I ILLINOIS Production Note Digital Rare Book Collections Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign 2020 :mmmmm Iv 111‘ CZH H: _ i. x; bl . I; 0. THE SPINNER FAMILY f‘“" THE SPINNER FAMILY I AN INTRODUCTION TO MRS. EPEIRA HE Spinners are neighbors of ours. They set up their housekeeping in our yards and gardens, in our barns and cellars, and sometimes in the best rooms of our houses. They are skilful little architects and builders, but they are so quiet and even wary about their work that few people ever succeed in catching them at it. “7e must Visit them in their homes to find out what they do and how they do it. 15 E i ‘I l ‘ ‘1 ‘l %«mm a}. “Wax-Lauuuuaaws. r ~ ’ ‘umsfix‘iw “'33 ‘ez-r . '_i.;i".w.r.'.~'_,.'.- , 45:; “371‘: ,n ,,..,.,,.,!5 The Spinner Family Here is Mrs. Epe-i’-ra Vulgaris, who lives in the garden. She is often called the garden spider, but I sup- pose she has no more right to the name than a dozen other Spinners who live in the same place. She builds her house in open spaces among the vines of the grape arbor, or the branches of' trees; sometimes she swings it far above your head among the leaves of the woodbine which cover the baCk porch. She is a shy little body, andcares nothing whatever about making your acquaintance. Indeed, she prefers to keep out of your sight, so she tucks herself away in her private chamber and stays there all day long, coming out to her living-room among the vines only after sunset. But even the twilight shows us that she is a very pretty little lady, dressed in a dainty pink gown with brown and White trimmings. 16 _ :a;ixézi§lsntm£.r_uisxn- aim”; .. ~ ‘ ’ :1? : "tfirwfzti’N‘fiz’Ens-rda An Introduction to Mrs. -Epeira , Like all the rest of the Spin— ner family, Mrs. Epeira has but , two distinct divisions to her body. The foremost part is the head and chest com- bined. If we Wish to be very exact, we must \ call this the cephalo-thoraX. Themdersidwf The hinder portion is the ab— :gfifjgfilo‘fifigj domen. This is almost five 7W oflegs times as large as the cephalo-thoraX. Small as the front division is, all of Mrs. Epeira’s legs are attached to it, and that means no small thing, for she has no less than four pairs. No wonder she can glide down her rope ladder so fearlessly when she has eight feet and legs with which to hold on! Every leg is made up of seven pieces or segments. The first round segment, called the coxa, attaches the leg by means of a firm membrane to the under side of the body. The coxas of the 2 17 Mrs. Epez‘m's leg A, the com; B, the femur; C, the foot 01' tarsus Auuu4¢amm -1me.¢t.x 7-13.11; flfimmmm mum.“ ..1.... -au. .1”: 251‘. ’ i _.1; ._ mm. 1* The Spinner Family eight legs form an oval surrounding the sternum or breast of Mrs. Epeira. Next to the coxa comes another small, roundish segment, then a long, ’ 4 strong one, the fe- \\ mur. The next “it. look as if they \ together as one, M across the two segments really belonged with a bias seam middle. The last, C j p o in t e d segment is the foot, or tarsus. But really we must have a peep at this many—j ointed leg under the micro- scope before we can see all of the in— teresting things that it has to show us. There it is, clothed from coxa to toe with hairs, all extending downward toward the foot. Some of them are fine and soft as silk, while others are stiff and bristling 23‘.— like small dark thorns. ' -_ _. At the end of the foot / W' you see three hooked claws, Mrs. E1062? (6’ 8 foot, 18 showing claws An Introduction to M19. Epeira as sharp as those of your cat. Be- sides these, there are a number of small ones so fine and sharp that they make you think of a bunch of tiny needles. These are called spines. Surrounding both claws and \\ spines is a covering of long, stiff hairs. You are wondering what Mrs. Epeira does with her eight feet and legs and her twenty-four sharp claws. In the first place she runs very rapidly; with four pairs of legs to carry her I sup— pose she ought to run four times as fast as you do with one pair. Then she performs all sorts of athletic feats that she never could do if it were not for her numerous hooked claws. These help her to climb up a vertical wall, or to run along one of her tight-rope walks,without any fear of tumbling off. Then, too, she never could cling as she does to the filmy lace hub of her 19 a “ She performs all sorls of athletic feats ” The Spinner Family house if it were not for these dainty hooks. And above all, she never could build her wonderful house of silk Without the aid of these same tools, which serve so many purposes. She uses her feet to help to hold her food up to her mouth while she eats her dinner, for you know she has no fingers with which to hold it. Her first pair of legs serve as feelers, just as the antennae of a grasshopper or a butterfly do. She waves them about to discover whether or not any danger lies in her way. How would you like to carry a clothes—brush around with you every minute? That is what Mrs. Epeira does. She is a very neat little lady, and if you watch carefully you will see her brushing the dust from her pink gown, and even from her face and eyes, with the soft brush/es of hair that she carries on her legs. 20 An Introduction to 211m. Epeim There are some other ways in which these interesting feet and legs are made to serve their owner. You notice that they are pretty long for such a small body. When you visit the Lady Spin- ner in her home you will see that the length of the legs makes it easy for her to spread out her weight over a large space, so she runs no risk of breaking down the delicate walls of her house. Then, too, there are times when Mrs. Epeira must walk with part of her legs, hold the thread that she cuts with another part, and help to weave with another, all at the same time. So you see she finds enough to do to keep even eight feet and legs busy.‘ 21 ::;,;-—:;:s:.;;i.‘..;i“.:=.;,5_g: .Lfil‘.£_._n :: m Wi-ng giiimfsuif , ,_,- ;_r_:r_-r,- ;~ » 2L1}; 3%: g. m”, , y - 3&3? :77...w.7.. . . r , II, MRS. EPEIRA’S‘MOUTH AND ALL THAT GOES WITH IT S we look again at Mrs. Epeira she seems to have another pair of legs, a short pair in front of all the others. Have we made a mistake after all, Mrs. Epeira, and have you ten legs instead of eight? She only wriggles around and shakes her house a little, as much as to say, “Find out for yourself if you can, for I will not tell you.” That is just what we expect to do, Mrs. Spinner. If those short append- ages are not legs, we shall find out what they are and what they are good for. There, she has skipped across the entire length of her dining-room, and l 22 Mrs. Epeira’s .Momf/z am sure she does not use them to run with. Now she has caught a dusty little miller for her supper. Oh, Mrs. Epeira, your secret is out! You W I'" I’m/ / are using those foot—like projec— ' ' tions to hold the little insect close to your mouth while you eat it. So these appendages are not feet, but belong to Mrs. Epeira’s mouth parts and are called palps, or feelers. This Lady Spinner’s mouth is ‘ very, very different from yours. "" \ Instead of having teeth and . tongue on the inside, as you i , , / . have, her teeth, and tongue A Malepalp too, are outside of her mouth, so all of her food must be chewed before it goes inside. This being true, she could never get along without her palps to hold the food in just the right place while she is chewing it. , Each palp is made up of six segments instead of seven—the number, you re- ‘23 “e / V flu) ’ / : : CL. _ =mrm.1i! :12: z:-;r_r_ , v l'vizlix' : -, ;; -, i :,_-.';' '-'i"' The Spinner Family member, which we found in the legs. Instead of three claws at the end, there is but one. The segment nearest the body is flat and strong. It is toothed on its inner margin like a saw. " This segment and its mate on the other palp mag form a pair of i " small jaws » oalledmaxil— 2" i 5’ mull“ Wflwalp lae. These jaws move back and forth like a pair of scissors, crushing the food. You would think that one pair of jaws was enough for Mrs. Epeira, but it is not. She has another pair, much , - larger and stronger than the maxillae. These are the man— dibles, or true jaws. Look her straight in the face, and you see the mandibles, like a pair of cylinders, fastened to the front of her head. 21. These are furnished on the 24 "' "l.1;’.