298 



AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



FIG. 274. Nest of Domicile spider in dried leaf. 



many dried leaves are seen in late summer, pierced by and clinging to the 

 barbs, and within these the spiders establish a congenial but not very 

 artistic domicile. (Fig. 274.) Others have a rude nest of rubbish at one 

 side, under the sheltered parts of the fence. From these dens several trap- 

 lines, in an irregular series, frequently stretch to the orb centre. Like In- 

 sularis she also spins a bell shaped tent when a suitable arboreal shelter 

 is not convenient to her site. Indeed, her habit in this respect appears 

 to form (if one might so say) a connecting link between the confirmed 



leaf nesting behavior of Insularis, 

 whom I have never seen without a 

 leaf nest, and the habit of- those spe- 

 cies that persistently occupy snares and 

 have no tented retreat. 



I have always found Epeira trivit- 

 tata upon a vertical web, with a 

 meshed hub and the usual charac- 

 teristics of Epeira strix and that group of Orbweavers. I do not remember 

 to have seen her dwelling in a nest of a very perfect character, 

 + -4-4- t but she makes a simple shelter at the side of her orb, in which 

 she spends part of her time. One female (Massachusetts) was 

 seen hanging in a sprig of golden rod at one side of her snare, having 

 several lines extending therefrom to the web. (Fig. 275.) Another was 

 resting, with her back upward, in a little nest in the leaves of an adjoining 

 golden rod plant. A series of slight irregular lines connected the hub with 

 the stem of the bush on which the orb was spun. 

 Trivittata 1 is closely related to Domiciliorum in gen- 

 eral structure and habit. This spider is distributed 

 throughout the larger part of the United States, its 

 locality having been determined from New England 

 to Wisconsin, and from Florida to Texas and Cali- 

 fornia. 



A quite persistent nest maker is Epeira verte- 

 brata, 2 a spider which is naturally grouped with the 

 last named. I have received numerous specimens from 



the Pacific coast, and from cocoons sent me by Mrs. Rosa Smith 

 Epeira Eigenmann (San Diego) have raised a number of specimens upon 

 brata vines in my manse yard. These all made nests of rolled leaves, 

 but they are evidently not as persistent and artistic nest builders 

 as Trifolium and Insularis. Early in the afternoon they would make snares, 

 and usually wait at the hub for prey, instead of watching from their den. 



1 E. arabesca, Walck., Nat. Hist. AptSres, Vol. II., page 74. E. trivittata, Keyserling 

 Sitzungsberichte der Isis, 1863. 



2 McCook, " Descriptive Notes of New American Species of Orbweaving Spiders." Pro- 

 ceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, 1868, page 196. 



FIG. 275. Shelter nest of 

 Epeira trivittata. 



