ee a a ee 
104 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK, 
the morning glory leaves which coyer the board pile, apparently for the 
purpose of making fast to something in order to place her main beam. 
But she soon gave over and went back to her bed, seeming discouraged. 
Towards noon I found her with a miller or moth in her clutches, wrapped 
in what seemed to me a scrap of her bedding. As I looked, a fly became 
entangled about three inches from her. She directly went towards it, but 
in no great haste, no doubt because sure of her prey, and when 
near enough she reached out, hauled it into close quarters, and 
before I could see how, the+fly also was wrapped in a bit of 
white gauze.t She took it to her bed, and I suppose fed on it and the miller. 
“Tn the afternoon I found her on her bed on the inside of the web, 
exactly opposite to her old place on the outside, and there she remains 
this evening. Perhaps she thinks the inside the safer place of the two 
in the dilapidated state of her dwelling. This spider is certainly subjected 
to great trials. 
“Friday morning, September 15th.—There was a heavy rain last night, 
with wind, and the spider has disappeared. I haye shaken the conyoly- 
ulus leaves roundabout, but find no sign of her, and the wreck of the 
web has the appearance of being utterly deserted.” 
The journal here ended, and I heard nothing more of the creature 
whose life and trials had been followed with so much interest and intel- 
ligence by my Frankford correspondent. ‘The above quotations throw some 
interesting side lights upon the humble daily life of this representative 
of the spider world. 
It may interest the reader to know what caused the sudden disappear- 
ance of the Argiope at this point. The date (September 15th) is the co- 
cooning season; and no doubt Cophinaria had retired to some shaded 
nook among the leaves or adjacent lumber, to spend the last forces of life 
in weaving the beautiful basket shaped cocoon of the species, within which 
the young are reared. 
The Central Space of the Basket Argiope’s snare consists of the hub 
and its adjuncts, as described, and several (there are four in Fig. 89) un- 
beaded spirals. These are more widely separated as they ap- 
proach the beaded spirals, and they occupy nearly the entire space, 
so that there is little or no Free Zone. Some of the notched 
spirals are nearly always coyered by the shield, and when the spinning- 
work thereon is light they may be seen beneath it. The fact that they are 
without viscid beads explains Mr. Hunt’s wonder that no insects were en- 
tangled in this part of the web. 
The architecture of the entire snare is shown at Figs. 47, 89, 90. 
An interesting feature in the construction of Cophinaria’s snare is that 
which I have called “protective wings” or fenders. These are outlying 
Swathing 
Insects. 
Notched 
Zone, 
1'The swathing of the insect is often done rapidly, hy one outgush of silken filaments 
from the spinners, and a quick motion of the feet reyolying the captive. 
sei 
se kn 
. 
