218 The Ohio Journal of Science ■ [Vol. XX, No. 7, 



The Lycosids and Attidae capture their prey by stalking it 

 and jumping on it from the rear. Most of them have powerful 

 chelicerae which they sink into their victim and so cause almost 

 instant death. A pair of poison glands located in the cephal- 

 thorax and opening on the tip of the chelicerae by means of 

 ducts is the chief agency that helps in dispatching their prey. 

 This acts almost instantly. I have taken beetles and Lygus 

 pratensis away from Phidippiis audax and Lycosa fatifera 

 almost the instant they struck it, always with the same result, 

 the insect was dead. Although most spiders suck only the 

 juices from insects this is not always the case. A Lycosa 

 fatifera which I had in captivity, ate the body wall and entire 

 chitinous covering of the larvae of Elaterid^ and Cucujidae. 

 Another ate an entire grasshopper. The prey in each case 

 being crushed and rolled until it was a mass of pulp. A writer 

 in Nature, April 10, 1913, tells of a spider that devours the 

 flesh of fish. 



The net building spiders have a variety of ways of capturing 

 their prey. The Agelenid^ or Funnel Weavers rush on the 

 victim, sink the chelicerae into the insect, then withdraw a 

 short distance. If the insect is not killed, the act is repeated 

 until the insect is disabled. It is then taken to the mouth of 

 the funnel or inside the tube. If the insect is a large one it 

 is usually left at the mouth of the tube where the spider ties 

 it to the web by the legs. A small insect is usually carried 

 directly into the tube. 



The orb weavers rush on the insect and pull out a band of 

 silk when they are near the insect. This is thrust against the 

 insect to which it adheres very readily. The band is pulled 

 from the spinnerets by one of the hind legs and by changing 

 from one hind leg to the other the spiders keep at a safe distance 

 from the insect and yet wrap up the insect so quickly that one 

 can scarcely' see how it is done. The spider is perfectly at 

 home in its web and can pounce directly on small insects or if 

 the insect has a poisonous sting it can keep it at a safe distance. 



Some spiders build a retreat and spin a trap line from the 

 retreat to the web. They hold this trap line taut and this 

 holds the snare taut in turn, but when an insect strikes the 

 web it loosens its hold and the insect becomes entangled in a 

 mesh of threads. 



