134 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 
The trapline of the Labyrinth spider differs from that of Trifolium 
and Insularis in being composed of several threads instead of a single 
line. Fig. 118. These threads usually diverge at the nest, with 
which they are united, and again sometimes at their attachment 
to the hub. Most frequently the trapline is a ray of threads 
converging upon the hub, The hub is characteristically meshed (Fig. 117), 
the sides of the meshes being in part the ends of the radii as continued 
within the hub, where they are of course greatly contorted. This feature 
is also observable in the notched zone, where the lines of the radii are 
often broken or zigzagged, and much bent out of their course, as may be 
seen at Fig, 119. 
I have observed the Labyrinth spider in the act of spinning her maze. 
The process appears to be a simple one to the observer, although it is diffi- 
cult to describe and yet more difficult to figure. The strong foundation lines 
are first spun, and these lines, after having been once made, will be pre- 
_, . served carefully for a long pe- 
ee _riod of time. Indeed, unless 
einth. broken by external violence, a 
spider might preserve this sort 
of household prop- 
erty through an en- 
tire season. From 
these lines, by drop- Fic. 119. Bent radii in the 
ping and carrying notched zone of Epeira laby- 
rinthea, 
Trapline 
and Hub. 
draglines, by crawl- 
ing around upon the foliage, by establish- 
ing here and there central intersecting 
cables, and then by dropping and striding 
from one to another, the labyrinthian 
maze of crossed lines is in the end evolved. 
However, the complete condition of the maze is a matter of growth 
through a longer or shorter period. When a comparatively few lines 
have been spun, the spider will take her place at the central part therein. 
She begins here to spin out a few short lines, which in the course of a 
few moments present rudely the appearance of the dome of Linyphia. By 
pushing her body and her spinnerets against the top and sides 
of this domelike framework, she gets it into a somewhat con- 
sistent shape. This is the foundation or scaffold upon which 
eventually is built her silken tent, which acquires consistency of tissue 
as the threads are gradually spun up against it. Here now she estab- 
lishes herself, and from this point stretches out her traplines and _ pro- 
ceeds to spin her orb, swinging it upon the strong cables or foundation 
lines of her retitelarian system. Her method, as far as I have been able 
to judge, is precisely the method of Theridium and other true Lineweayers, 
Fic, 118, Multiplex trapline of Labyrinthea. 
Framing 
the Tent. 
