Spiders 



sticky threads and, at the same time, give the signal 

 which the spider anxiously awaits. 



The vibrations of the orb, caused by the victim's 

 struggles, intimate to the spider that it is time to bestir 

 herself. She rushes from her resting-place to the spot 

 whence the vibrations arise, being exceedingly careful 

 not to step on the sticky threads herself, for, by doing so, 

 she might be enmeshed, or at least she would irretrievably 

 damage her snare. Having come up with her victim, she 

 seizes it in her mouth and, bringing her two hundred odd 

 foremost spinning tubes into play, literally trusses her 

 victim in a broad silken band, rolling it over and over 

 with her mouth and fore-legs, the better to accomplish 

 her purpose. When thoroughly trussed and quite in- 

 capable of movement, the spider removes its victim to a 

 place of safety and sucks out its life-blood in comfort. 

 The orb, which suffers materially in the tussle, is quickly 

 repaired or a new one constructed, and the spider is again 

 ready to play the part of the villain in this humble drama. 



There are all kinds of orb webs all designed to achieve 

 the same ends though in different ways. A North 

 American orb-weaver, closely related to our garden-spider, 

 decorates its orb with a broad band of woolly silk extend- 

 ing from one edge to the other ; a disc of the same 

 material covers the hub. This apparently purely decorative 

 addition to the snare has its uses. The weaver of this 

 ornamental orb is often confronted with large and formid- 

 able prey, of such a nature that rapid trussing is essential 

 if the victim is to be prevented from escaping. Although 

 the operation of spinning the trussing band is but the 

 work of a few moments, the utilisation of a ready-made 

 band is still more expeditious. When an insect of an 

 intractable nature becomes entangled in this spider's orb, 

 it rushes out, seizes the woolly band and without delay 

 winds it round its victim. Should the prospective victim 

 prove too powerful, the spider, having no stomach for 

 a fight, beats a hasty retreat to the back of its woolly orb, 



268 



