184 AMERICAN SPIDERS 



is usually found anchored in a horizontal position about two inches 

 above the ground, tied to grasses and weeds. A much larger species, 

 Glenognatha emertoni, one fourth of an inch long, lives in the 

 Santa Rita Mountains and other high ranges in southern Arizona. 



The members of the subfamily Metinae are closely related to the 

 tetragnathids, but are more advanced in their structural features 

 and far more diversified in their general appearance. All of them 

 spin the orb snare, leaving the hub open; some of their webs are 

 remarkable atypical creations. The species of Leucauge are bril- 

 liantly colored spiders, green and silvery white, often spotted with 

 gold, orange, or copper; and our commonest species, venusta, well 

 merits its name. The species of Meta, whose best-known member 

 is the half-inch-long, brown and yellow Meta menardi (common 

 in Europe and possibly introduced from there into this country), 

 approach the typical orb weavers in form. Their inclined webs are 

 placed in dark places, often in shallow caves, and the large, snow- 

 white egg sacs are suspended by a short thread from near-by walls. 



The most interesting member of the Metinae is the basilica 

 spider, Allepeira conferta, a moderately elongate creature one third 

 of an inch long, whose cylindrical abdomen is furnished with a 

 hump on each side near the base. It much resembles Leucauge. Its 

 web is of especial interest, since it is to a large extent intermediate 

 between the sheet web of the linyphiids and the typical orb web. 

 Often placed deep in well-shaded spaces in bushes, this snare con- 

 sists of a large maze of intersecting lines that include a light sheet 

 web and additional irregular lines. The dome is an orb web, con- 

 structed of a large number of closely spaced radii and crossed by a 

 spiral line of presumably viscid silk, that has been pulled and guyed 

 into dome shape. (See Text Fig. 5, D.) 



Largest of all orb weavers are the silk spiders of the subfamily 

 Nephilinae, exotic dwellers of the tropics, whose bodies are often 

 more than two inches long and whose thin legs sometimes span 

 eight inches. Their great round webs of golden silk, which will 

 run over three feet in diameter and are supported by lines of great 

 length, are found spanning forest paths or hanging high in trees. 

 The giant female is attended by pygmy males scarcely longer than 

 her cephalothorax, which, although almost too small to be accept- 

 able as food, must still cautiously approach her only after prelimi- 

 nary tweaking of the web threads. People who walk along paths in 

 deeply forested areas frequently stride into the tough lines before 

 they see them. Small birds are easily ensnared, and quickly make 



