BIOLOGICAL MISCELLANY. 71 



efforts to resist, in fuel acted as if he rather enjoyed being eaten. The 

 observer shook the bottle, but the female would not let go her hold. In 

 a. little while she had doubled up her partner into a bull, and with grcal 

 relish proceeded to suck the juices of her slaughtered mate. The mouth 

 of the bottle was now uncovered, whereupon the female disappeared into 

 her burrow taking with her the remains of her lover. In a day or two 

 after this another male was at her door, behaving in a manner similar to 

 that above described. His movements were not interfered with, and his 

 fate was unknown. 



IX. 



It has been a question with araneologists to what extent spiders mend 

 their nets. I would say that as a rule very little mending is done, except 



to repair the damage wrought by the agitation of entrapped in- 

 ' sects. The habit of Orbweavers is to produce a web in the early 



evening to serve for the ensnaring of prey during the night. If 

 this happens to be well worn out by the abundance of victims entrapped, 

 instead of repairing the snare the ragged remnants will be cut away, and 

 upon the foundation lines a new web will be woven in the early morning 

 for the capture of day flying insects. In brief, the Orbweaver adapts her 

 spinningwork to the conditions of insect life, having in some rude way 

 reached the generalization that there are nocturnal insects and diurnal 

 insects. 



It has been a question in which I have been interested, whether certain 

 spiders did not adapt themselves to the one class, and others again to the 



other ; so that we might speak of night preying araneads as we 

 Noctur- <j o o f njght flying insects ; but my observations on this point 

 . , have not been satisfactory. I have an impression that some 

 Spiders, spiders prefer the night to the day, as, for example, Epeira strix, 



who almost persistently abides within her den during the day 

 and goes out at night to engage in the capture of insects. Indeed, this is 

 the habit of many spiders. All those that live in leafy domiciles or silken 

 tents hold quite persistently to these in the daytime, and forsake them in 

 the evening, and take their station upon the centre of the orb. To this 

 rule, however, such spiders as Epeira labyrinthea and E. globosa are excep- 

 tions. These are rarely found upon their web, but both day and night 

 remain within their dens and capture their prey almost exclusively by 

 means of the vibratory communications sent along the traplinc, as I have 

 heretofore fully explained. 1 On the other hand, large numbers of spiders, 

 especially those of the genera Argiope, Acrosoma, Argyroepeira, and Abbotia, 

 keep their positions upon their orbicular web both day and night, and seem 

 to have no regard, one way or another, for diurnal changes. 



1 See Vol. I., page 137. 



