The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-12-01
TRAP DOOR SPIDERS
or CONSISTS OF AN tXCAVATEp
NJ TUBE SIX INCHES DEEP.

wonderful Intelligence Displayed by
r,osc Remarkable Insects-A Com
on Garden Spider Attaches Wood
30 Its Nest to Act as a Drag Anchor
curious species. of insect is the
door spider, whose nest consists OF
ua t,,be excavated in the earth to the
s.a IN Of six or eight inches. 1t is al
w. u'aTs lined with silk and it is closed
'ritb an ingeniously constructed door.
o C sort of door closes into the nest
,ji,e cork in a bottle; another is as
hin as a piece of paper.
M al cases the door opens outward,
nd when the nest is placed, as it usu-
civ civ Is on a sloping bank, it opens up
~ard so that there is no fear of its
~anirg The object of the trap-door is
% conceal the nest, and consequently
q &c always made to resemble the gen.
.raI surface of the ground. Sometimes,
Souever. an enemy attempts to open
.be door; and then the inmate braces
,ts legs against the sides of the nest
and holds it as fast as possible.
still other spiders have inner doors
basides outer, so that if their first de-
fensa be carried, they may have anoth.
or behind which to retreat. More curl
ous sill is the ingenuity of the branch
tran-door: that is to say, door that
opens from the main tunnel of the nest
irio "a side branch, which the spider
Ercws. of course, but which no strang-
or could discover. since there is moth
inc to distinguish it from any other
mart of the main nest. So, then, if an
enemy should effect an entrance, the
lawful occupant of the nest can quietly
sin into the side branch, close ,the
door and there remain in security while
the intruder wonders what has become
of her.
If all these wonderful things are done
bv instinct, have we any proof what
ever of individual intelligence among
spiders? Most assuredly. If we re-
member that intelligence is proved
whenever we observe a manifest appli-
cation Of means appropriate to the ac-
complishment of particular ends, it Is
hardly possible to deny that there is
some evidence Of the intelligence Of
spders. Many instances have occurred
more or less like the following:
"One of my friends was accustomed
to grant shelter to number OF garden
spiders under vacant veranda, and to
watch their habits. One day a sharp
storm broke out, and the wind ragged
so furiously through the garden that
the spiders suffered damage from it,
although sheltered by the veranda. The
mainyards of one of these webs, as the
sailors would call them, were broken
so that the web was blown hither and
thither, like slack sail in a storm.
The spider made no fresh threads,
but tried to help itself in another way.
1t let itself down to the ground by q
thread, and crawled to a place where
lay some splintered pieces Of wooden
fence thrown down by storm. 1t fas-
tened a thread to one of the bits of
wood, turned back with it and hung 1t
with a strong thread to the lower part
of its nest, about five feet from the
ground. The performance was a won
derful one, for the weight Of the wood
suficed to keep the nest tolerably firm,
while it was yet light enough to yield
to the wind, and 90 prevent further
injury. The piece of wood was about
two and one-half inches long, and as
thick as a goose-quill.
"On the following day careless SER
want knocked her head against the
wood and it fell down. But in the
course Of few hours the spider mend
ed her web, broke the supporting
thread in two, and let the wood fall to
the ground"