WEB-SPIDERS . 
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cither on the ground or the upper side of its web. It has an ingenious method of 
overcoming insects like bees, with which it is afraid to come to close quarters, 
when they have fallen into the web. Attaching a thread to a spot close at hand, 
the spider runs in circles round and round its entangled prey, letting out the 
thread as it goes and gradually enveloping the insect, and effectually putting a 
stop to all struggles. Then, when it is tightly hound, the spider cautiously 
approaches, and, inflicting a bite upon the insect, puts an end to its life. Also 
belonging to this family is the so-called cardinal spider ( Tegenaria guyonii), 
erroneously believed peculiar to the chapel at Hampton Court. Although none 
of the families of Tubitelarice hitherto considered possess the cribellum and 
calamistrum, one family ( Amaurobiidce ) is supplied with these organs. A well- 
known form is Amaurobius similis, which lives in holes in walls and ivy, where 
it spins an irregular, untidy, woolly web. The Plagitelarice contain the family 
Pholcidce, of which the genus Pholcws is the best known; one species (P. phalan- 
gioides ) being not uncommon in the South of England, where in sheds and 
outhouses it spins a characteristic web, composed of a tangled mass of irregularly 
interlacing threads. This species has exceedingly long and slender legs, which at 
first sight give it a close resemblance to the harvest spiders. It moves slowly and 
clumsily; but when alarmed has a habit of hanging downwards in the web, by the 
tips of the toes, and swinging the body round and round with such rapidity that it 
becomes almost invisible. No nest is made, and the cocoon consists of a flimsy 
network, enveloping the eggs, which the mother carries about in her mandibles. 
The next tribe—( Retitelarice )—contains a host of spiders belonging to the 
families Theridiidce and Linyphiidce, most of which are of small size, while 
some are the smallest of all spiders. In structure they approach very near those 
Tubitelarice which have no cribellum. The web consists of an irregular network 
of lines, or a horizontal sheet of silk, but there is no tubular retreat; and the 
spider crawls along the under instead of the upper surface of the web. The cocoon 
is suspended in or near the snare, and no nest is built for its reception. Of 
the first family a well-known representative is Lathrodectus tredecim- 
guttatus, which somewhat exceeds the common garden grass-spider in size, and 
is either black or variegated with thirteen pale spots. Occurring in the countries 
bordering the Mediterranean, this spider spreads it webs over grass fields, and lives 
largely on grasshoppers. This species and others of the genus are much dreaded on 
account of their poisonous bite. The Orbitelarice, or orb-spinners, containing the 
best known of all spiders, are closely allied to the Retitelarice, from which they 
differ by the presence of a smooth spot upon the base of the mandible, and also by 
having a narrow space between the eyes and the base of the mandible. In this 
group the art of net-spinning has reached its highest point; all their claws on 
the feet being highly developed, while some of the hairs on the apex of the 
tarsi are barbed and toothed to form a kind of spurious claw. Such members 
of the tribe as possess a cribellum and calamistrum, belong to the family 
Uloboridce, which contains the well-known European genera, Uloborus and 
Hyptiotes. Both these spiders are adepts at the art of concealment; the 
former spins a shabby orb - web in a hollow tree trunk and places of a 
like nature, and leaves in its web the debris of insects that have been 
