THE GARDEN SPIDERS 



381 



when twisted together they illustrate the truth of the old saying 

 that "union is strength", for a great force, comparatively speaking, 

 is required to break them. 



We must remember that we are still 

 in the vast world of "jointed animals" (the 

 Arthropoda), and in that respect all the 

 insects are related to those which we 

 are now considering; but the true insects 

 were left behind as soon as the Myrio- 

 poda came into view. Our present class, 

 Arachnida, comprises no fewer than eight 

 orders, which are made up of a host 

 of variously-formed scorpions, spiders, 

 ticks, and mites. Of scorpions there is 

 a vast number of species in the world, but . , , t, ^ r o „ . 



c ■, , , . ,, • , .,,. - ,, Attached End of Spider's 



01 spiders the host is well-nigh illimitable. Thread 



Spinnerets 



ARANE^ 



We all know what a spider is like. It has usually a plump 

 body, with its head, as we have already mentioned, buried in its 

 chest. It has eight legs; but the two front "claws" often look so 

 like legs that it seems to have ten of these organs. The character- 

 istic number, however, is eight. 



THE GARDEN SPIDERS (Family Argiopid^) 



On examining the web of a Common Garden Spider, we see 

 that it is composed of a number of threads radiating from a centre 

 like the spokes of a wheel, and that upon these another thread 

 is coiled round and round. The framework, of course, is made first. 



We also see that while the spokes of the net are perfectly 

 smooth and simple, the spiral thread is covered with tiny drops of 

 a very sticky liquid. Unlike the silk itself, this liquid does not 



