Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-04-12

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sheet or blanket and has little
tube-shaped attachment into which
the spider may retire and live in securi-
ty. The most important thing in which
the spinner shows her intelligence is in
getting the first line that is to start her
web from one point to another high in
the air. Suppose that she is seated on
a twig fifteen feet from the ground and
desires to get thread across from that
twig to the branch of another twig
twelve feet away, how is she going to do
it? I'll tell you. She knows how the
wind is blowing and takes notice of its
force. When the breeze just suits her
purpose, as to direction and strength,
she raises her abdomen as high as posi-
BILE and emits single thread, which is
taken by the current of air and 1oated
off until it catches where it is desired.
Then she pulls in the slack, so as TO
make the thread taut, and, spinning her
entire 800 or 400 threads together, she
attaches their extremities to the twig
where she has been sitting, gives them
all a twist so as to make them Unto
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across the thread originally cast, spin
ming the rope as she goes, until she
fastens it's other extremity upon the
branch twelve feet away. And thus she
has established her first rope that is the
beginning of her web"
'But suppose there is no wind?"
''Then the problem is more complicat-
a1. b,,t CHI lyrou-c hOuy RI SOlUa If She
drops herself by thread from the first
twig to the ground, and then runs across
to the distant tree on seven legs, hold
ing up one leg to carry the thread; she
climbs up the other tree, and when she
has reached the spot contemplated she
fastens the thread, and. pulling in the
slack claw over claw, fetcheS it taut.
She then eats the slack before going on
with her labors, for the spider is thor
ough economist. Having drawn her first
line between two points, she casts an
other one parallel with it two feet say,
below. Then. running around to the
middle point of the upper bridge, she
drops a thread to the lower horizontal,
connecting the two by perpendicular
Next she drops two other perpendiculars,
one on either side of the original one,
and from the middle point of the first
perpendicular she draws radii in every
! direction until there are enough of them
to run all around upon. Now, begin
ming at point on the outside of This
framework, she spins a spiral toward
the center, and having reached the
center, she runs another spiral outward
to the edge of the frame, destroying the
former spiral, which is not made OF
sticky web, not being designed to
be permanent for fly catching.
sometimes Mistress Spider does not APP
prove of her work and tears it all apart,
to begin anew. One way in which the
weaver manifests her intelligence is by
! the iudicious choice she makes of places
/ for her web.
/ A spot she is apt to select is warm
wall or the sunny side of a house, where
/ the flies like to settle. Or she will spin
her snare before a bunch of bright flow
ers, which insects are apt to seek for
their sweets, or she will place it in an
opening like broken window or among
densely foliated bushes, where there is
a draft to carry the victims into the
trap. Sometimes a spider will spin
four hundred threads of some length
in a bunch, break them all off together
and let them fly with the wind in all
directions. One or two of the lot will
catch across between available points
and give the desired start for the bridge.
Then she fastens the extremities of the
accidental bridge with new sticky
threads-the other ones were dry-and
proceeds to business. With the sixteen
combs that she has to hold the threads
separate, and a finger claw on each foot
besides, wherewith to fasten the threads,
she can perform her weaving operation
with exceptional dexterity. The Sec
ond horizontal bridge beneath is ordi-
narily made by going to a point short
distance below the upper bridge on one
side, fastening the thread on con-
venient projecting twig, climbing from
there to the upper bridge, running
across it, then down the opposite side to
to the proper place, and finally hauling
in the slack"
do all spide rs spin webs?"
mo, some spiders are called vaga-
bond spiders for the reason that they
do not spin webs. The most interesting
sort of vagabond spider is the so-called
trap-door spider, which makes box,
often as big as your two fists, of earth
cemented into large mass by the
spiders own excretion. The box has a
little trap-door at one end with a
TO
spring. The nest looks like nothing
but clod of dirt, and the door springs
to so perfectly-even in the case of
those that have been kept for years as
curios-that you can not see any trace
of an opening. Another vagabond
spider lives in hole in the ground a
foot deep with little nest on top of the
hole made of small sticks and grass.
There is a very curious weaving spider
called the 'gossamer or flying spider.
On warm fall day you will often find
the air afloat with spiders webbs, and
/ if you examine othem you will find
dozens aof little spiders in the webs.
/ These gossamer spiders in pleasant
autumn weather attach a thread to the
/ ground and permit the breeze to blow
them way off into the air, where they
remain suspended, at anchor, for days at
time, often miles and miles from spot
to which they are anchored"
''Have spiders any enemies?"
PLENTY of them. Their worst foes
are wasps. A certain family of wasps-
the sort that makes mud cells under the
caves of houses-always fills its cells
full of spides. The wasp of this variety