BIOLOGICAL MISCELLANY. 71 
efforts to resist, in fact acted as if he rather enjoyed being eaten. The 
observer shook the bottle, but the female would not let go her hold. In 
a little while she had doubled up her partner into a ball, and with great 
relish proceeded to suck the juices of her slaughtered mate. The mouth 
of the bottle was now uncovered, whereupon the female disappeared into 
her burrow taking with her the remains of her lover. In a day or two 
after this another male was at her door, behaying in a manner similar to 
that above described. His movements were not interfered with, and his 
fate was unknown. 
IX. 
It has been a question with araneologists to what extent spiders mend 
their nets. I would say that as a rule very little mending is done, except 
to repair the damage wrought by the agitation of entrapped in- 
sects. The habit of Orbweavers is to produce a web in the early 
evening to serve for the ensnaring of prey during the night. If 
this happens to be well worn out by the abundance of victims entrapped, 
instead of repairing the snare the ragged remnants will be cut away, and 
upon the foundation lines a new web will be woven in the early morning 
for the capture of day flying insects. In brief, the Orbweaver adapts her 
spinningwork to the conditions of insect life, having in some rude way 
reached the generalization that there are nocturnal insects and diurnal 
insects. 
It has been a question in which I have been interested, whether certain 
spiders did not adapt themselves to the one class, and others again to the 
other; so that we might speak of night preying araneads as we 
Mending 
Snares. 
ae do of night flying insects; but my observations on this point 
nalan . ; : 
: have not been satisfactory. JI haye an impression that some 
Diurnal 
Spiders. Spiders prefer the night to the day, as, for example, Epeira strix, 
who almost persistently abides within her den during the day 
and goes out at night to engage in the capture of insects. Indeed, this is 
the habit of many spiders. All those that live in leafy domiciles or silken 
tents hold quite persistently to these in the daytime, and forsake them in 
the evening, and take their station upon the centre of the orb. To this 
rule, however, such spiders as Epeira labyrinthea and E. globosa are excep- 
tions. These are rarely found upon their web, but both day and night 
remain within their dens and capture their prey almost exclusively by 
means of the vibratory communications sent along the trapline, as I have 
heretofore fully explained.! On the other hand, large numbers of spiders, 
especially those of the genera Argiope, Acrosoma, Argyrcepeira, and Abbotia, 
keep their positions upon their orbicular web both day and night, and seem 
to have no regard, one way or another, for diurnal changes. 
1See Vol. I., page 137. 
