= es ae) 
140 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 
spirals were thus drawn in shorter loops with much less curve, and the 
centre of the hub was well toward the top, two inches therefrom, In an- 
other adult web the orb measured eleven inches long by eight wide, the 
number of radii was forty-one, of spirals forty-five, of notched concentrics 
nine. The centre of the hub was five inches from the topmost spiral. 
The following measurements give some idea of the size of Tri- 
Web aranea’s orb: Web No. 1, about four inches diameter; radii 
aaa forty-three; spirals thirty-five. No. 2, radii twenty; spirals 
twenty. No. 8, diameter six and a half inches; radii thirty-five ; 
spirals thirty-five. No. 4, seven inches long by six wide. No. 5, six and 
a half long by five and a half wide. Radii forty; spirals, forty-eight 
below, twelve above. No. 6, forty-one radii; forty-five spirals. No. 7, two 
and a half by two and a half. No. 8, eleven by eight inches, central five 
inches from top, three and one-fourth from 
side; radii forty-one, spirals forty-five, notched 
zone nine. 
Triaranea is frequently found in the neigh- 
borhood of human habitations, around barns 
and yarious outbuildings of farms, but also 
loves the field, and is frequently found therein. 
It does not appear to have in so marked a de- 
gree as Labyrinthea a preference for nest sites 
naked of foliage, when such can be conven- 
FiG. 130. The looped spirals, L.S., in iently procured. 
Zilla’s orb. The maze or snare of netted lines in the 
web of Triaranea is, on the whole, not quite so prominent as that of Lab- 
yrinthea, but in some cases it is very heavy, and generally is decidedly 
marked in thé adult spider. The variation in this portion of 
the snare may be seen from the following extract from my note 
book, made during one day: No. 1, retitelarian lines not heavy ; 
No. 2, little or no retitelarian lines; No. 3, slight retitelarian lines above ; 
No. 4, retitelarian lines quite abundant in a protecting wall behind and 
above but not before the orb. 
These, like other differences in webs, may often be accounted for simply 
by the fact that they exhibit different stages of completion. Spiders do 
not invariably finish secondary parts of their web at the same 
Cause of time that they spin the primary one. The nest or tent, for ex- 
se ample, will sometimes be a matter of growth, and it is probably 
the case that the netted cross lines of composite snares are 
developed in the same way. Young spiders also differ from adults in the 
degree of attention which they pay to the secondary parts of their snare. 
The principal part, however, the orb in the éase of Orbweavyers, is invari- 
ably completed, if circumstances will permit it, before the spider settles 
herself to the pursuit of prey. 
Retitelar- 
ian Maze. 
