﻿68 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [VOL. 47 



done, there is no standing still, no idleness ; each individual appears 

 to recognize its own responsibility in assisting to complete the web. 

 As soon as a spider finishes work in one spot, it hastens on to where 

 the web is still incomplete, so that within two or three hours the 

 whole task is finished. This done, the spiders retire to the nest to 

 enjoy a well-merited rest. Like some other spiders, these are also 

 nocturnal in their habits and begin web-building between the hours 

 of six and seven in the evening, finishing their toil before eight or 

 nine. 



The manner of repairing the nest is also very interesting. The 

 first spider that comes out of the nest after sunset sets to work to 

 repair any damaged portion it may discover. It thus never becomes 

 necessary to completely rebuild their webs. The burden of build- 

 ing and repairing the webs falls heavily upon the females of this 

 spider colony. They are the active workers. The males appear to 

 do very little, though not wanting in apparatus necessary for web- 

 building, since they may be observed, while young, actively partici- 

 pating in such a task. When they attain maturity, they think of 

 nothing but courtship and love, and can then be seen moving about 

 in the web, disturbing the females that are patiently engaged in 

 their work. 



With their nests and webs in shady places our spiders never suffer 

 from want of food. Bees and mosquitoes, crickets and beetles, 

 butterflies and moths in their pleasant flights entangle themselves in 

 the waiting snares. The struggle of the victims sounds the signal 

 that prey is available and the spiders hurry to the spot to pull and 

 drag the victim to the nest. In this effort part of the web may be 

 damaged. Spiders there are, in the family of Epeiridse, that can 

 skillfully disentangle a prisoner and carry it away without damage 

 to their webs, but social spiders do not possess this skill. 



The arrival of the victim is eagerly awaited by the spiders in the 

 nest, ready to catch hold of some portion of the prey. Those carry- 

 ing the precious booty never appear to resent the actions of others 

 that pull the victim in all directions, before they finally settle down 

 to partake of the food thus secured. Sometimes the spiders do not 

 bring the victim to the nest but begin eating it where caught. On 

 one occasion an extreme case of selfishness came under my notice. 

 A spider pulled hard at a victim, got a good piece of its leg, and 

 ran away to a corner to feed unobserved by the others. But as a 

 general rule they are seen partaking of the meal at a common table 

 and nothing can be more curious than the sight of these spiders, 

 almost one over another sitting at dinner, some feasting at the head, 



