NESTING HABITS AND PROTECTIVE ARCHITECTURE. 295 



In the neighborhood of Philadelphia the Shamrock spider is somewhat 



rare, but here her huge orbicular snare is hung on every bush. 



Sham- Without passing the limits of a single field I could collect hun- 



rock • 



g . , dreds of specimens of females, whose large, rounded abdomens 



show that they are approaching the crisis period of motherhood. 



During the entire day, with rare exception, these araneads keep them- 

 selves closely to their nests, leaving them only in the late evening hours 

 to station themselves at the centre of their orbs for the more convenient 

 trapping of prey. The nests are in most respects well suited as a domi- 

 cile for the occupants. They vary in style and proportion according to 

 the character of the plants upon which they are spun. Often they consist 

 of a single leaf, in which case the edges of the leaf will be brought together 

 and fastened close to the stem. The lobes of the leaf also, as far as prac- 

 ticable, will be joined in the same manner, but with a wider interval be- 

 tween the tips, the interspace being spanned by threads or by a thin tissue 

 of spinningwork. 



The laurel is a strong, tough leaf, yet even that will be rolled and sewed 



together by this spider's art. (Fig. 267.) Sometimes, as though to save the 



effort required for the bending of such stiff material, several 



T- , laurel leaves will be adjusted in a manner somewhat peculiar. 



I Q -IT T*fi I •* -^ 



One leaf will be selected as the roof, and without being curled 

 will be fastened across the edges of two other leaves, which have been so 

 disposed that they stand with their flat surfaces almost upright. Thus 

 both roof and sides are flat, as though they had been built of inelastic 

 boards, and within this cubical refuge the spider fixes her home. On the 

 sumac plant, whose leaves are lanceolate and very pliable, a number of 

 leaves are chosen, and these are overlapped and the tips bent downward 

 until they form a wigwam, within which the spider dwells. (Fig. 268.) 

 Its blossoms also (Fig. 269) are pressed and si)un into nests. 



Here, again, in this natural fernery, which straggles along the borders 

 of the stone fence, one has a good opportunity to select nests that are 

 strikingly beautiful in form. The delicate tips of the ferns, 

 -, sometimes one spray, sometimes more, are drawn together, over- 



laid and interlashed, until a domicile is constructed that might 

 attract even the Queen of the Fairies to fix her palace therein. (Figs. 

 270, 271.) Hard by, a neighbor Trifoliuni is ensconced beneath a bower 

 of rich brown blackberry leaves. (Fig. 272.) Thus, it will be observed that 

 the spiders have wrought upon their material as practical architects, adapt- 

 ing methods and accommodating plans to the quality of their material. 



The nest of the Insular spider differs very little from her congener 

 Among these bushes scattered over the rocky slope she pitches her tent 

 and makes her home side by side with the Shamrock spider. Perhaps, if 

 I were asked to name a distinction, I would say that Insularis is rather 

 more fond of an open wooded location than Trifoliuni, and is somewhat 



