CHAPTEE YII. 

 EPEIRA AND THE WEAVERS OF ROUND VERTICAL WEBS. 



TiiK orbwebs most frequently seen in the Middle, Northern, and Atlan- 

 tic States are made by a group of spiders closely related in structure and 

 almost identical in economy. Among the most abundant of these 



Epeira .^,,j. j]jp Fm-row spider (Eiieira strix), the gray Cross si)ider (E. 

 Meshed i \ i '■• >r^ .; i > 



„ , sclopetaria), Epeira patagiata, the Domicile si)ider of Ilentz (E. 



benjamina Walck.), and Epeira trivittata. Next to these, per- 

 haps, are Epeira insularis,i and more rarely the Shamrock sjiider (E. 

 trifolium). There is little or no difference in tlie cliaracter of the snare 

 made by these araneads, but Insularis and Trifolium invariably, and fre- 

 quently Domiciliorum, are found in leafy nests with a trapline attachment to 

 the liub of the snare. Strix and Sclopetaria and sometimes Domiciliorum 

 nest in rolled leaves, but do not maintain as decided a trapline attachment. 



In the typical orb of these species, represented at Fig. 101,- the hult is 

 commonly meshed. This is not always so, but in spite of the occasional 

 exceptions, I regard the meshed hub as a characteristic. One will rarely 

 fail to identify unoccupied orbs of the type figured as belonging to one of 

 this group. 



The notched zone has from four to si.x concentrics, rarely more ; the 

 number of radii and spirals varies, but has a pretty strong tendency to 

 keep about twenty-one.^ 't'bey are found in all manner of sites wlierc in- 

 sects abound. 



The Furrow spider is one of the most numerously and widely distril)- 

 uted of our indigenous Orbweavers. I have taken it as far north as Mon- 

 treal and the Thousand Islands on the St. Lawrence, and as far to the 



' The Epeira insularis of Ilentz and Ep. conspioellata of Walckenaer. I have Prof. 

 Thorell's authority (to whom I sent specimens) that the si)e(ies is quite identical with the 

 European Eji. marniorea. I have, however, in the absence of si)ecimens of the European 

 species, concluded to continue tlie name of Ilentz at lea.st in tlie two volumes on Habits 

 and Industry. For the same reason I retain Ilentz's name Epeira domicilii inim, for what 

 seems to me witliout much doubt to lie Walckenaer's E. benjamina. 



-For the original photograph frcmi wbic-h this enLrniving was made 1 am indebted to 

 Mr. Horace P. Chandler, of Bost<jn. 



'The average of 11 snares counted was 2H, the lowest nurnbcr was IS radii, the high- 

 est 28 radii, and '2'^ spirals. 



(110) 



