1892. j 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



222 



sound, ready to grapple with the supposed bee, no fear whatever will 

 be exhibited, for she is a Merops apiaster amongst spiders par cxelcnce 

 and in her web can be seen manv a ooor l)ee trussed up m silkcm 

 bands. So, too, will piitagiata cautiously and enquiringly raise her 

 forelegs in the direction of the hum and will show every sign of being 

 in expectation of a welcome though all)eit somewhai; dangerous visitor. 

 But let a spider of a smaller species be thus approaciied with that 

 significant twang, and down she will drop like a bullet to tlie ground 

 — for there are wasps which snatch small fat spiders out of webs, sting 

 them gently and bear them to their nests for grubs to make merry 

 over. 



There are in addition to the above many other spider denizens to 

 be discovered in and about my holly hedge, for it seems, the right of 

 stretching nets for ffies is confined to no privileged class but everyone 

 sets his or her net just where he or she pleases, the webs being often 

 in such proximity as to be interwoven the one with the other. The 

 harmony, however, of this association is seldom broken, nor do the 

 various occupants of different webs seem to interfere with each other.' 

 Should a neighbouring proprietor miss his footing and fall into a net 

 set beneath — well - he will be at once trussed up and hung in the 

 larder — l)ut otherwise they live side by side on very friendly terms. 



So numerous are the spiders and so closely are the webs set on 

 the hedge that it seems very long odds against any moth or gnat, 

 endeavouring to make its way out of the hedge or striving to enter, 

 either making good its escape or succeeding in finding a place of rest 

 during the day-time other than the fibrous and glutinous couch of some 

 fat spider. Here, we may find in plenty the two Zillas — for I find 

 that x-notata, Clk., though not so abundant, is nevertheless, here 

 dwelling side by side with atrica, C.L.K. — Tetvagnatha exUnsa, Linn., 

 and Metn segmentata, Clk., with their beautiful orbicular webs stretched 

 wherever patagiata has not already pre- occupied the air. The webs 

 of the two former spiders may readily be recognised by the trap line 

 which seems to consist, not of a separate, independent cord from the 

 centre, but as though one of the radii had been thickened, diverted 

 from its normal position and ofiice and utilized for trapping purposes. 

 For we shall see that a wedge-shaped section is usually (especially in 

 the young spider's web) left without the intervening cross lines, giving 

 rise to an empty space in the web, wdiich can be considered as a 

 vacant sector of the otherwise meshed circle. 



This vacant sector is usually considered as distinctive of the webs 

 of the genus Zilla and has been noted by most writers on the Epeirida. 

 Often and often however webs of Zilla can be found with this same 

 sector almost entirely filled in with the viscid spiral line — a fact which 

 has also been noted by several authors. But 1 believe tliat the ration- 



