THE GENESIS OF SNARES. 337 
day and seeks some near by retreat. This may be a curled leaf, the shelter 
of a projecting bit of bark, a recess in the rocks, or other like refuge, in 
_ Which she is measurably protected from her enemies. As she 
Genesis abandons the centre or hub of her orb, upon which she has 
Deis. been hanging during the night and early morning, she leaves 
behind her the precautionary thread which is habitually drawn 
out after spiders when they move, and which I have called the dragline. 
This thread is carried from the hub to the point of retreat. It can 
nearly always. be traced by a careful examination of the orb, and by 
means of it the practiced spider hunter can frequently trace this 
most secretive species to her snare. This is not universally the 
case, however, as I 
have sometimes been foiled 
in attempting to find Epeira 
strix by her dragline. How- 
ever, the custom prevails, and, 
with less secretive species, the 
line can more readily be used 
as a trail to the spider’s re- 
treat. I do not know that 
this line serves any other 
purpose than a sort of gang- 
way by which the spider 
leaves her web and returns 
to it when the evening shades 
begin to fall. Nevertheless, 
one may recognize in it, per- 
haps, the germ of the trap- 
line. 
With other species, such as 
Epeira trifolium and Epeira 
insularis, the trapline is more 
sharply differentiated from the snare itself, and is specialized in its uses. 
It is a line connected by more or less deltated branches with the 
retreat of the spider in her leafy or silken tent. This is habit- 
ually a single line in the species just named. The end by which 
it is connected with the hub of the orb diverges into several branches,! 
forming a delta or triangular pyramid, the basal lines of which seize 
the hub at several points. The opposite extremity enters the nest and 
is held by one or more of the spider's feet (Fig. 328); usually one 
of the front legs is extended and grasps the line with the claw. In 
this manner the trapline is held very taut. The branching portions draw 
A Simple 
Trail. 
Fic. 328. A nest of Epeira trifo- 
lium, showing the trapline at 
the nest terminus. 
Trail and 
Telegraph 
*See the various figures in Chapter XVII. illustrating this point. 
