THE GENESIS OF SNAKES. 



337 



day and seeks some near by retreat. This may be a curled leaf, the shelter 

 of a projecting bit of bark, a recess in the rocks, or other like refuge, in 



which she is measurably protected from her enemies. As she 

 Genesis abandons the centre or hub of her orb, upon which she has 

 Z ^ y been hanging during the night and early morning, she leaves 



behind her the precautionary thread which is habitually drawn 



out after spiders when they move, and which I have called the dragline. 



This thread is carried from the hub to the point of retreat. It can 



nearly always be traced by a careful examination of the orb, and by 



means of it the practiced spider hunter can frequently trace this 



most secretive species to her snare. This is not universally the 



case, however, as I 

 have sometimes been foiled 



A Simple 

 Trail. 



in attempting to find Epeira 

 strix by her dragline. How- 

 ever, the custom prevails, and, 

 with less secretive species, the 

 line can more readily be used 

 as a trail to the spider's re- 

 treat. I do not know that 

 this line serves any other 

 purpose than a sort of gang- 

 way by which the spider 

 leaves her web and returns 

 to it when the evening shades 

 begin to fall. Nevertheless, 

 one may recognize in it, per- 

 haps, the germ of the trap- 

 line. 



With other species, such as 

 Epeira trifolium and Epeira 

 insularis, the trapline is more 

 sharply differentiated from the snare itself, and is specialized in its uses. 

 It is a line connected by more or less deltated branches with the 



Fig. 328. A nest of Epeira trifo- 

 lium, showing the trapline at 

 the nest terminus. 



Trail and 

 Telegraph 



retreat of the spider in her leafy or silken tent. This is habit- 

 ' ually a single line in tlie species just named. The end by which 

 it is connected with the hub of the orb diverges into several branches, ^ 

 forming a delta or triangular pyramid, the basal lines of which seize 

 the hub at several points. The opposite extremity enters the nest and 

 is held by one or more of the spider's feet (Fig. 328) ; usually one 

 of the front legs is extended and grasps the line with the claw. In 

 this manner the trapline is held very taut. The branching portions draw 



See the various figiu-es in Chapter XVII. illustrating this point. 



