74 



SNODGRASS 



ARGIOPE ARGENTATA. 



This spider is common on most of the hirger islands. It constructs 

 large regular orbs, each having a conspicuous white zig-zag band spun 

 across the center, remaining itself at the center of the orb with the 

 abdomen directed upward and away from the web. When ap- 

 proached it leaps through one of the meshes of the web and assumes 

 a similar position on the side away from the intruder so quickly that 

 one does not easily observe the change of position, noticing only a 

 sudden movement of the spider. 



In January small individuals were abundant in the patches of salt 

 grass growing along the inner edge of the mangrove swamp at 

 Turtle Point, Albemarle. These constructed three sorts of webs. 

 One was a plain simple orb, another had the white zig-zag line 

 through the center, or several such lines, the third had a white cen- 

 tral disc formed of a thread spun irregularly but closely over the 

 hub of the orb. The spiders in these webs with central discs first re- 

 versed their positions on the web when disturbed, and then, if further 

 annoyed, dropped into the grass ; those in the other webs dropped 

 at once. 



Egg cocoons may be hung directly in the orbs, but are more fre- 

 quently suspended in straight lines spun miscellaneously at one side of 

 the orb. A large number of spiders often inhabit a small bed of cac- 

 tus, the space not occupied by their orbs being mostly taken up with a 

 network of straight lines bearing egg cases. These are flat (Plate 

 III, fig. 8), all of some shade of green or yellow, and have the edges 

 drawn out into angular lobes where the supporting threads are fastened. 



The species is pretty generally distributed, living in barren as well 

 as in fertile places. It is infrequent within the mangrove swamps, but 

 their edges form a favorite habitat. 



EPEIRA OAXENSIS. 



By far the most abundant spider of the archipelago, but absent on 

 all the northern islands — Abingdon, Bindloe, Tower, Wenman and 

 Culpepper. Predominates on all the islands in its range except on 

 Hood where it is surpassed in numbers by Epeira labyrinthea. They 

 construct large strong-threaded orbs between bushes at a height of 

 from one foot to six or seven feet. At Iguana Cove, Albemarle 

 Island, the webs were so numerous that scarcely any two neighboring 

 bushes were without at least one web between them, and often a nar- 

 row passage in the vegetation would be spanned by many webs placed 

 abreast of one another. Walking here was very disagreeable on ac- 



