254 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 
brief period. Here is a young Argiope which on first observation had two 
insects trussed up, one on either side of her central web, near 
the outer margin of the orb. On the second observation, an 
hour afterward, one of these was cut loose, and the spider held it 
under its jaws while she rested on her shield and there 
fed upon it. Here is another Argiope, engaged in feeding 
on a large insect, and has two other insects, one on either 
side of her shield, swathed and trussed ready for use. 
This is an observa tion which is frequently made. 
Another observa tion made upon Acrosoma rugosa will 
illustrate this point. When the observation began Rugosa 
had just captured a fly. A second fly 
struck the web, and the spider rushed 
to it, leaving fly No. 1 trussed up and 
hanging by a short cord. She seized the second 
victim, held it a second or two, then slowly re- 
volved it, using the third and fourth 
pairs of legs. The fourth leg was also 
used in pulling out the enswathing thread. 
A slight enswathment was placed upon 
the insect, and it was left hanging in the snare. 
Rugosa then returned by @ -ayspnug 
dragline to the carcass of Ey 
No. 1, and feasted upon her, 
leaving No. 2 suspended to 
the top of the central. 
When fly No. 1 was finished, the threads sur- 
rounding it were cut out, and the carcass was drop- 
ped from the snare. No. 2 was then approached, the 
spider meanwhile cautiously pulling on the radial 
gangway by jerks, as though testing the vitality of 
the victim or the neighborhood of an enemy. Mat- 
ters being satisfactory, the fly was seized, swathed, 
and brought back to the centre of the orb. When 
rejected, the carcass was a charred looking 
mass, out of which all the animal juices had 
been squeezed. 
While preying upon No. 2 a third 
fly struck the web, whereupon No. 2 
was at once flung out, as in Fig. 236, 
and hung by a thread to the lower 
margin of the hub. While waiting 
for prey, Rugosa clings to the upper part of the orb by the fourth pair 
of legs. While engaged in feeding, the fourth and second pairs of legs 
Trussing 
Captives. 
ping Flies 
Fic. 238, Carrying a moth by the 
spinnerets, 
Fic. 234, Carrying a swathed moth by the feet. 
oie -_s - + ‘p aied B eee 
