FOOD OF INSECTS. 



rated by a space of half an inch or more. These last 

 serve as a sort of temporary scaffold ing to walk over, 

 and to keep the radii properly stretched while she glues 

 to them the concentric circles that are to remain, which 

 she now proceeds to construct. Placing herself at the 

 circumference, and fastening her thread to the end of 

 one of the radii, she walks up that one, towards the 

 centre, to such a distance as to draw the thread from 

 her body of a sufficient length to reach to the next. Then 

 stepping across and conducting the thread with one of 

 her hind feet, she glues it with her spinners to the point 

 in the adjoining radius to which it is to be fixed. This 

 process she repeats until she has filled up nearly the 

 whole space from the circumference to the centre with 

 concentric circles distant from each other about two 

 lines. She always, however, leaves a vacant interval 

 around the smallest first spun circles that are nearest to 

 the centre, but for what end I am unable to conjecture. 

 Lastly, she runs to the centre and bites away the small 

 cotton-like tuft that united all the radii, which being 

 now held together by the circular threads have thus 

 probably their elasticity increased ; and in the circular 

 opening resulting from this procedure she takes her sta- 

 tion and watches for her prey. 



In the above description, which is from my own ob- 

 servations, I have supposed the spider to fix the first 

 and main line of her net to points from one of which she 

 could readily climb to the other, dragging it after her ; 

 and many of these nets are placed in situations where 

 this is very practicable. They are frequently, however, 

 stretched in places where it is quite impossible for the 

 spider thus to convey her mainline between the branches 