~'*,r. a: ,. ,.,- :1; :-';; ' . , '._. ' .7 f' .m‘glktunmgua-u “.5.“ gm VA H fizz-sass:- Jaing‘mmhgim na:m:::""' ‘ ' ‘ ' '_,.....v: M‘s. Epeim’s Mouth inner margins with the same kind of saw-teeth that you saw on the maxillae. But this is not all. At the tip of each mandible, Mrs. Epeira carries her weapons. For you must know that all the Spinners make their living in the old-fashioned way, by hunting or trapping. That being the case, they must carry about with them some sort of weapons with which to kill their prey. The weapons are strong spears, sharp enough to pierce through the ' skin of any insect the Spinner may capture. I am afraid you will think Mrs. Epcira is a dreadful little savage, for she poisons her spear before she strikes with it. At the tip of each spear is a tiny opening, so small that you cannot see it without the aid of a microscope, and yet it is large enough to allow a jet of poisonous liquid to pass into the wound made by the sharp point. In 25 , .v-fiuuitfiuuumwifiu“‘4fiifiifififihfii:t.gxgfizw—a » -_- rm , a ._,_,_ .. H , “5.9,, i; .. m. . , f .. , The Spinner Family this way the immediate death of the prey is insured. The liquid is secreted in a small bag, or gland, which is con— cealed in the upper part of the mandi- . ble. A tiny duct fiiigfiitihffiiii’bfii£3732“; carries ’6 h 6 liquid thet'pafthePOisonfang from the gland to the tip of the poison-fang. Mrs. Epeira never uses her sharp weapons just for the fun of killing things. She uses them when she is hungry, to kill insects for her food, or to defend herself against the attack of an enemy. If you were to catch her in your hands, she might try to punish you by piercing your finger with her poison- ous weapon. And I am sure no one would blame her if she did. However, if that should happen, you need not be alarmed, for although the poison makes 26 Mrs. Epeim’s Mouth quick work of killing flies and other in— sects, it will have but little effect on you. It may make your finger smart or burn for a short time, in much the same way that the sting of a wasp or a bee would serve you. But remember this, that in spite of all the bad stories you may have heard about Spinners trying to bite people, no Spinner will ever use her poison— fang on you if you do not first attack her and compel her to bite you in self- defence. When Mrs. Epeira has captured her prey, she sets about chewing it up with all those pointed teeth on her mandibles and maxillae. She chews for hours at a time. There is good reason for this, for no Spinner ever eats any solid food; everything must be reduced to the liquid state before it is sucked into the mouth with the thin lips. 27 III HOW SHE FINDS OUT THINGS IN THE WORLD HEN you remember Mrs. Epeira’s eight feet, her four jaws, and her numerous claws, you will not be surprised to learn that this extravagant little lady possesses no less than eight eyes. Eight eyes ought to enable one to see very well indeed, but the truth is that all Mrs. Epeira’s eyes are not of so much service to her as your two are to you. They are so small that at first glance you are inclined to believe she has no eyes at all. A closer look reveals the dainty jewels set tastefully in the front part of her cephalo-thorax. 28 [Jaw She Finds Out Things They are arranged as you see in the diagram, two on the top of her head, two in front just above the mandibles, . . and two very close together at each ‘ outer corner of the cephalo—thorax. \ l/ It is a good thing for Mrs. \ Epeira that her eyes are scattered about so that she can see in every Mrs-Epez'm’scyes direction, for you know she can never turn her head around to see what is going on behind her. These tiny eyes are of the kind called simple eyes. They cannot see long distances, as the wonderful compound eyes of the flies and other insects can. They are near—sighted; that is, they can see only those objects that are within a few inches, or at best a foot of Mrs. Epeira’s body. They never give her the image of an entire object at one time. When you come near the little Spinner, she sees but a small portion of you, yet that is enough 29 ._ -._.__..___. __ -......_....,...__ W...“ .,__._ ____._.... _.... . J ”gain; :2 1=== ' W 'v ;.». .'_"1R':";’.'v.v.~ . 1.". ‘ - . . _ " . . L ”‘44.“; musm,.nm.mmqm_.mwu-maebmammwumfihun“£54.- .. . ‘ . , , _ --’ . V» mi... e. The Spinner Family often to frighten her away. What would she do if she could see what a great giant you really are? After all, eight eyes are not too many when they are very small, sim- ple ones. But Mrs. Epeira and all her kindred have other ways of finding out things in the world. They can hear as well ' as see. Just how they manage to hear without ears is not so easy to understand. However, those who have made a careful study of the Spinners believe that some of the fine hairs on the palps act as hearing organs. Other hairs serve as the organs of smell. Although Mrs. Epeira can see, and hear, and smell, she does not depend on any of these senses half so much as she does on her sense of touch. Most of the hairs on her legs, and those scattered over her body, are sensitive hairs, so sensitive that she knows in- 30 How She Finds Out Things stantly the moment you touch any part of her silken house. It is this wonderful sense that tells her not only that an insect has entered her home, butthe exact spot where it is to be found. Indeed Mrs. Epeira’s sense of touch is as good as a hundred eyes, for it enables her to work just as well in the darkness as in the light. And that means a great deal to her, for she does almost all her building under cover of the night. 31 IV MRS. EPEIRA’S SPINNING—MACHINE HE appendages we have found thus far, legs and palps, jaws and eyes, have all been fas— tened to Mrs. Epeira’s cephalo-thoraX. But attached to her abdomen is the most wonderful of all this little Spin- ner’s possessions, that is, her spinning— machine. The abdomen itself is large and round, and is fastened to the cephalo- thorax by a small stalk. On its upper surface are a number of queer little markings that look as if some one had tacked the skin fast to something on the inside. And really that is about 32 , . an“. , f' «g. sfiemmmsmumufismmah;vw p. Mrs. Epei7’a’s Spinning-Machine What has happened, for these dents are the spots Where the ends of the mus— cles on the inside are fastened to the walls of the body. The spinning — machine is found near the end of the abdomen on the under side. It is com- posed of six blunt pro— jections that resemble finger—tips. These are called spinnerets, or some- times spinners. Every spinneret is pierced at the end with hundreds of tiny, tube-like openings. It is through these tubes that the delicate silk for Mrs. Epeira’s weaving is drawn out. On the inside of the abdomen, just above the spinnerets, is a bunch of lit- tle pouches or sacs. From each pouch a small duct leads to one of the tube- like openings on the spinnerets. These pouches are glands that secrete a clear, 3 33 The six spinnerets A. ._. . ¢.uwumkwum_.m¢« 'mLAsznn'5m :5....d.5m u ._. . - ‘‘‘ . . ; ___ , 3‘1““ , z; < Lung}.