Superfamily Argiopoidea 



so that the legs are kept away from the spinnerets. By lightly 

 touching the spinnerets a thread can be obtained, and by slowly 

 pulling this thread it will be constantly lengthened by a flow of 

 silk from the spinning tubes. A thread of silk is drawn in this 

 way from each of a considerable number of spiders at the same 

 time; and all are twisted into a single larger thread, by a mechani- 

 cal twister, from which it passes to a reel. 



This process was shown at the Paris Exposition; and a com- 

 plete set of bed hangings made from the silk of Nepbila were 

 exhibited there. 



Subfamily ARGIOPINiE (Ar-gi-o-pi'nae) 

 The Garden Spiders 



Although the members of this subfamily are not so striking 

 in appearance as is the species of Nepbila described in the pre- 

 ceding pages, in the colder parts of our country, where Nepbila 

 is not found, some of them are the most conspicuous of our orb- 

 weavers. These have been commonly known in this country as 

 the garden spiders; and 1 have adopted this as the popular name 

 for the subfamily, although in the Old World it has been applied 

 to certain large and conspicuous species of Aranea. 



The argiopinae differ from the preceding and from the follow- 

 ing subfamilies in having the posterior row of eyes strongly pro- 

 curved. They differ from Nepbila in that the labium is broader 

 than long, and from the Araneinae in the relatively longer legs, 

 and in having the metatarsi and tarsi taken together, longer than 

 the patellae and tibiae. 



The web of the garden spiders is a typical orb-web; but it is 

 accompanied by a barrier web, which consists of an irregular net- 

 work of lines stretched behind the orb. Sometimes a barrier web 

 is built on each side of the orb. The barrier web doubtless 

 serves as a protection to the spider. In it, at the mating season 

 the male is often found. But the immature males resemble the 

 females in their web-building habits. The orb is not provided 

 with a trapline. The spider hangs on the hub of the web, through- 

 out the day. When disturbed it either drops to the ground or 

 runs off from the web upon the supporting plants. If all is 

 quiet for a few minutes, the spider returns to its station on the 

 hub. The web is often provided with a stabilimentum. Our 



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