CHAPTER AVE 
NESTING HABITS AND PROTECTIVE ARCHITECTURE OF 
ORBWEAVERS. 
Tue spinningwork of spiders may be classified generally as, first, the 
Snare, spun for the capture of prey; second, the Enswathment, by which 
insects are disarmed and prepared for food; third, the Gossamer, 
Forms of ysged for purposes of aqueous or aerial locomotion; fourth, the 
Prine: ¢ for the pr ation and protection of the species; 
ain ocoon, spun for the propagation and protectio e sp ; 
and, fifth, the Nest, which is a domicile more or less elaborate 
and permanent within and under which the aranead dwells for protection 
against the exigencies of weather and the assaults of enemies. It is not 
implied by this classification 
that a difference in quality 
marks the material used in 
spinning the above forms, 
although to some extent 
this is true. In point of 
fact the silk used in all 
modes of work is substan- 
tially the same, and the dif- 
erence in results is chiefly 
one of quantity, condition, 
color, and manner of appli- 
cation. The present chap- 
ter will describe that form 
of industry which secures 
for the orbweaving species 
a domicile or temporary re- 
treat, which is popularly known as a den, tent, or nest. This domicile is 
usually wrought of clear spinningwork, or some adaptation of foliage. 
One who studies these nests of rolled leaves and silken tubes must 
often have suggested to him the habits and spinningwork of many larve 
of true insects, particularly the Lepidoptera. It would almost 
seem that one were marking a survival of manners which might 
justly characterize the immature period of a race, while the race itself has 
swept on to maturity. Thus, it is not in the function of spinning alone 
that spiders raise a suggestion of the larve of insects. 
(284) 
Fic. 254. Nest of Insular spider in clustered leaves of blackberry. 
Analogy. 