— - * ‘ ~ - , , . . . ms: u» «sax-Wm... P The Spinner Family watery liquid. This means that a por— tion of the food eaten by Mrs. Epeira is digested or changed into a peculiar fluid which is stored away in these tiny pouches. When this little lady is in need of some silk, she gently presses her spin— nerets against an object and forces a small amount of the fluid through the tube openings. This adheres to the object and then she moves her spin— nerets in just the right way to draw the liquid from the tubes. The in— stant the liquid meets the air it is hardened into a thread. If you have ever examined an ordi— nary sewing-thread you know that it is made up of a great many small strands twisted together. That is why it is so strong. Mrs. Epeira knows well enough that one of the delicate threads drawn from a single tube is too slight to be of any use to her, so 34 111719. Epeim’s Spinning—Machine she dexterously holds the fingers of her spinning machine close together, and in just the right position, so that the hundreds of dainty strands are united into one firm thread, strong enough to support Mrs. Epeira’s own body. A strange thing about the spinnerets is that they do not all contain the same kind of silk; therefore Mrs. Spinner rarely uses them all at the same time. When she wishes to use one sort of silk she spins with one set of the finger— tips. When she decides that she needs another kind she skilfully changes to another set, and goes on with her work with scarcely a pause. She never makes a mistake, never uses the wrong kind, and never mixes up the different sorts. Years and years ago, your grand— mother and great-grandmother stood by their spinning—wheels and spun woollen and cotton threads. As they 35 The Spinner Family spun they deftly drew out with their hands the long threads, so there would be no danger of breaking or tangling. Now Mrs. Epeira has no hands with which to draw out her threads, but -she has something just as good. The claws on her feet take the place of fingers. With these dainty tools she ingeniously guides her thread, carrying it out to one side, keeping it from adhering to surrounding objects, and fastening it where she wishes it to be. Sometimes she uses her claws to draw the threads from the spinnerets. Now and then the skilful little Spin- ner wishes to use a band of silk instead of a strong thread. When that is the case she holds her spinnerets apart so that the hundreds of threads unite side by side instead of twisting together, and the band is made. 36 V THE BUILDING OF HER HOUSE RS. EPEIRA puts her silk to a very queer use: she builds her house with J, it. The first thing, of course, in building a house is to make a strong foundation. Now, since this little Spinner has to E I Fm ’IIN’ Ira/'15 11ml Spokes of All/'5. Emira’s house of silk threads, her foundation must be very different from the kind you would make for your house. It consists of an irregular frame—work something like 37 ..A4..,....._..... W - A .I The Spinner Family that you see in the picture. These threads are securely fastened to leaves, twigs, or other objects near enough to be of service. How do you suppose Mrs. Epeira manages to carry her thread from one support to another? She cannot jump across, for the distance is too great, and she has no wings with which to fly. While you and I have been puz— zling ourselves over it, she has set to work, for she knows exactly what to do. She takes for her starting-point that low twig which she has already cov— ered with a network of threads. Now she clings to some of the threads, her back down, her spinnerets upward and extending outward from her body as far as possible. For a moment she keeps perfectly quiet, waiting for some- thing very important to happen. A slight breeze gently stirs the threads. Ah, that is what she is waiting for. 38 The Building of her House See! she is sending out a stream of silk from her spinnerets. How the filmy threads glitter in the light of our lamp; for remember the sun has set, and our lantern must aid us in watching Mrs. Epeira at her work. For a few mo— ments she allows the breeze to carry the threads far out from the spinning machine, then with a quick movement she makes the thread fast by touching her spinnerets to the twig. Again she quietly waits; but this time she has turned with her head in the direction in which the threads blew. If we look closely we see that she is holding one of the threads with the claw of her front foot. From the foot the thread stretches to the hooks on her palps, and from these down the middle line of her body to the spinnerets. She is patiently waiting for the free end of the line to catch on some support. Every now and then she pulls gently 39 \ . 9’ ‘- , , II.‘ — v' [.4 i ’ L " “She glides along the )v 2, frail, swaying thread ” on the slack thread, and with her palps rolls a portion of it into a small White ball, as a fisherman winds up his line when he hauls it in. At last the line pulls taut, and she seems satisfied that it is fixed at the farther end. Just Where that may be she does not know, but she is ready to start on an explor— ing expedition to find out. Never did tight—rope walker perform a more dar— ing feat. With back down and head forward she glides along the frail, swaying thread, walking with six feet while with the last pair she holds tense the new thread that she is spinning. She speeds along so rapidly that you are half inclined to believe that she is floating through the air instead of run— ning along an almost invisible thread. 40 :1.!.~.1:. , ' *' V;- W. i.. .. , ‘irifv, ”Wit .-~W V q¢nu=rnntuu;uwmmtarmul » .. _, .7 . r' m. V . _ , 1., DW—"lmr- .mmkm: - A » The Building of her House She has reached that drooping leaf at b, ten feet away from her starting— point. She pauses an instant to fasten her new thread, and then glides back adding another strand to her silk rope. She repeats this several times, till the line is strong enough to hear her weight without swaying. On the fifth trip she stops a moment near the centie of the line to leave a small wad of white silk. When she reaches this dot on her way back she pauses, and then recklessly drops, swinging like a pendulum on the end of the thread she is spinning. She alights on a leaf at d, fastens her thread, and at once clambers hack to c. This line is now strengthened just as the first one was. Now she races down to e and drOps again, swinging over to d, then away to g and h, repeating the same exploits, till at last the frame- work of her foundation is complete. 41 The Spinner Family She is now ready to put in the spokes, for this house of silk is to be in the form of a wheel. She hurries down from 0, stops at the middle, and places a dot of white silk. This is to mark the hub of her wheel. Back to 6 she clambers, spinning as she goes. When she reaches 6 she runs down the: line ab, fastening the new line at 1, and the first spoke is made. Down to the centre she flies on this, and back again with spoke number 2. Back and forth, up and down, this busy lit- tle worker glides till all the spokes are in. Every now and then she stops at the centre to make her hub larger and stronger by fastening a disk of silk to the spokes already made. You must not think that she makes the Spokes one after another, just as they come. She is too wise to do that. Sometimes she makes two very far apart, as 2 and 3, or she goes up d 42 .‘LlLi Mwfikfi naval-v and... 3324:: Am»— é The Building of her House and carries the spoke over to 4. She does this so that her wheel will not grow too heavy on one side and thus/ pull the frame-work out of shape. After most of the spokes are in she feels carefully around the hub to find out where another ought to be placed. /‘ When she is satisfied / with the number she begins at V the hub and /MEf moves / and the spiral soafloldz'ng around i/ and around on the spokes, spinning as she goes, and fastening the threads to every spoke. Wider and wider grows the spiral, till at last Mrs. Epeira has reached the outer border of her wheel. You know when carpenters build a house they make a large scaffold upon which to stand while they are ham— mering and pounding away on the The Spinner Family building. Now this wide spiral is Mrs. Epeira’s scaffold, upon which she walks and stands while she finishes her won- derful house. Another spiral is to go in. She begins this at the outer border; round and round she goes again, fast enough to make her dizzy, if she knew what that meant. This time the threads of the spiral are placed very close together,—less than a quar- ter of an inch apart. As she moves around, one hind foot holds the thread as it comes from the spinners, and with wonderful skill fastens it to each spoke as she passes