THE GARDEN OR CROSS SPIDER. 



G73 



remains near the middle of and below the web, and as soon as a passing insect becomes 

 entangled in the treacherous meshes the spider runs nimbly to the spot, wounds the 

 insect through the web, and so kills it. The next move is to bite a hole in the web, pull 

 the dead insect through, and then to suck the juices from its body. 



When a number of these spiders are confined in the same box, they fight fiercely and 

 kill each other unmercifully; but in contradiction to this combative disposition, the male 

 is able to woo his intended mate without fearing death from her fangs. The cocoon of 

 the spider is mostly of a rather loose structure and is placed near the web. The eggs are 

 rather numerous, placed loosely in the cocoon, and of a pale reddish brown. They may 

 be found at two periods of the year, June and September. 



No small skill is required in placing the eggs within the cocoon, which in many 

 species is as round as a cricket ball, and is so tightly drawn round the eggs that their 

 outlines are visible through the web. This operation is conducted entirely by touch 



A. Kpeira bicurnis. 



B. Linyphia 



Ci. Theridion redimitum. 

 D. Tetrv.gnatha extensa. 



without the aid of the eyes, and is achieved in the following manner : The spider first 

 spins a circular plate of silk, and then adds a raised border, so as to form a hemispherical 

 cup. In this cup she then places the eggs, not only filling it, but piling them up with 

 admirable regularity. She then binds them in their places by cross threads, and lastly 

 spins a complete covering, thus forming the whole mass into a spherical ball. 



THE curious spider represented at the lower right-hand corner of the illustration is 

 called the Tetragnatha. In this spider the jaws are very large, long, widened towards 

 their tips, and diverging from each other. The eyes are nearly of the same size, and are 

 arranged in two regular lines, nearly parallel to each other. The web which this creature 

 spins is vertical, like that of the garden-spider. 



WE now arrive at the Epeiridse, a family containing some of the strangest members 

 of the spider race. The best known of this family is the common GARDEN-SPIDER, some- 

 times called the CROSS-SPIDER, from the marks upon its abdomen. This is thought to be 

 3. x X 



