144 A NATURALIST IN HIMALAYA 



Some facts may be of interest regarding the general 

 habits of these spiders. When suddenly alarmed they 

 behave in different ways. If the alarm is slight and 

 the Araneus is at work on its snare, it immediately 

 stops and remains perfectly motionless. If the alarm 

 is greater, it hurries away from the scene of its labour 

 and takes up a position in the centre of the snare 

 from where it can move in any direction to attack the 

 invader. If terrified, the spider deserts its snare, 

 hastens away along a foundation-line and takes its 

 stand beneath a sheltering blade of grass. Often, 

 when two spiders are working in close proximity, the 

 foundation-lines of the two snares may cross one 

 another or may be attached to the same object. 

 Under these conditions the spider of one snare some- 

 times invades the other snare. The owner of the 

 latter immediately recognizes the invasion, turns in 

 the direction of the intruder, grasps firmly two of the 

 radii and violently shakes the snare. The purpose 

 of this, I think, is to warn the invader that he 

 has crossed over into a hostile country and must 

 immediately return to his own territory. 



The Araneus sometimes acts differently when 

 alarmed. It lets go the snare and suddenly drops 

 down to fall amongst the underlying foliage. There 

 it remains concealed but not lost. It is still connected 

 with its snare by means of the filament of silk that it 

 has emitted in its fall. In addition to dropping from 

 its snare, the Araneus sometimes adopts a more com- 

 plicated method of escape. It first drops, then, while 

 suspended by its filament, it emits a number of 

 additional filaments which are carried away by the 

 breeze until their free ends find a suitable anchorage. 



