SPIDERS AND THEIR PVEB- MAKING I99 



glistening webs. These are revealed to us by the tiny 

 drops of water, which, clinging to the silken threads, 

 reflect the sun's rays, and make the otherwise almost 

 invisible webs very conspicuous. It is desirable to choose 

 a dewy morning or the first hour after the lifting of a 

 heavy fog for spider-web hunting. The webs are not 

 only easily found then, but are then especially beautiful. 

 The funnel-webs are horizontal concave silken sheets, 



Fig. 159. — Argiope sp., a large urb-weaver (Epeiridae). (Natural size; 

 fnjm Jetikins and Kellogg.) 



supported in the grass by strong silken lines or cables 

 attached to the grass stems and blades. They have at 

 one side a funnel-shaped tube running downwards and 

 opening near the ground. In this tube the spider lies in 

 hiding, and from it runs out upon the upper surface of the 

 web to seize its prey, or runs away when necessary from 

 out the lower end, escaping unseen on the ground among 

 the grass roots. The funnel-web weavers are long- 

 legged, usually brownish in color, very often of consid- 

 erable size, and with one of the pairs of spinnerets 

 unusually long. Note how the web is suspended by stout 

 supporting lines. Note the funnel-shaped tube, with its 