by. She never makes a blunder; the quick stroke is never made an instant too soon or too late; it is never too high or too low, but always at the exact moment and the exact place. But the scaffolding gets in the way of this new spiral. What will this lit— tle builder do about it? Just what 44 The Building of her House carpenters do when they no longer need the scaffold, ———tear it down. When she comes to a scaffold thread that is in the way she takes hold of it with her front feet, pulls it up to her mouth and snips it off with her teeth; then she rolls it into a ball with her 5 palps, chews it awhile, and drops /v\ »l it to the ground When she nears Ml: J the centre of the wheel she fast- WI ‘ ens a thread, leaving a hub of ' 5 about two inches in diame— l5 _ : ter, where she settles her- A l i T 2 7;,“ \1 fr ~’ self, head downward, to fl rest, for her house A "II/"4% is done. ‘l‘fl‘figss ‘\ é‘sé )\\% c kg Epeira’s finished house MA‘ 7" 7‘ , (A) The private chamber / \;_ & 45 VI MORE ABOUT MRS. EPEIRA’S HOUSE AND ITS USE 0U have not forgotten that Mrs. Epeira keeps two kinds of silk stored away in her spinning—machine. She uses both kinds in building her pretty wheel house. The foundation, spokes, hub, and scaffolding are all of the same kind, while the closely woven spiral is of a vastly dificerent sort. Place your finger on one of the spiral threads. It sticks fast, and as you draw it away the thread stretches like a piece of rubber to three or four “ It loo/cs like a string of tiny beads” 46 1110M about Ms. Epeira’s House times its original length. If you touch a spoke or a portion of the frame—work it does not adhere in the least, but remains firm and straight as it was before. We shall have to peep again into the mi- croscope to see Why the threads behave so differently. Here is a picture of the sticky, elastic thread. It looks like a string of tiny beads. The beads are small masses of a sub— stance resembling gluc. When the thread is first spun this glue covers the en- tire surface, —17 - Two spokes of a web with T he inelastic threads re- tlw inelastic threads placed by sticky threads The Spinner Family but after standing in the air a few min- utes, the glue breaks up into small bits Which collect in the beadlike drops. The inelastic thread is per- fectly smooth and dry. It would never do to have a stretchy foundation for a \ house. This the Wise little \ Spinner knows; so shemakes the frame-work and spokes out of the firm, dry silk. But the spiral? That is to serve another purpose, for this little house is not made simply to live in, but to act as a snare to catch \\ prey as well. 1' Already a small moth, 513327;}? ““01”“ attracted by our light is hovering dangerously near the gummy spiral. There, it has touched the Wheel, one Wing is stick- ing fast. No use to struggle, poor ' 48 1 I1! /I ll!!! W WI %}“ (III/I (Ill!!! ’71]! all "54‘ /I I a ll' ’1 More about Ms. Epeim’s House moth; the more you try to get away, the more the cruel threads cling and hold you fast. Mrs. Epeira at her resting—place on the hub knows the instant the moth touches the web. She dashes toward it, being careful to step upon the spokes and not upon the spiral. She does not care to have her own feet tangled up in those sticky threads. She seizes the insect with her front feet, tosses it backward till it rests in the grasp of all eight feet, then she rolls it over and over, wrap- ping it up in a band of white silk which she spins at the same moment. When this is done you no longer recognize the moth,for with wings and head and feet bound together it has be- “ It has become a little come a little white mummy. white mummy 4 49 The Spinner Family With the mummy firmly grasped in her claws, Mrs. Epeira swings clear of the web, clambers up to the hub on a thread which she has left for that purpose, and settles down to enjoy her supper. She is not so intent upon her eating that she cannot notice the en- trance of other insects into her house. She scampers first in one direction and then in another, securing all the intruders, just as she did the first one. Some of them she hangs up in the dining—room at the centre; others, when she has wrapped their mummy- cloths around them, she leaves dang— ling in the web where they were caught. Great rents are torn in the pretty silken house on which she has spent so much pains and labor. She does not mind that, for she is such an eX- travagant little body that she expects to make herself another new house 50 7.“ IMmKJQL-Lwimsc‘7": "“' .. ' ' ' ‘ More about Mrs. .Epeim’s House the next night. Now and then by patching the rents she manages to make one web lasttwo nights, but usually, she builds a new one every evening. She might feel more concern over the torn and frayed threads if she ex- pected to stay in this house during the _ day. But she knows that another apartment is awaiting her, to which she may hasten at the earliest morn- ing light if she chooses. This apartment is her private cham- ber. It is a unique little room shaped like a hell. It is made from the grow— ing leaves of the Vine. These Mrs. Epeira has ingeniously caught to— gether at their edges and fastened with silk threads. In the upper part of the bell she has spread a mat of dotted silk. Upon this the little lady stretches herself and sleeps or rests, feeling perfectly secure from all in- 51 :1 (‘3? ELL. UR, lee Spinner Family truders, for only those who know her secret would ever suspect that the innocent-looking /r:] bunch of leaves »/,r ; f formed the walls \ ’{év»\_\}\ / of Mrs. Epelra’s _ N . ‘K, sleepmg-room. éfisx“ \x. “ It 7's a unique little room, shaped like a bell” . .. g...“ .——.—_. m--—-——h~mm__*_mw_. ... ._ -—-o—-———~ - — .. VII SOME OF MRS. EPEIRA’S NEIGHBORS OT far away from Mrs. Epe- ira’s home lives one of her relatives, Mrs. Ar-gi-fi—pe, the Autumn Spider. She does not choose as high nor as open a position for her house as her pink—gowned neighbor does. She places it down among the bushes, Where it is partially concealed by the stems and leaves. She has a good reason for this; for she does not possess a dainty bell-chamber to which she can hasten Whenever she Wishes to keep out of the way of pry— ing eyes. One apartment is all that she has in her house. She eats and sleeps and spends all her time-in her large lacy room of silk. We do not 53 The Spinner Family have to wait until evening to make her acquaintance, for she is always at home ready to receive callers. Mrs. Ar-gi-é—pe is dressed in a rich suit of black velvet, trimmed on the back with bands of bright yellow. The cephalo—thoraX is decked with spots of pure white, while her long legs are clad in black and brown. She is much larger than our friend, Mrs. Epeira; indeed she is one of the largest Spinners that inhabit the tem- perate climate. We are told that her sisters in the tropics are as large as mice, and are dressed in the most gorgeous colorings. Mrs. Argiope is called the Autumn Spider, because most people believe that she visits us only in the latter part of summer and in autumn. The truth is that the little lady is with us all summer long, but we do not recog— nize her. While she is growing, she 54 Some of Mrs. Epez'ra’s Neighbors dresses in a modest suit of black and white. Toward the end of summer, when she is fully grown, she dons her conspicuous yellow gown, and people think that she has just arrived from some far—away region. The home of the Autumn Spider re- sembles that of Mrs. Epeira in many ways. It is a wheel hung vertically, as hers is. It has the same sort of substantial foundation, _, the inelastic spokes and the sticky, elastic spiral. The centre, however, shows that Mrs. Argiope has some ideas of her own in building a silken house. At the cen- tre is a disk of white silk about an inch in diameter. Around this is a spiral of inelastic silk, which meets the sticky threads about two inches from the centre, making the hub fully four inches across. Directly above and below the disk, and meeting it, is a zigzag band of white silk, making 55 The Spinner