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



The first Argiope riparia was recorded at Crestline on July 

 4th. It was about one-third grown at this time. I began to 

 record them in greater numbers soon after this time. They 

 emerge from the egg-sac much before this, but are so small 

 that they are seldom noticed. The last ones were recorded 

 on October 21st, at Columbus. All the data given on the 

 number of spiders and the amount of food eaten was gathered on 

 an area of about forty acres. As far as we have observed, 

 Argiope riparia will feed upon any kind of insects. A few times 

 I have seen them cut the common firefly, Photinus pyralis, 

 loose from the web and cast it aside. They do this sometimes 

 with other insects, , such as wasps, when there is a sufficient 

 supply of grasshoppers. The places and manner of constructing 

 their webs have accustomed them to feeding upon a great 

 variety of insects. This wide range of food habits is one of the 

 factors which accounts for their prevalence. We had hoped 

 to see what influence these spiders would have in the control 

 of the Chinch Bug, Blissus leucopterus, but unfortunately the 

 cold continuous rainy weather in early summer nearly wiped 

 out this pest in the vicinity where they were very destructive 

 the year previous. A few chinch bugs were found in the webs 

 early in the summer, but the rainy weather so completely 

 killed them off that when the spider had attained any consider- 

 able size, there was scarcely a chinch bug to be found. 



When Argiope s web was constructed in meadows and 

 pastures it fed chiefly on grasshoppers, Capsids, Jassids, 

 Phyto7iomiis piinctatiis, Lepidoptera, chiefly Eurymus philodice 

 and other insects injurious to grasses. If the webs were in 

 shrubbery, Membracidse, Oecanthus and grasshoppers were 

 eaten. A great many webs were constructed on and near the 

 wild flowers and weeds and in those cases honey bees and blister 

 beetles were the principal toll. An area was selected which 

 would be representative of a variety of food conditions. In this 

 area were a great many Boneset and Ironweed stalks. When 

 these came into bloom they were frequented by honey bees 

 and it is because of this that the percentage of honey bees is so 

 high. If the records had been taken from pastures only, the 

 percentage of honey bees would have been very small. Again, 

 if an area with only Boneset bushes and Ironweed stalks had 

 been included, the percentage of honey bees would have been 

 much higher. The tract of land referred to embraced a couple 



