Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1882-01-26
THE WONDERS or coBwEBs.

uhtuIh1tbt aeh6U u NEW IOfK f6-
porter who had dropped into his sanctum
at High Bridge. The object he held
up was block Of earth about eight
inches in length and four in width, re-
sembling more than anything else the
frozen earth lifted out Of small flower
pot, with the upper surface planted with
growing mosses and small plants of
various kinds. "In this block of earthly
he continued, 'sthere is a regular palace
and the door is right under your nose"
AS he spoke he inserted long pin into
the ground among the moss and lifted
up an oval door that exposed large.
deep well, lined with silk in o most
gorgeous manner, and as CLEAN of SUM-
light from the window caught the gos-
samer it seemed changed to molten
silver. deepening in the interior to .
golden yellow and at every move scin-
tillating with dazzling rays of rides
cence, in strange contrast to the rough
md sombre surroundings.
''Tt's wonderful" the naturalist said.
"You hardly expect 80 much from q
spider, and the most skillful work from
human hands fails to come up to this.
It's the castle of the trap-door spider
mygale, and this one I found near
Charleston, s. @. You see it's we'll
about five inches deep and two wide,
lined with silk, and having on top q
door that fits SO exactly that your close
examination failed to detect it. A per-
feet hinge OF silk allows it to work freely,
and it is so nicely arranged that it
always closes after the owner has passed
in or out.
"How did these mosses and weeds
get on the door of the trapa'
In many cases the spider places
them there, its idea being to make the
place resemble, as nearly as possible,
the surrounding country, and SO skillfuI
are they in hiding their doors that
hunted two weeks before / found this
one, and then it was only by chance.
had been tramping through the woods
nearly all day, and was stretched out
on bank, about half asleep, when
heard rustic at my elbow, and looked
down Just in time to see trap-door fly
up and go down with jerk, and you
| may be sure commenced operations ~
once. When I had located the door
exactly dug trench all around il,
down about a foot, and worked as near
the trap as I could, and after trimming
it down as you see it, gave it four or
five good coats of glue. and ultimately
got it out safely. While 1 was at work
it was curious to see the alarm of the
spider. Every few minutes the door
would lift a little, ssand would see the
hairy leg Of the little fellow, but the
slightest tap would send it down. After
one of these retreats I inserted my
knife-blade into the door and tried to
lift it. Something g was holding it back
on the other side, evidently, as it did
not lift up with the ease with which
had seen it under the nimble hand
ling of the owner. Bending down and
lifting the door at the same time, I saw
the cause. The spider was holding the
door down. Its mandibles were fast
ened into the silken lining, while with
its feet it was bracing back and holding
on with all its strength, and
only when I had lifted it almost
out did it let go and retreat to the lower
part OF the well, where it coiled up its
legs aud pretended to be dead"
How do they build the trap?"
"Just as man would build well.
After making their selection Of local
ity, they commence taking out bits of
earth with their mouths and pushing
them away with their legs As soon as
they get below the surface shoring-up
process is begun. Silk is spun and
attached to the wall by some secretion.
The door is prolongation Of this silken
wall SO, as the spider works down cav
ing in is prevented in this way, and
finally the outer side OF the door, which
is naturally bright, is covered with soil,
and bits of moss are placed on it. There
are number of different kinds of trap
door spiders in this country and Eu-
rope, some having two or three traps in
the different parts Of the well, the spider
retreating from one to another as danger
presses.
Here's spider" he said, handing
down one Of a number of glass jars COW
cred with fine gauze, s'that builds a
web tunnel after the general shape OF
the trap, but it is infinitely more deli
cate, and is always at right angles with
the surface, and contains no doors..,
By holding the jar up against the sun
the fairy-like tunnel could be traced.
following around the side of the jar,
perfectly cylindrical, and after extend
ing four or five inches, widening out
into broad web. or platform, that was
held In place BY myriads Of single sil
very and almost microscopic cables.
extending from it to the upper part OF
the glass.
'sThe web in 'front.'" the naturalist
continued. sis to catch prey, and the
whole ediice was built in one night. By
rights, the spiders would be hiberna.
ting, or in winter sleep; but I am
keeping them in warm room to pre-
vent this, and see what they viii do, or
/ what the effect viii be. There is fly.
Now watch the spider
4 rrrr-.