Family a fairy staircase, Which reaches from one end of the hub to the other. On the White W ./ disk and the " ' “yflooked stairs Mrs. \ settles herself, ‘ \ . -. m , . p y \ head down— luv“l / i” - , 11mm I . ,7- g , ward, to await callers or to sleep “‘1 awaythe tedi— J ous hours of \ /the day. Do not imag- w 7 / ine that this , “/1‘1/ interesting ’fl\ /V Spinner walks up and down her “ i Winding stairs. ' 9 #‘>T\T*”~ She is too // \ big for . V H that. She /// calle'rS” probably .5 V ' - //’1 placseGd the zigzag band Some of Mrs. Epeira’s Neighbors in the web to brace it while she is practising her gymnastic exercises. See what she does when I touch her web near the centre. She begins to Vibrate back and forth; she swings, faster and faster, till she looks like a mere thread of black and yellow in the air. Now if a bird has decided to make a meal of Mrs. Argiope don’t you think it will have a hard time trying to catch her while she is Vi- brating so rapidly? It will no doubt fly away and seek a dinner elsewhere; and that is exactly What Mrs. Argiope expects it to do. Don’t you think that is a pretty clever way to outwit an enemy? Most of the Autumn Spiders prefer to set up their homes in the fields rather than in our gardens. Often you may find a whole colony of them, with their houses placed in a row among the tall grasses and weeds which border the pastures and meadows. 57 The Spinner Family '/ We have only to take a step or two from Mrs. Argiope’s house among the : bushes to find ourselves E face to face with another " of our garden neighbors, E littleMiss Silverback. This little Spinner does not swing ! her wheel-house vertically, as her larger relatives do, but horizontally, attaching it by cables to the twigs and leaves at the sides, and beneath to a wonderful bit of trestle—work built up , . out of dainty silk cords. ’ This little Spinner lives on the underside of the web, back downward; so, as you look down upon her, you always see the un- derside of her body. The first thing you notice 58 #5.... x” < T s.»- . -. 2 ’ ,7 . . \ , , ‘E E E! [Miss i 1- Silverback Some of Mrs. Epeim’s Neighbors when you see her is a crescent spot near the centre of the abdomen. It flashes and gleams as she moves about, till you are ready to declare that it is a spark of fire. It is not, however, but only a bit of exquisite metallic coloring. The rest of her gown is in keeping With this brilliant bit of trimming. It is dark- green and black on the abdomen and waXlike white on the cephalo-thoraX, while her eight slender legs are clad in light green dotted with black. All this shows from the under side. But you must get a glimpse of the. upper surface. Here the abdomen has bands of real silver running the en- tire length. These are sep- arated by stripes of black bordered with green. The cephalo-thorax has the same Diagmmofmver. ' ' b k’ _ wax-like cover that 1t has on a” “y“ 59 . .61."... ...__... ..fl5“~uWW—hbfih--In _. —-—-~—'—- ' . ‘ " " ' " " __..__..,,.‘._._ The Spinner Family the under side, and near the front are the eyes, of a rich mahogany shade, arranged as you see in the diagram. This gayly dressed little lady lives in her lacy house all day long. If you are quiet and do not shake the bushes around her When you make your call, you may watch the dainty little Spinner as long as you choose. But if you are too noisy to suit her, she glides away on one of her silk cables and hides under a leaf, not corn- ing back till she thinks you have left her neighborhood. VIII MORE NEIGHBORS, THE HUNCHBACKS AND MIMICS HE garden seems to be a fa- vorite location for Spinners. Here is another swinging web, not two feet away from Miss Silverback’s home. This wheel, like Mrs. Epeira’s, hangs in a vertical position. The owner has taken no pains to conceal it; on the contrary, she seems anxious to show it off, for there is a row of small balls of dirty silk, crumpled—up skeletons and wings of insects, and bits of bark, extending across it from top to bottom. What do you suppose any Spinner means by hanging up a string of dirt 61 .. ,_....-.....—.... .«w—mm—Wm“ ——- "‘ H A. _ . The Spin-7267“ Family in the very best room of her house? She cannot be a very tidy house— i keeper, to say the least. But Where is she? We have come to call, and are anxious to meet Mrs. Spinner, Whether she is a good housekeeper ‘ i ‘ i \| ’4‘. i ll ‘. , a: ’ t i ‘ E ‘ 1 { i .15. t “ But where is she .9 ” / /;/ i ‘ / I ‘ / 1 / i / u i y l/ s ; E ‘ 62 i I: is ‘1 The [Junchbacks and Mimics She is hiding from us, and like the thimble in the old game of “ I Spy,” she is in plain sight. There, I shall touch each of those balls, beginning at the top. Nothing happens till I put my finger on that piece of bark a little below the centre. It falls to the ground, and lies there, motionless. A quarter of an hour passes and then the piece of dead bark begins to wriggle. There! it has come to life, and is clambering up a thread toward the web, as a sailor would climb a mast. So /thatiis the little house— keeper! She has been playing a joke on us. She is a dumpy little body, with short legs and small cephalo- thorax. Her abdomen is the largest part of her body, and is covered with tiny knobs. Her dress is dull brown, speckled with gray. When this little hunchback has reached the. spot from which she fell, 63 x" nus-n...,Www‘mu-wuw—‘mxg an. an, ;.,-; r ‘ «mm. .m. " ‘ ' v—c unwm-pwiwuvwm-I Emma‘Awwv-uumnsou ~ q..y.....-.».-... ~.« The Spinner Family she settles down, tucks her legs up under her, draws her cephalo-thoraX close to her abdomen, and there she is, looking just as much like a ball of dirt as those hanging above and below her. What a clever little body she is to find such an ingenious method to hide from her enemies. Not far away, in the lower branches of a cherry tree, another hunchback has her home. Part of her founda— tion threads are fastened to two dead branches, that have been sawed off two or three feet from the trunk of the tree. The web is hung neither ver— tically nor horizontally, but obliquely. Of all the lace houses in the garden, this one is most beautiful in form and workmanship. The owne1 of this exquisite home is such a queer- l—ooking little body ‘zAsasailor that you would never suspect her would climb a mast of belonging to the Spinner family. 64 . . nr... ”1...... quwgnsafifi‘mn .1 .-.. . - The Hunchbacks and Mimics Her cephalo-thoraX is so tiny that it is hardly noticeable. The abdomen , - .1 {is the impor— 4’94: tant part of her body./ It is in the form of a pyramid, with the base uppermost. The sides are inconspicuously streaked with brown and buff, while the upper part is mottled black and White. A rim extends around it, with eight pointed projections. You have seen a little flowerless plant, called a fungus, that grows in tufts and scallops upon dead logs and 5 65 -.~ .5 3.», r» 7 . 27/ ”’14 i r r ' / 5" ‘, /\ , d 5:7; ‘ iii/:1 / u The Owner of this exquisite home ” / The Spinner Family trees. When Mrs. Hunchback hurries from her web, and settles herself upon one of the dead branches, you would have to look very closely to distinguish her from a tuft of white and _ ' black fungus. I suppose that is what she wants you, and all her enemies, to think that she is. Another dainty home is situ— ated in the same bush with the little hunchback who tried to make us think she was a bit of dry bark. No balls of dirt are scattered about this house, but there are two small straws, lying side by side, in the lacy film. Ah, I am afraid that you are ‘ allowing another Spinner to play ' a trick on you. The truth is ‘ that those bits of straw are Mrs. Spinner herself. How can she make herself look like that? 66 The Hunc/zbac/cs and Mmz'cs Easily enough. Her body is very slen- der and the exact color of straw. She stretches two pairs of her long, slim legs backward, and two forward, as you see in the picture, and her disguise is complete. / y This little mimic, and all the other Spinners that ‘ make wheel webs, are put into one great class known as // '\": ‘» ‘ orb-weavers. _ .r / “ ZIIrs. Hunchback” / / 7/ 67 IX THE TENT—MAKERS AVE you ever looked out of your window on a summer morning to find the yard below completely covered with small white tents? You half suspect that a regiment of fairy soldiers camped there during night, and forgot to hie away at break of day, as all good fairies are expected to do. By the time the sun has been shin- ing two or three hours the tents have apparently disappeared, and you are almost ready to believe in the fairy story. Nevertheless, the tents do not belong to fairies, neither have they disappeared. 