WEAVERS OF ROUND WEBS. 129 
Another European species, Meta merianz, approaches in the general trend 
of its habits our Meta menardi. This spider is found in the corners and 
windows of outhouses, verandas, and greenhouses, also under overhanging 
banks and rocks, and in other damp, dark situations. This quite accurately 
describes the habit of our Meta menardi. I have found the webs at the 
foot of the Allegheny Mountains in Central Pennsylvania, quite generally in 
dark and shady positions. Indeed, I collected quite a number of species 
within Sinking Spring Cave. These had established their snares 
from one to two hundred feet from the opening of the cavern, 
and had swung them against the face of the rocky sides. From 
the point at which I collected the spiders, I could see the mouth of the cave, 
which is not large, and beyond it the dim light of the ravine through which 
it is approached. But no light penetrated to the spot, at least not enough 
to make it possible for me to collect specimens or examine the snares. My 
observations were made by the light of a torch. I found a few specimens 
in sheltered positions outside the mouth of the cave. It is probable that 
the spiders drifted within the cavern when they were young, or may have 
floated within it upon the waters of the stream that enters it. But it is 
evident that a location within such a darkened domicile is agreeable to this 
aranead, and a tendency to this habit is manifestly a characteristic of the 
genus Meta. 
According to Emerton Meta menardi lives in caves and other damp 
and shady places in New England, and he reports specimens obtained from 
. caves in Kentucky and Virginia.! It is thus manifest that through 
ahaa a wide extent of territory, the habits of the species preserve the 
same characteristics. 
Blackwall describes the species under Walckenaer’s name, Epeira fusca.2 
Emerton, following Thorell, accepts the specific name menardi of Latreille.3 
If, therefore, we accept the American and European species as substantially 
the same, we shall find that this tendency to seek obscure places characterizes 
both the American and the European species. Blackwall says that in 
North Wales the principal haunts of the species are caves, cellars, over- 
hanging banks, and other obscure places.4 
Snares in 
Caves. 
*“New England Epeiride,” Transactions Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. 
Vol. VI., page 328. 
* Hist. Nat. des Insect. Apt. Vol. IL., page 84. 
* Gen. Crust. et Insect. Vol. I., page 108. 
* Spiders of Great Britain, page 259. 
