112 NATURE STUDY 



ion can be examined at leisure. The silken walls and the silk 

 used in making the trap-door show that these spiders possess the 

 power of spinning silk, even tho they do not spin webs for catch- 

 ing their prey. 



The webs or snares of spiders present a great variety in form 

 and type of construction. The different webs made by the indi- 

 viduals of any one species of spiders are always alike however; 

 indeed, each family of web- weaving spiders has its own peculiar 

 type-plan of web construction and as we could distinguish various 

 families of non-web weaving spiders by their habits of locomotion 

 so, we can distinguish the various families of web weaving spiders 

 by the character of the webs. 



Most familiar to us probably, are the "cobwebs" of the neg. 

 lected corners and byways of the house and outbuildings. The 

 family of cobweb weavers is a large one, and its species are not 

 restricted to an indoor habitat, but many spin their loose, irregu- 

 lar webs in bushes. The web is a tangled maze of silken threads 

 mostly in the form of a flat or curved sheet of silk, on the under 

 side of which the spider stands or runs back downward. Some- 

 times the owner of the web has a silken nest in a crack near the 

 web, and there is sometimes a short silken tube leading from the 

 web to the nest. The spiders themselves are usually small and 

 very slim-legged. 



Have the children examine a cobweb carefully. Note the 

 irregular unsymmetrical character of the web. Can the general 

 sheet-like form of the web be made out ? Are there vertical 

 threads running to the web from above ? Is the web sticky, i. e. 

 are the threads of the web sticky ? Are all the threads of the 

 web sticky ? ( see description of orb- webs ). Are there any 

 remains of insects in it ? Throw a house fly into the web, and if 

 the spider comes to it, watch carefully all the movements of the 

 spider, Does it run out on the upper or under surface of the web ? 



