CHAPTER VIII. 

 COMPOSITE SNARES AND SECTORAL ORBS. 



I. 



In the followiii^i cliapter I luive placed the spinningwork of two groups 

 of Orhweuvers tliat appear to me, in spite of some marked differences, to 

 have many points in common, namely, those wliich hahitually make a 

 composite snare and tliose which spin an orhweb, lacking one sector. Com- 

 posite snares combine the round web of Orbweavers with the netted maze 

 of lines which marks the typical Hctitt-larian. Two s})iders which most 



prominentl}' associate with their 

 own snare that of the Lineweavers 

 are Ej)eira labyrinthea and E. tri- 

 aranea. Of these two, the habit 

 is most permanently fixed in the 

 former, which is rarely, 

 e a y- j^ gypj. ^yitjiout its maze, 

 rmth 1 ■, ■ 1 • 



Spider wlnie with the latter it 



is sometimes very scant. 

 Triaranea's orb is habitually sec- 

 toral, Labyrinthea's snare inclines 

 to the orbicular, but, as will be 

 presently shown, appears to be a 

 transition form between the orbic- 

 ular and sectoral. In the meth- 

 ods on which it is constructed it 

 properly is grouped with tlie sec- 

 toral orbmakers. 



The web of the Labyrinth spi- 

 der is perhaps the most remark- 

 able examjjle of the composite 

 snare. Its orb is spun at one side 

 of a mass of variously crossed 

 lines, designated as the maze or labyrinth, from which it is separated 

 by a small l)ut quite distinct space usually of about an inch. To the 

 centre of the orb is attached tlie trapline, a ray of several threads which 



(130) 



Fig. 114. Snare of the Labyrinth spider, seen from behind. 

 The leaf tent is shown in the maze. 



