Superfamily Argiopoidea 



form a large part of the food of this and. -the following species. 

 It is interesting to see how skillfully the spider manages her huge 

 prey. The instant it becomes entangled she rushes to it, and 

 spreading her spinnerets far apart she fastens a swathing band 

 to it; then by a few dexterous kicks she rolls it over two or three 

 times and it is securely swathed in a shroud; a quick bite with her 

 chelicerae completes the destruction of the victim. 



In the autumn, the female makes a pear-shaped egg-sac as 

 large as a hickory nut (Fig. 197, p. 209); this is suspended 

 among the branches of some shrub or in the top of some weed, 

 and is fastened by many ropes of silk so that the storms of winter 

 shall not tear it loose. Within this egg-sac the young spiders pass 

 the winter. 



The egg-sacs of this species are frequently infested by Ichneu- 

 mon parasites and these parasites are preyed upon in turn by 

 secondary parasites. It is easy to rear specimens of both by keep- 

 ing egg-sacs in a closed bottle. 



Genus METARGIOPE (Met-ar-gi'o-pe) 



This genus agrees with Mi- 

 randa in all of the characteristics 

 given for that genus above except 

 that the vulva of the female is 

 divided by a septum into a pair 

 of equal concavities; it differs 

 from the following genus in the 

 form of the abdomen, which is 

 more or less evenly rounded on 

 the sides. Three species have 

 been found in the United States. 

 The following is the only widely 

 distributed one; the other two 

 occur in Arizona, and perhaps 

 elsewhere in the Southwest. 



The Banded Garden Spider, 

 Metargiope trifasciala (M. tri- 

 fas-ci-a'ta). — Almost as conspicuous as the species just de- 

 scribed is a closely allied one, the banded Argiope. This is a 

 slightly smaller species, the adult female measuring from three 



438 



i-ig. 447. 



METARGIOPE TRIFASCIATA, 

 ADULT FEMALE 



