THE BANDED EPEIRA 183 



trap with a sudden effort whereof even powerful insects 

 are not always capable. 



Warned by the shaking of the net, the Epeira hastens 

 up ; she turns round about the quarry ; she inspects it at 

 a distance, so as to ascertain the extent of the danger 

 before attacking. The strength of the snareling will 

 decide the plan of campaign. Let us first suppose the 

 usual case, that of an average head of game, a Moth or 

 Fly of some sort. Facing her prisoner, the Spider con- 

 tracts her abdomen slightly and touches the insect for a 

 moment with the end of her spinnerets; then, with her 

 front tarsi, she sets her victim spinning. The Squirrel, 

 in the moving cylinder of his cage, does not display a 

 more graceful or nimbler dexterity. A cross-bar of the 

 sticky spiral serves as an axis for the tiny machine, which 

 turns, turns swiftly, like a spit. It is a treat to the eyes 

 to see it revolve. 



What is the object of this circular motion? It is this : 

 the brief contact of the spinnerets has given a starting- 

 point for a thread, which the Spider must now draw from 

 her silk warehouse and gradually roll around the captive, 

 so as to swathe him in a winding-sheet which will over- 

 power any effort made. It is the exact process employed 

 in our wire-mills : a motor-driven spool revolves and, by 

 its action, draws the wire through the narrow eyelet of a 

 steel plate, making it of the fineness required, and, with 

 the same movement, winds it round and round its collar. 



Even so with the Epeira's work. The Spider's front 

 tarsi are the motor; the revolving spool is the captured 

 insect; the steel eyelet is the aperture of the spinnerets. 



