92 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 
being just two to one in 
both cases. This regu- 
larity of proportion add- 
ed to my perplexity in 
seeking an explanation 
for the appearance. Why 
should the spider have 
made such a peculiar 
division in her spiral 
space? Was I on the 
track of some new and in- 
teresting departure from 
the fixed habit of this 
species? The snares were 
figured and described, 
and for a number of 
Fic. 87. Effect of rain upon an orb. The open marginal space was esis l aoe ee 
spun before, the remainder after, a shower. for an explanation of the 
peculiarity, which, how- 
ever, I saw but once again, and that in an Orchard spider’s web. 
At last I found the explanation. On the honeysuckle and ampelopsis 
vines growing in considerable profusion in my manse premises, I had colon- 
ized a number of Orbweayers, including several examples of Ar- 
glope cophinaria. One morning in September, just after a warm 
shower, while going the rounds of my colonists, I observed on 
several orbs that a series of spiral lines had been spun from the margin 
inward, covering about one-half the ordinary spiral space. No other beaded 
spirals appeared; and looking a little more carefully I observed that those 
upon the web were all greatly deltated and much more widely separated 
than usual. In fact, I came to the conclusion that the Argiopes had been 
engaged upon this part of their snare when overtaken by the shower; that 
they had abandoned their work, fled 
to their refuge, and in the meantime 
the beating raindrops had twisted the 
spiral lines already spun, until they 
presented the appearance described, 
and which is shown at Fig. 88. 
An hour thereafter I left my study 
to reinspect the colonists upon the 
vines. The rain had ceased; the sun 16.88. Section of Argiope’s orb interrupted by a 
was shining pleasantly, and I was sur- ei 
prised to observe that the partly completed webs had now been finished. 
But instead of cutting away the portions originally wrought in, and which 
had been partially disabled by the rain, the spiders had taken up their spin- 
Effect of 
Rain. 
