Superfamily Argiopoidea 



three fourths of an inch in a lateral direction. The general 

 colour of both body and legs is dark brown. The legs lack the 

 tufts of hairs characteristic of the female. 



The male, in the adult state at least, spins no web, but lives 

 in the web of the female. Comparatively few specimens of this 



sex are found in collections; but 

 Mr. Schwartz states that it is just 

 as common as the female, but that 

 it is easily overlooked from its small 

 size and the fact that it always oc- 

 curs opposite the large body of the 

 female on the other side of the web. 

 This remarkable spider attract- 

 ed attention very early. It was de- 

 scribed by Linnaeus in his Systema 

 Naturce (1767). It has been com- 

 monly known by American writers 

 under the name Ncphila plumipes, 

 which, however, according to Simon, 

 is correctly applied to a species from 

 the Islands of the South Sea. 



Nephila davipes is widely dis- 

 tributed through the southern states. It builds large webs 

 frequently two or three feet in diameter in shady forests. 

 The supporting lines of these webs are frequently exceed- 

 ingly strong and are apt to attract the attention of people 

 who run into them in going through such forests. The 

 webs of this spider differ in several very striking features from 

 those of other orb-weavers. They are slightly inclined. The 

 most striking feature at first sight is the looped nature of the 

 viscid lines (Fig. 439). In the webs of old spiders the loops 

 occupy but little more than one half of a circle. The webs of 

 •younger spiders are much more nearly complete orbs (Fig. 440). 



Unlike other orb-weavers which rebuild their webs at frequent 

 intervals, this spider makes use of the same web for a long period 

 replacing only the viscid lines. Correlated with this fact are 

 several features which contribute to the permanency of the web. 

 The radii are branched so that the interval between two adjacent 

 radii in the outer portions of the web is not greater than that 

 between two near the centre (Fig. 439). The guy-line, corre- 



428 



Fig. 438. NEPHILA CLAVIPES, 

 YOUNG FEMALE 



