May, 1920] Studies in Food of Spiders ' 241 



would not be needed for that purpose. Some credence might 

 be given to the protective resemblance theory. A spider the 

 same color as the leaves would not be discovered so easily by 

 many of the spider's natural enemies. Another spider which had 

 a retreat in a deep purple flower was the same color as the 

 flower. These incidents cause me to believe that this spider 

 responds to the color of its surroundings. The fact that most 

 of them are white or grayish white early in the season and later 

 most of them become reddish brown and purplish brown has 

 some explanation. Early in the summer most of the wild 

 flowers are white but later on in the fall Ironweed and purple 

 asters are more in evidence in grassy and marshy places where 

 this spider is most likely to construct its web. While this change 

 may be due to the age of the spider, I am inclined to think it is 

 a response to environment. The color change is so marked in 

 different individuals of nearly the same size that one would 

 suppose that some factor other than age entered into the color 

 change. This color change may aid the spider somewhat in 

 food getting but it is probably of more value as a protection 

 against the numerous enemies of the spider. 



Epeira trifolium was not as abundant as Agelena ncevia and 

 Argiope riparia but it was a common spider both at Crestline 

 and Columbus. It is found in pasture lands which have been 

 allowed to grow up in weeds, along roadsides, in bushes and 

 most often in marshy places. As such places do not take up a 

 definite area it is not easy to give a close estimate of the num- 

 ber on any given area. In a pasture field which I often visited 

 one could count twenty to twenty-five of them on a half acre. 

 These were in a patch of weeds and the rest of the field did 

 not contain a dozen spiders because there was no weeds in 

 which they could build their webs. It is fairly abundant in 

 the places where it is likely to be found but these are restricted 

 areas. The large size of the spider makes it an important one 

 from the standpoint of food relations. 



Many webs of this spider were observed and the spider's, 

 food is based on the contents of one hundred and forty-seven 

 webs in which the spider was observed feeding. 



22% contained honey bees; 20% contained grasshoppers; 8% con- 

 tained Meloidse, 6% of this S% being Epicauta pennsylvanica ; 7% con- 

 tained Jassids; 6% contained Drasteria erechta and Drasteria crassius- 

 cula; 6% contained Winged Ants; 4% contained Lygus pratensis; 



