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ARGIOPE AND HER RIBBONED ORB. 109 
ica,! at least in the northern tier. Eastward it has been located in Texas 
and at Tampa Bay and Key West, Florida, and is found scattered through- 
out the West Indies? and the Caribbean Sea Islands.* Mrs. Eigenmann, 
from whom I have notes and specimens, describes the snare of Argentata as 
about one foot and a half in diameter. The foundation lines are very 
strong; the centre irregularly meshed and the notched spirals eight in num- 
ber, the three outermost of the series being about twice as far apart as the 
others. The spider rests at the hub of the orb in the position character- 
istic of the genus as above described. The snare is decorated with zig- 
zag lines and other thickened lines like those of Cophinaria and Argy- 
raspis. 
One of the specimens sent me, a mature female, survived shipment 
through the mail and spun three successive webs for me in a trying box 
. or jar. In these the hub was sparsely meshed and the orb other- 
screen wise of the usual Epeira character, with one remarkable excep- 
tion, which, as it occurred in every one of the three snares 
spun, appears to suggest that it may be a permanent characteristic. In 
ordinary orbs, it will be remembered, there is an open space or free zone 
between the spiral space and the notched zone; but in these orbs of 
Argentata sections of the spiral space immediately above and below the 
hub were continued through the free zone to the hub. Thus between 
radii 1-5, Fig. 100, the spiral lines were prolonged to the hub; and 
similarly between radii 10-15 in a position nearly opposite, at the lower 
part of the orb, the spirals were prolonged upward. Is this a new 
form of orbweb? Were the three successive examples simply abnormal 
modes of working in the notched zone, caused by the unnatural condi- 
tions under which the web was made? These questions can be answered 
only by those who may be able to study the spider in its natural home. 
The open section thus peculiarly intercrossed composed substantially the 
part over which the legs of the spider were spread as she hung upon her 
orb. Her abdomen hung free from the hub, to which it was attached by 
a thread from one-fourth to three-fourths inch long. The spider’s hind 
legs clasped successively the radii 1 and 4; the third pair held by a little 
pyramidal pull up between radii 1-17 on the side, and 6-7 on the other; 
the two fore feet on one side grasped radius 9, and the two other side radii, 
13 and 14 respectively, extending well down the spiral space. 
1 Specimens received from Venezuela through the kindness of Professor Peckham. 
2 Specimens received from the late Mr. William Gabb. 
8 Specimens received from Mr. Charles H. Thompson, Swan Island. 