68 The Tent—Illakers They have become invisible, because the dew with f which they were /\ v i Since these tents belong to the Spinners, you suspect at once that\‘\ they are not made out of ordinary can- l\i\ . vas. The truth is that they are madev out of the finest of silk fabrics. The dwellers in these tents are com- monly called grass-spiders, because so many of them live in the grasses of the lawns and meadows. Their real family name is Agelenae, but if we 69 ‘._. .~ -.————- .‘ flma—u—y. “mm i i f i % i % i g i E The Spinner Family are to talk about one member of the family, we shall call her Agelena. Mrs. Agelena does not carry her tent about and pitch it where she chooses, as you do when you go camp— ing in the summer time. But she decides where it is to be, and then skilfully sets about weaving the cloth and pitching the tent at the same time. She fastens her warp to the blades of grass on every side, then she works in the woof by walking rapidly back and forth and spinning as she goes. When the tent cover'is of sufficient thickness she fastens numerous guy ropes to the blades of grass both above and below. She has no inten- tion of having her tent blow away because of insecure fastenings. When we look closely we see that after all this is no ordinary tent. But then you would not expect a Spinner to make an ordinary one, would you? 70 The Tent-Makers It has a stairway leading from the flat roof to the ground-floor beneath. It is a pretty tunnel—staircase slanting ob— liquely downward. There are no steps, but Mrs. Agelena does not need steps when she has twenty—four claws to help her to climb up a smooth surface. Sometimes this elaborate tent has a cellar as well as a ground-floor. This is a crack or a crevice in the ground. When this is the case the stairway always ends in the cellar. Mrs. Grass-Spider does not look very much like her relatives the orb weavers. She never dresses in bright colors as they do, but wears an incon- spicuous suit of dark-brown or gray. Her abdomen and cephalo-thoraX are almost equal in size. At the end of the abdomen are two pointed projec- tions like a pair of pincers. These are the hinder pair of spinnerets, the pair that she makes the most use of 71 ~ 1 l, .E; l" t g . 2w The Spinner Family when weaving the delicate covering for € £1 her tent. The other ‘ Spinners are shorter, and cannot be seen Without look- ing on the 1, under side of ’2 the body. M1s. Tent- maker is always at > home. If c: \ \ \_ '«?<: you are very, very quiet as you ap— proach her house, you will find her sitting in her f’\ ‘7 %\ y stairway peep— ing out upon the roof. If you disturb her 72 “ Peeping out upon the 9 00f” 3 The Tent-Jilakers by shaking the grass—blades, you will probably catch a glimpse of her eight legs as she whirls down her stairs, and seeks a place of _ _ I}, safety in her cellar, or 1/7" 47/ 7/ among the roots of the // grass on the first floor. ‘ 7/ 0/; Mrs. Agelena does not ///7 /\ build a new home every (21,!” night, as the orb weavers G’”SSSPW’"" do. Indeed, if you do not ruthlessly tear down her tent with your lawn mower or sickle, she makes one last several weeks. True, she fixes it up occasionally, putting a new border all around it, and a fresh layer of threads on the upper surface. None of the Spinners come to us in greater numbers than the tent-makers. Not only do they camp out on our lawns and meadows, but certain species pitch their tents upon the horizontal branches of the shrubbery in the gar- 73 The Spimier Family den. Others stretch their filmy can- vas in fence corners and make a cellar out of a knot—hole in a post. Some of the most ambitious among them clamber up the side of a hay— stack and camp out on the very sum- mit of the fragrant pile. Another kind enters our homes and swings her tents, like hammocks, in the corners of the rooms, or in the window-cases of the cellar, or in any other niches where1 the tent may be swung and the owner find a safe retreat from the lower end of her stairway. Like the orb—weavers the tent-makers use two kinds of silk. The tent is made chiefly of the dry,inelastic kind, but over the upper surface there are stretched a few threads of the gummy, elastic silk. You can determine this for yourself; touch the under surface of the tent with your finger, and nothing happens. When you touch the upper surface 74 The Tent-Makers some of the threads stick to your fin- ger, just as the spiral in Mrs. Epeira’s wheel did. The reason for the sticky threads is obvious. If a fly or beetle or cricket happens to step or alight upon Mrs. Agelena’s tent, it becomes tangled up in the threads, and before it can extri- cate itself Mrs. Spinner has darted from her stairway, where she has been hiding, and clutched the luckless in- sect in her claws. She dashes down the stairs, and hides among the ' grass roots, where she dines at her leisure. /.z “ Mrs. Spinner has darted from her stairway ” 75 _.. .. :Q—u.~.—.—.——.“_ “nu-.m'W—mwbban -—-— --—~ , X MRS. HOUSE—SPIDER ESIDES the little tent-maker who likes to pre—empt the corners of our cellar win— dows for her building-place, another of the Spinners always sets up her housekeeping somewhere about our homes. For this reason she is called the house-spider. Indeed, in some mysterious way this Spinner seems to belong to people, for wherever civ- ilized man is found she is sure to make her appearance. She crosses the sea in our ships, and no doubt the conti- nent in our trains. She is a timid little creature, choos- ing the most secluded nooks and cor- 76 Mrs. House—Spider ners for her dwelling—place. No spot suits her better than the dark spaces under the cellar stairway, or the dim re- cess behind a heavy piece of furniture. Her real name is Mrs. Theridion. She dresses in a dark—brown suit which is slightly mottled with white on the upper side of the abdomen. Her cephalo—thorax is small, while her abdomen is large and round, making her look like a ball as she hangs from her web. Her house is not so pretty as the tent-makers, nor so artistic as the ex- quisite lace wheels of the orb—weavers. At first sight you think it is nothing but an irregular mass of tangled threads. A closer look reveals that it is a mar- vellous piece of trestle-work, with an intricate network of threads crossing and reerossing each other, and with numberless cables stretching to the walls and floor on other supports. 77 ., .. 5......“- ., «-w—MW—u..." .— __.