Natural Science News. 



VOL. I ALBION, N. Y., SEPTEMBER 14, 1895. No. 33 



Natural Science News. 



A Weekly Journal Devoted to 

 Natural History. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



Correspondence and items of interest to the 

 student of any of tne various brandies of the 

 Natural Sciences solicited from all. 



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How One Spider Held Its Prey. 



On the 23d day of August, 1895, 

 while out on a botanical trip I was 

 passing through a stump pasture, 

 such as generally occurs during 

 the transition of our land from for- 

 est to culivation, a medley of 

 stumps, bushes and weeds with 

 just enough grass for variety, when 

 I noticed a large spider going 

 through some peculiar motions. 

 Upon stooping down for a nearer 

 view I found it to be a large Epci- 

 ra diadcma, commonly called Geo- 

 metric Spider from the perfectly 

 regular construction of their webs. 

 They are easily recognized by the 

 large size and prominent yellow 

 spotting. 



At first I thought it to be fasten- 

 ing a ball of eggs into the web, but 

 as I had never seen this spider se- 

 cure its eggs in the web I stayed to 

 watch developments. Soon I be 

 came aware, from the occasional 

 convulsive movements of the mass, 

 that there was something alive in- 

 side. The spider had both ends fas- 

 tened securely to the web and get- 

 ting squarely under had fastened the 

 silken thread to one leg of a com- 

 mon honey bee Apis mellifica; then 

 by holding fast with its hinder legs 

 and treading swiftly on the bee 

 with its forward pair, thereby turn- 

 ing the bee, much as horses turn a 

 tread-power without changing po- 

 sition themselves, the spider wound 

 the thread around the bee just as 

 we would wind thread on a spool 

 in a bobbin winder, i. e. by turn- 

 ing the spool and holding the 



thread tight. In a few minutes 

 the bee was completely covered 

 and only an occasional convulsive 

 shiver of the silken ball showed 

 that there was anything alive there. 

 Then my spider left this one and 

 went to another similar ball which 

 I had not noticed before and com- 

 menced a vigorous attack with its 

 mandibles soon eating through the 

 silk and then into the contents on- 

 ly leaving when I poked it with a 

 straw. Upon opening this second 

 ball I found another honey bee 

 partially eaten and evidently cap- 

 tured quite recently. I then open- 

 ed the first ball but the bee had 

 undoubtedly been bitten as well as 

 entombed for it seemed lo be going 

 through a series of convulsions 

 and to be incapable of any action. 

 Is this a common practice with 

 this spider or was my case an ex- 

 ceptional one? I have seen one 

 web since with a wasp which might 

 have been served the same way, 

 though if so, the spider had eaten 

 all of the case away. 



Ernest H. Short, 



Gaines, N. Y. 



Ants. 



Dr. C. C. Abbot gives us the 

 following account of the swarming 

 of a species in New Jersey: "On 

 the afternoon of Oct. 6th, at about 

 4 p. m., we were attracted to a 

 part of the large yard surrounding 

 our home, by a multitude of large 

 sized insects that filled the air, and 

 appeared to be of some unusual 

 form of insect life, judging of them 

 from a distance. On closer inspec- 

 tion these creatures proved to be 

 a brood of red ants {Formica) that 

 had just emerged from their under- 

 ground home and were now for the 

 first time using their delicate 

 wings. The sky, at the time, was 

 wholly overcast; the wind strong, 

 southeast; thermometer 66 degrees 

 Fahr. Taking a favorable posi- 

 tion near the mass, as they slowly 

 crawled from the ground, up the 

 blades of grass and stems of clover 

 and small weeds, we noted, first, 

 that they seemed dazed, without 

 any method in their movements, 

 save an ill-defined impression that 

 they must go somewhere. Again, 

 they were pushed forward, usually 

 by those coming after them, which 

 seemed to add to their confusion. 

 As a brood or colony of insects, 

 their every movement indicated 



that they were wholly ill at ease. 



"Once at the end of a blade of 

 grass, they seemed even more puz- 

 zled as to what to do. If not fol- 

 lowed by a fellow ant, as was usu- 

 ally the case, they would invari- 

 ably fall down again to the earth, 

 and sometimes repeat this move- 

 ment until a new comer joined in 

 the ascent, when the uncertain in- 

 dividual would be forced to use his 

 wings. This flight would be in- 

 augurated by a very rapid buzzing 

 of the wings, as though to dry 

 them, or prove their owner's pow- 

 er over them, but which it is diffi- 

 cult to say. After a short rest, the 

 violent movement of the wings 

 would recommence, and finally 

 losing fear, as it were, the ant 

 would let go his hold upon the 

 blade of grass and rise slowly up- 

 wards. It could, in fact, scarcely 

 be called flight. The steady vi- 

 bration of the wings simply bore 

 them upwards, ten, twenty or thir- 

 ty feet, until the}' were caught by 

 a breeze, or by the steadier wind 

 that was moving at an elevation 

 equal to the height of the sur- 

 rounding pine and spruce trees. 

 So far as we were able to discover, 

 their wings were of the same use 

 to them, in transporting them from 

 their former home, that the 'wings' 

 of many seeds are, in scattering 

 them; both are wholly at the mercy 

 of the winds. 



"Mr. Bates, in describing the 

 habits of the Sauba ants (CEcodo- 

 ma cephalotes) says,* 'The success- 

 ful debut of the winged males and 

 females depends likewise on the 

 workers. It is amusing to see the 

 activity and excitement which 

 reign in an ant's nest when the ex- 

 odus of the winged individuals is 

 taking place. The workers clear 

 the roads of exit, and show the 

 most lively interest in their de- 

 parture, although it is highly im- 

 probable that any of them will re- 

 turn to the same colony. The 

 swarming or exodus of the winged 

 males and females of the Sauba 

 ant takes place in January and 

 February, that is, at the com- 

 mencement of the rainy season. 

 They come out in the evening in 

 vast numbers, causing quite a com- 

 motion in the streets and lanes.' 

 We have quoted this passage from 

 Mr. Bates' fascinating book, be- 

 cause of the great similarity and 

 dissimilarity in the movements of 



* Naturalist on the River Amazons, vol. 1, p. 

 32. 



