May, 1920] Studies in Food of Spiders 233 



nine hundred and thirty-four individuals were counted. On 

 a brush pile six feet in diameter, I counted thirty-two of these 

 spiders. Another count was made along a lane for a distance 

 of one hundred and thirty-two feet, the count being taken on 

 both sides of the lane between the ditch and the fence. In this 

 distance there were two hundred and sixty spiders. 



Counts similar to these may be made almost anywhere in 

 old pasture land, along a roadside, or any place where the 

 spider is not likely to be disturbed. 



This spider is a voracious eater but it can also do without 

 food for a long time. One of them was penned up in a tin box 

 for a month with nothing to eat. At the end of that time the 

 spider seemed to be in just as good condition as when put 

 into the box. 



This same spider captured forty jassids in a single day. If 

 the spider did not capture them in a short time, the jassids were 

 able to crawl off the web. More than forty were thrown on the 

 web, some of them escaping before the spider captured them. 

 Each jassid was picked up by the chelicerae and carried back 

 into the retreat. They were left in the retreat until they were 

 needed as food. Like most other spiders Agelena will capture 

 many more than those it needs as an immediate food supply. 



Their chances of procuring food are limited if one may judge 

 by the number of spiders seen feeding. Out of the great num- 

 ber of webs visited only a small per cent was found to be feed- 

 ing or even had any insects in the web. I think this is why the 

 spider captures all the insects possible when the food supply is 

 plentiful. Several tests were made to see how many insects 

 would be eaten in a limited time. One of them was fed jassids, 

 chiefly Phlepsius irroratus, as follows: July 1, 15; July 2, 10; 

 July 3, 21; July 4, 26; July 6, 25; July 7, 25; total, 122. 



Another was fed larval grasshoppers, as follows: July 1, 5; 

 July 2, 6; July 3, 8; July 4, 5; July 5, 5; July 6, 6; July 7, 5; 

 total, 40. 



Another was fed Miris dolobratus, which was very abundant 

 at that time: July 1, 12; July 2, 5; July 3, 13; July 4, 9; 

 total, 39. After July 4, this one refused to eat any more and 

 would not eat for several days. 



I tried feeding Agelena with several kinds of beetles but 

 they were nearly always rejected. I tried to feed Rhynchites 

 bicolor to an Agelena which had its web in a rose bush on which 



