CHAPTEE IV 



SPIDERS WEBS AND CHRYSALIS HUNTING 



SPIDERS' WEBS 



In autumn some kinds of spiders are very much to the fore, and 



may well be chosen for observa- 

 tion, yet it must not be thought 

 that these animals can only be 

 studied with advantage at that 

 time. For instance, it is in the 

 spring that the water spiders 

 will make the silken bell to 

 which they dive, in the ordinary 

 aquarium, or better still in a 

 small flat-sided jar where their 

 movements can be successfully 

 watched. 



In summer, as in autumn, the 

 remarkable nests of many species 

 are to be found among leaves 

 and under stones, and the great 

 house spider can be persuaded 

 to make her home in a place 

 where her movements may be 

 seen. It is this animal which 

 spins a platform - like cobweb 

 across some corner, in the depths of which she lies in wait until the 

 coming of her prey. A favourite lurking place, out-of-doors where 



From a photograph by Frank Hughes, F.C.S. (by kind 

 permission). 



FIGURE 43. The web of a Garden Spider. 



44 



