102 
Psyche 
[Vol. 87 
Consequently, as the spider reeled up the horizontal line segment 
between sticky lines, the two sticky lines gradually approached 
each other and eventually coalesced into one doubled sticky line, 
still attached to the water surface. The spider would thus 
“snowplow” toward the stimulus/carrying an increasing number 
of coalesced sticky lines forward with it. Eventually, when the 
spider reached the sticky thread transmitting the vibration, the 
coalesced mass of sticky threads, still attached to the water 
surface, would simultaneously contact the “prey”. One can infer 
from this type of approach behavior that the contact of the prey 
with one or two sticky lines alerts the spider to the presence of prey 
in the web and initially restrains the prey. However, the retention 
capabilities of the web are tremendously increased by the contact 
between the prey and the composite sticky “rope” accumulated by 
the spider as it approaches the site. Because the number of 
intervening lines can be substantial, the probability of the prey 
escaping is reduced, and the spider may gain time before it has to 
commit itself to subduing the entangled animal. 
We tried on several occasions to introduce prey into webs, but 
because of the complex current patterns in the sites in which the 
spiders built their webs, we were successful in only one instance. Here 
the spider was initially at the center of the web. It first oriented 
toward the horizontal line concerned and twitched the line several 
times with a rapid flexion of its first two pairs of legs. It then 
“snowplowed” toward the ensnared ant, reached the sticky line 
connected to the ant, and pulled itself and the horizontal line to the 
ant by reeling in the sticky “rope.” It then palpated the ant with the 
first pair of legs, dropped its hold on the sticky “rope,” reeled in the 
next horizontal line segment, and finally cut free the sticky “rope” to 
which the ant was attached. 
Web building. We have observations of several sequences of web 
construction, but need more information before the significance of 
the spider’s movements in the larger context of the behavior of other 
theridiosomatid genera or araneoid families can be reliably inter¬ 
preted. Our preliminary comparative studies suggest that the web¬ 
building behavior of Wendilgarda species can be homologized to that 
of Theridiosoma species, and that the non-sticky and sticky lines of 
the Wendilgarda web are homologous to the radii and viscid spirals 
of the theridiosomatid orb-web (Coddington, in prep.). 
Wendilgarda spiders may rebuild their webs as often as three times 