__.....M_..,.j~._..._.._m.y.:m_vy-n m “fivp—ymv-W Mum-harm— - awn» , ‘ as she hangs The Spinner Family In the midst of the meshes Mrs. House-Spider hangs, back downward, ‘A Milli???) her head h i d de 11 from View behind her “ round abdomen. You wonder how she ever reached the centre of that tangle; ;V and now that she is there ~3%“ “‘\\‘e. A ‘ xx you are at as great a loss to know how she will ever pg“ / manage to get out again. She ‘ would laugh at your perplexity / 1 if she knew how, for the appar- /' ent mass of trestle-work is 3 only on the outside of a hol- l low space. The space is Mrs. : ”WWW Theridion’s room, and the ””7””ch trestle—work forms the walls of her house. The room is open below 78 Mrs. House—Spider and also above. When the owner. of this unique house wishes to leave it, all she has to do is to clamber up one of the cables stretching to the support overhead, or glide down one which reaches to the wall or floor beneath. All day long this Spinner may be found in her strangely walled room. She is so quiet that she scarcely seems to be alive; the truth is she is taking a good sound nap. Like so many of her kindred she has learned to sleep during the day and work at night. If left undisturbed, the house-spider, like the tent-makers, makes one house last a long time, sometimes all summer. However, if you come with your broom and ruthlessly demolish her web, she patiently sets to work, as soon as dark- ness protects her from prying eyes, to construct another, thankful, no doubt, to escape with her life. If the destruc- tion of her home continues, she ceases 79 s i l ,3 E to build the elab- ~, ,_ orate structure 1‘ A ">¥ \__ \ we have de— / / /‘\ scribed, but , / instead she stretches _// a few cables, places a few threads around a small room, / ‘ / ' and makes this answer the purpose. / / Mrs. Theridion uses her trestle- / walled room to dine in as well as / ' to rest and sleep in. Often you / l will see the insects she has col- ] lected for her dinner hanging from ' the cables overhead. She is very I fond of a small black beetle that . sometimes lives in the cellar. One beetle will supply her with food for 1 5 two or three days. 3* .f How do you suppose this little V' Spinner manages to get a beetle ‘ which is larger than herself from the floor up into her dining-room, in a distance of two or three feet? ”ix ‘ 80 j, i “ The beetle is hoisted ' ‘1 to the desired position” Mrs. House-Spider This is what she does. She at— . taches several threads to the beetle’s body, then climbing up one of her rope ladders, she fastens the threads above and waits. The threads dry and contract, and the insect is carried up a short distance. Again she at— taches threads to her prey and fastens them higher up than before. She re- peats this again and again, and thus little by little the beetle is hoisted to the desired position. I am sure you will agree with me that Mrs. Theridion may well be proud of her skill as a mechanic. H u‘fiLn'.r/x: M J XI THE SILK—COMBERS 0U remember that Mrs. Epeira - sometimes uses the soft hairs on her legs to brush the dust from her gown, or to clean her face and eyes. All the Spinners that we have met — Hunchback, Tent-makers, House-Spider and all — have the same cleanly habit. Now we are to meet a Spinner who, besides the usual brushes, always car— ries about with her two large coarse combs. These combs are made of stiff hairs and are fastened to the Spinner’s hind legs. Each comb extends along the outer, upper surface of one entire segment, the sixth, or the one nearest the foot. 82 .. WW~M~ ..—-.-—-u M The SiZ/c- 0077266719 You may think that this Spinner has a great deal of hair, since she possesses two combs, but she has not. She has another use for her combs than that of hair-dressing. Mrs. Epeira and each of her friends that we called upon have six spin— nerets. This little Miss Comber is not satisfied with siX fingers in her spinning—machine. She must have an additional organ. This organ lies just in front of her spinners and looks like a small, oblong plate. The plate is full of minute holes which are very much smaller than the holes in the spinners, and those you know are so small that you cannot see them with— ‘out the aid of a microscope. This porous plate is called the cribellum. But what has all this to do with the combs? If we can ‘catch Miss Comber building her house we shall see for our- selves what her combs are good for. 83 The Spinner Family She often chooses for her building- place some of our common roadside plants. No site is more ter of goldenrod or a bunch of Wild asters. She makes her founda- tion of the same kind of Cribellum and spinnerets oftheSilk-Combw dry, inelastic silk that all her sisters use. These threads are stretched irregularly from one leaf or flower to another. Sometimes all the flowers on one plant are tied together with these dainty cords. When the frame-work is done the Spinner is ready to build in cross pieces and squares of silk from her cribellum. And now for the combs. She places one of her hind legs under her abdomen so that the comb is di— rectly under the cribellum, the foot resting upon the other hind leg. This done, she moves her legs rapidly back 84 r ..-;.—...—.»--—-—. .._....-——.__.._—.m The Silic- 0077766719 and forth so that the comb pulls the fine threads from the cribellurn and at the same time tangles them into a White, curly band. This band is made of the stickiest kind of silk, and never fails to hold fast any insect that touches it. If you could catch hold of one of these curled bands between the thumb and finger of each hand you could pull the kinks out of it, stretching it to at least ten times its former length. Some of the curly—thread weavers who live in the woods make a web something like Mrs. Epeira’s, only it is triangular in form instead of round. The lines that correspond to Mrs. Epeira’s spiral are made of the curled silk bands. Leg of the Silk-Cmnbcr 85 XII THE J UM PERS E are now ready to be in— troduced to some mem- bers of the Spinner family Who care very little about spinning and weaving. They never build dainty lace houses, nor pitch filmy tents in which to settle down and live their lives in one neighborhood. Instead, they move about from place to place, hunting for food and seeing the world as they go, contentedly putting up for the night or for rest in any place that may offer itself when the time comes. . Sometimes they take lodgings under a leaf in the garden, or under a pile of chips in the yard; often beneath the 86 .. .. ;~..—.M -.'_....——-—._u The Jumpers loose bark on a log or fence post. Sometimes they creep into crevices or cracks in the walls of a building. The family name of these little wan- derers is Attidae, but they are com- monly known as the Jumping Spiders. The Attida whom we shall call Miss Velvetgown is one of the best known of all the jumpers. She is a trim little body, wear- ing always 21. becoming black velvet suit trimmed with a few a dots of orange on @§\ «' the back. Like all of her family she has a short, flat ‘ W \ \5: 3“ \ fl //‘ ”M /’/’/ ‘\\ Vb \N‘OM \ \ \ Diagram of Miss V cl vetgown’s eyes body. He1 legs \\\\\\\\\\\\\ "(/fl’ f ‘ II/(Ilq 2* ‘9 are short and stout g; and all f0b ur 3; pairs are almost 5 equal 1n length. L No other Spin- .5 ner can boast '3: E: .f of as beautiful eyes as this )3" prim little lady. They are arranged as you see in the diagram. The two 87 Wan...“ w- The Spinner Family in front just above the mandibles are much larger than the other siX. In— deed, of all the eyes that belong to the Spinner family these are the largest and brightest. While you are admiring Miss Velvet- gown’s eyes you cannot fail to see her mandibles shining like two magnificent emeralds. Take her altogether, you will not find among all her family a more attractive, prepossessing little body. This Spinner does not race away the moment you approach her, as so many of her kindred do, but she meets you with a self-possessed air, and re- turns your gaze as if she were as curi- ous to find out what you are like, as you are to find out all about her ways and habits. If, after looking you over, she thinks that you may be bent on mischief, and ought to be frightened away, 88 . . h -L‘mw.m. ..'¢’..——M_ mm The Jumpers she moves a little to one side, raises her head, draws back one of her front feet, as if ready to W‘ strike, all the While ehamping her shin- 1 ing green man—{ya ,. dibles in the most threatening manner. thrmwniw WWW ” Miss Attida depends upon her eye— sight to find out things much more than the orb—weavers or tent-makers do. This is necessary in her case, for she is a real hunter. Just as the In- dians years ago started out on their expeditions to kill the buffalo and deer for food, so she starts out with her sharp weapons to slay the flies and other insects that may happen to cross her path. When a fly alights near her, she sits still for a moment, then stealthily creeps a few inches nearer, erouehes like a cat ready to spring upon a 89 “abbv... ._.._..