282 ] The Wonderful Ways of Insects and Spiders 



cuts the first spirals with its jaws so that these lines fall away from 

 the web. They have served their purpose as a mere scaffold! If 

 you look very closely at a web, you may possibly see bits of the 

 temporary spiral clinging to the spokes. 



Built-in Silk Spinner: What the spider succeeds in spinning is so 

 extraordinary that the result is quite certain to cause an observant 

 child to wonder just how the silk is produced. This is the explana- 

 tion: A spider has special spinning organs located near the top 

 of its abdomen (in contrast to a caterpillar, which has its near the 

 lower lip) . There are two or three of these finger-like spinnerets, 

 tipped with many small tubes. The silk is spun from them as a 

 fluid but it hardens immediately upon coming in contact with the 

 air. 



Spiders in Ambush: Not all spiders construct webs; some kinds 

 merely lie in wait for their prey. You may find white crab spiders 

 doing this, though it is not easy to detect one of them. They are 

 great artists at camouflage, taking on the color of the various 

 flowers they hide in. Another spider that dispenses with a web 

 is the trap-door spider, which makes a silk-lined home in the 

 earth from which to stalk victims. 



How to Watch Spiders at Work: You may occasionally succeed 

 in moving an orb web with its weaver to your home, if it happens 

 to be attached to a branch that you can break off conveniently. 

 If you set it on a porch or some other likely place, you can then 

 observe it at your convenience. However, it is more adventurous 

 to watch spider traps being prepared in their natural setting. 



You may have a chance to do this while you take an evening 

 walk with your child; late in the day is the spider's usual time 

 for spinning. You can even plot to have a web built as you look 

 on. If you find one during the day with its builder lying in wait 

 nearby, break it quietly and gently so as not to frighten the spider 

 into running away. Then return to the scene during "building 

 hours" and you should see a new web under construction. 



