4 
Psyche 
[March 
M. sp. 1 (ca. unipus ) 
The web of this species differed in that there was usually more 
than one capture thread attached to a single horizontal resting thread 
(Fig. 2). The average was 2.4 capture threads and some webs had 
up to five (Table 1). There was no apparent relationship between 
the number of capture threads in the web and the size of the spider 
that constructed it. The capture threads were usually not perfectly 
vertical and were often in different planes with angles of less than 
90° between them. They were shorter and thinner than the capture 
threads of M. simus and it was necessary to powder them with corn- 
starch in order to count them. The horizontal resting thread was 
always under a thin twig rather than a leaf, as in webs of M. simus. 
In some webs of M. sp. 1 there were one or more very slack, non- 
sticky, horizontal threads connecting the multiple capture threads. 
Because of their looseness and their variable location and orienta- 
tion, these lines were at first thought to be incidental (perhaps float- 
ing threads made by other spiders), but their presence in many webs 
of both this species and M. simus argues otherwise. 
Web construction appeared to be similar to that of M. simus. 
One spider was seen laying cribellar silk while moving up along a 
vertical thread which was already in place. The spider advanced 
slowly, combing out silk continuously with legs IV and attaching 
it to the thread periodically with brisk dabs of the abdomen. Total 
construction time for one capture thread was about 3 minutes. 
At night, M. sp. 1 assumed a capture position similar to that of 
M. simus, resting under the horizontal thread and holding a cap- 
ture thread with legs I and II (Fig. lb). During the day it either 
held the capture thread in the same way, or, more often, assumed 
a more cryptic resting posture. The spider positioned itself near 
one end of the resting thread which it broke and spanned with its 
body. It held one end with one or both pairs of front legs, and then 
pulled in the line behind it with the hind legs (and, occasionally, the 
Table 1. Numbers of sticky capture threads in 66 webs of Miagrammopes sp. 1 
(ca. unipus) and 22 webs of M. sp. 3. 
Number of Capture Threads 
Number of Webs 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 or more 
M. sp. 1 
15 
21 
22 
6 
2 
0 
M. sp. 3 
4 
5 
3 
3 
6 
1 
