



dragline to the carcass of 



No. 1, and feasted upon her, 



Fig. 233. Carrying a moth by the Ig^viug No. 2 SUSpCudcd tO 

 spinnerets. '^ ^ 



the top of the central. 



When fly No. 1 was finished, the threads sur- 

 rounding it were cut out, and the carcass was drop- 

 ped from the snare. No. 2 was then approached, the 

 spider meanwhile cautiously pulling on the radial 

 gangway by jerks, as though testing the vitality of 

 the victim or the neighborhood of an enemy. Mat- 

 ters being satisfactory, the fly was seized, swathed, 

 and brought back to the centre of the orb. When 

 rejected, the carcass was a charred looking 

 mass, out of which all the animal juices had 

 been squeezed. 



While preying upon No. 2 a third 

 fly struck the web, whereupon No. 2 

 was at once flung out, as in Fig. 236, 

 and hung ])y a thread to the lower 

 margin of the hub. While waiting 

 for prey, Rugosa clings to the upper part of the orb by the fourth i)inr 

 of legs. While engaged in feeding, the fourth and second pairs of legs 



Fig. 234. Carrying a swathed moth by the feet. 



