Spiders 



We must leave the orb-weaver with the mention of yet 

 another species who uses her orb as a spring trap. Spin- 

 ning an orb very similar to that of the garden-spider, this 

 individual leads a trap-line from the hub to some solid 

 support. On this trap-line she takes up her position with 

 her head away from her orb ; with her hind feet she 

 grasps the hub of the orb, with her fore-feet she hauls in 

 the trap-line, till the centre of the orb is drawn back to 

 such an extent that it resembles an umbrella blown inside 

 out. On the usual signal being communicated to the 

 spider, she leaves hold with her fore-feet, the snare flies 

 back by its own elasticity and the spider is carried to the 

 very position where it is best able to deal with its victim, 

 to the hub of the orb. 



We must not devote much of our limited space to the 

 work of the cobweb-spiders, so common in our houses, and 

 their allies. From the point of view of ingenuity, they are 

 not in the same street with the orb- weavers. For the most 

 part their webs consist of irregularly arranged, non-sticky 

 threads, with a few sticky threads intertwined for the 

 purpose of capturing insect prey. Closely related to the 

 cobweb-spider is the common labyrinth-spider of our 

 gardens, and it displays a little more ingenuity than its 

 relative. Its snare consists of a horizontal, slightly 

 hollowed sheet of dense webbing affixed to some con- 

 venient vegetation ; from one corner of the web there runs v 

 a hollow silken tunnel, at the end of which the spider 

 awaits her prey. 



Here we may mention that some species of spider, the 

 lace-weavers, display a certain amount of decorative ability 

 in their work. True, a pocket lens is necessary to reveal the 

 beauty of their webs, but that does not alter the fact that 

 their silk is of exceeding beauty. Spinning sheet-webs 

 not unlike those of the common cobweb-spider, inspection 

 will reveal the fact that a number of wavy bands of very 

 fine silk run through the structure. These lace-weavers, 

 in addition to spinnerets, are provided with an apparatus 



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