St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-12-12
TINY SKILLED WORKERS.
Marvellous Accomplishments OF
Some SpiderA


The best known mech h4nics OF the In
sect world are the bees and anti,
wasps and hornets, all OF which are
very skillful in cooperative house build
ing; but il is only OF late that people
have begun to look at the spiders and
TO 6nd out that, ugly as they are. and
unlovablc and dsel6sh even among them
selves. they are wonderfully skill
full little workmen in several tradca
How many more trades . longer OBJ
servation will discover We cannot
guess. but already it is known that
there are masons. tent builders, bal
loon and diving-bell makers. and
Waterproof-silk manufacturers. BE-
sides the common web-weavers winch
WUall kUUV-~~---s e.s=s
The mason spider. unfortunately for
some other insects, does not earn his
living by his trade. although no one
can deny that he is . ''skilled laborer.
But he does'not devote himself entire
" to his useful calling; in fact he
makes il itsubservient to his better liked,
Il less innocent occupation, that of .
highway robbcr.
Like any other bandit the mason
spider finds Il necessary for his safety
to spend much of his time in hiding; SO
he excavates for himself . cave, not
very wide but from one to two feet in
length, sometimes running downward
In . more or less slanting direction.
and sometimes on level As no is
luxurious In his tastes like many
another MISUNDERSTANDING less
will please him than silken-hangings
for his retreat Like nearly all others
Of his family, he is BY nature . silk
spinner, and it Is with silk Of his own
spinning and weaving that he SO beau
tifully lines the entire length of his
cave.
70 his satiGfaetion, he proceeds to Ia
Dor which requires all his skill. both -
. mason and > silk weaver. and that is
the trap door which is to close and hide
his retreat
For this purpose he first spins web
exactly covering the mouth of the cave,
but attached to il only on one side.
Oter this web. which though so very
flne Il also very strong. he places an
extremely thin layer Of earth; then
over this he weaves another web and
again puts on layer of earth. and SO
on, layer after layer of alternate silken
web and earth. cementing all together
With . strong cement Of his own pre-
pairing, until the door is thick and firm
enough to answer his purpose. OF
course the part Of the web which is At
t,ehed to the side of the cave forms the
hinge 70 the door. In most cases the
spider leaves open the door to his re-
treat when he Is ont Of it. only shut
ting it when he seeks safety within.
and opening It easily By pushing it up
from the inside when he wishes to get
out
But there are some Of these canning
worlkmen who wish to secure their
caves from possible capturc while they
sre absent; SO these extend tho silken
layeys of tho lid on the hinge side In
such way rs to form . sogt OF handle |
or lever. Just above the hinge. Having
done this they can let the door or lid
fall shut after they have passed
and when they wish TO 70
enter they have only to press e&ck upon
he lever, thus opening the door. As
the outside layer Of this door Is OF
.arth, the robber-maso0-spider's con-
is complete. for the most prae-
iced eye can hardly. By the most dill
rent search, discover tho door % IN
,eniously made This curious spider ts
'ound in several places. but his habits
nave been observed chiefly on the Is
and Of zante. in the Nediterranean sea
The tent-building spider Is called By
Csotho DaroSdiI To form
he faiyy-likc tent in which it lives and
sises its young. it first weaycs tiny,
,ilken sheet with seyen or eight sideA !
which form 20 many angieA to which
Ire attached the slender sillseu ropee
vh;eh hold the tent to the surface q |