May, 1920] Studies in Food of Spiders 247 



an abundant growth of tall grass and weeds, especially along 

 roadsides and fences and in orchards and clearings on wild rose 

 bushes, on Boneset, and Ironweed. Much of the data was 

 collected in ravines which were overgrown with bushes and 

 weeds. In several ravines of this nature about two miles 

 northwest of Columbus, A. trifasciata was very abundant. 

 Clover fields and corn fields were adjacent to these ravines and 

 they made a good place for the study of the food of this spider. 

 In such places it was impossible to estimate the webs on any 

 considerable area but it was not uncommon to find eight or ten 

 webs in a distance of twenty-five feet. 



In these ravines their food consisted chiefly of grasshoppers, 

 tree crickets, Jassids, Membracidas, Pentatomidae, Coreidae, 

 Meloidae, Tipulidae and Noctuid moths. In the patch of blue 

 grass mentioned 80% of the food consisted of grasshoppers. In 

 the young stages of this spider most of the webs are made in 

 the grass and grasshoppers constitute their chief food. The 

 grasshoppers are captured in the nymph stage and destroyed 

 before they have an opportunity of doing a great deal of 

 damage. In such places their food consists almost wholly of 

 injurious insects. In patches of Boneset, Ironweed and similar 

 weeds which bloom in late summer or fall the food supply is 

 largely honey bees, bumble bees and other Hymenopterous 

 insects which visit these flowers and become entangled in the 

 web of this spider. They have no decided preference for any 

 insect so far as I have observed and the food supply is deter- 

 mined largely by the insects which are prevalent in the places 

 where the web is made. Since the majority of webs are con- 

 structed in places where insects which are injurious to farm 

 crops will be entangled, I think this spider is of value from an 

 economic standpoint. These spiders were first noted in 

 abundance the first of August. They were very small at this 

 time and made their small orb webs near the ground in the 

 grass. The last ones were noted November 4th at Columbus. 

 After this date it was impossible to find any females. The 

 winter is passed in the cocoon, the young spiderlings emerging 

 in the summer. The large size of the spider and the long feeding 

 period are factors of importance in considering its value. If 

 people who are always so willing to crush any spider they see 

 either through ignorance or through superstition would study 

 this beautiful creature for a short time they would soon see they 