‘ The Spinner Family mouse, then bounds through the air. There is a. smothered buzz from the fly, a strike of the sharp weapons, and the breakfast is won. Miss Attida’s favorite hunting-ground is the top of a board fence. Here she may be found with her sisters any day during the autumn months, walk— ing leisurely about, or jumpng gaily from one position to another. She often jumps just for the fun of it, as schoolboys do. No wonder she likes to do it, she is such an excel— lent jumper. I have seen her skim through the air from the fence to a rose—bush nearly three feet away. She can jump sidewise as well as forward. When she springs off to one side you half expect to see her come tumbling down to the ground in a heap. VBut she never does; even if she fails to reach the goal for which she started she does not fall, but calmly swings 90 The Jumpers back to the original position. The prudent little lady never ventures to jump without having a silken cord from her spinnerets made fast to the place from which she springs. On this she can easily swing back if she misses her footing. Not only in jump- ing, but also in walking, she trails after her the delicate, almost invisible thread. Often she will stretch her magic tele— graph line almost around the garden, fastening it to the palings as she hops from one to another. 91 f , THE FLIERS / y 1 . 0 you know that some of / ‘ ‘ the Spinners go sailing off through the air like birds or bees? Why they fly nobody , knows, but you and I would do the/ enough to invent a way to fly Without Wingsas they ‘ d h a V e / done. .3. .. a" . __ ”gnaw-1136?] ~ ,\%77 , ma x , 'x’ / / \_ “‘7?” ,,. . Ordinarily th e Flier s walk ,/ about on their eight feet, just as all their kin— dred do. It is only now and then that they are seized With a desire to get away from the earth, and go soar- ing off on an expedition through the air. A warm day in early spring, or a balmy one in autumn, is the time the Spinners choose to start out on their journey, —— just the kind of days that make you long to rush off to the woods to sit on a half-shaded hillside, or to listen to the shuffling music of the brown leaves as you wander lei- surely beneath the trees. The flying seems to be contagious, 93 ~‘......~ m ..—u.«~anmthk—K~ .__ - The Spinner Family for whenever one Spinner starts out, hundreds are sure to follow, so that the whole air may be filled with their dainty kite-strings stretching in every direction. None of the large Spinners fly, but the young of almost all spiders take at least one jaunt through the air before they settle down to the hum- drum life of building homes and set- ting snares for prey. Spinners that never become very large even when grown up fly whenever they wish to. It is no easy matter to catch a Flier in the act of starting out on her journey through the air. The first thing that she does when she has made up her mind to go off on a pleasure trip is to climb to the top of a weed or a shrub or a fence , post, where the breeze has a good sweep. This first step taken, it depends upon who the Spinner is what she will do next. If she is a young garden spider or jumper, she will fasten an end of a. 94 The Fliers thread to the post, and then drop two or three inches, hanging to the other end. She is tossed and whirled about by the wind, but she does not care. She is holding fast with four pairs of feet. At the same time she is sending from her spinnerets a stream of silk. Presently she darts off as if shot from a popgun. She is carried onward by the breeze, while she skilfully lets out more and more string as she flies. Ifshe strikes a tree or any other object she settles down for a moment, fastens her string, then waits once more for a favorable breeze, when away she goes again, a-tiny kite, letting out her string as she flies. If the Flier is one of the small grown- up spiders she uses a different method to get herself started off on her journey. When she has reached the top of the weed or post she does a very funny thing. She stands on tiptoe, her head down, her abdomen stretched upward 95 The Spinner Family “ She is holding fast with four pairs of feet " '* “224.5,,” . A" . , ./ . ' as far aspos— / %, sible. She reminds one ’ of a small boy making his first attempt to stand on his head. While in this posi- tion she spins a thread, one ,/ p .. end of which she has already I \ fastened to the post. The wind blows the thread out to one side. When the little Spinner thinks this thread is of sufficient strength to bear her weight she lets go her hold, springs off into the air, and is carried away by the breeze just as her smaller sister is. Some of the Fliers, instead of. sailing away on the end of a x string, construct filmy rafts out \ of bands of white silk. When the raft is made the little builder gets on board, cuts the thread that holds / 96 .. h:;~v.~rm».ir_—.—-mhx—u——w ‘bun'v—n — .w ' ** I'D-nxnuu , _ "r n.I—.n .n. it. ~ . . . The Fliers the boat—like balloon fast to some support, and then goes sailing aw ay. Sometimes she soars far up ~above the trees, sometimes danger ously near the topmost branches, according to the caprice of the wind that is carrying her. How far these go through little Spinners / the a i r is hard to /.~/ g u e s s. No doubt {/ some of them travel 1 j, many miles in a few xii/T} hours. Sea- men tell us I .I, that they have seen hun < - ‘ dr e ds 0 f these tiny crea\" on their decks tures alight 5 \\ and rigging when all land [J “3166mm was more on tiptoe” . than a hundred miles away. Why these spiders fly is another puzzling question. In the case of some species it is perhaps a method of migration to new fields where they 7 97 “I {l The Spinner Family hope to obtain a better living. In the ease of the young it is their way of leaving the home nest and starting out in life for themselves. On the Whole, flying seems to be practised for the pleasure there is in soaring off through the air. It seems to be the Spinner’s way of having a good time. 98 XIV SPINNERS WHO LIVE IN THE GROUND ITI‘I Spinners swinging their hammocks in the corners of our houses, tenting on our lawns, building laee- palaces in our gardens, and flying through the air, no one will be sur— prised to learn that some members of this interesting family, like the ancient cave—dwellers, make their homes in the ground. Some of the ground-spiders have rather crude dwellings. A little hol- low, an inch or less in depth, under a dead leaf, is all the home that our common black running spider pos- sesses. Indeed, some of these runners 99 The Spinner Family do not take the trouble to dig even a shallow hole, but, having found a crack or crevice under a stone or log, or at the root of a tree, they take possession, line it with a few threads of silk, and contentedly set up their housekeeping in it. This cave is used only as a place of safety to which. the Spinner may re— treat in case of danger, or in which she may sleep during the daytime. Like the Jumpers, the ground—spiders are , hunters. They ._. never set any i snares, but 0 a p t u r e their prey by main force. f/ . . “All the home that our common They 811p qulet— black mmm‘ng spider possesses” . ly from them re- treat soon after sunset. In the twilight you may see a dark body rush with 100 Spinners who Live in the Ground tremendous speed across the path be— fore you. You catch but a glimpse of it, but that glimpse 1s enough/ - ner with ve1y long legs. The legs are st10ngb as well as long, so that a (ti— beetle or other walk- ing in s e ct has little [Lgfifig‘izio‘jgffl’rey chance to win in a race with one of these swift runners. But these dark—robed racers are per— haps the least interesting of all the Spinners who live in the ground. Some day when you are raking the dead leaves from your yard you spy, down among the grass blades, some- thing new and strange. You stoop down to investigate, and find three or four dead leaves, as many straws and sticks [all fastened together so as to form a tube—like passage with an open— ing at one side. This opening leads 101 -1“.~r-v——r—-\ svflmmeH-IflqmmW-kwa—--~-~—um‘l~nauu1\wfi1~lfiu.|_‘|A“,g.LI.-‘I‘.I-l.\I—