The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-06-01
SPIDERS.
Some Odd Facts About the Web
Spinners and Their Habits.
(From the Saturday Review



The male of the w%ell-known garden
spider is a tiny creature, unfamiliar
to the casual observer and very dit.
ferent from the female both in form
and habits. Although in early life
he can construct an exceedingly per.
feet snare, he seems to lose the art.
or at any rate the ambition to exer.
else it, upon reaching maturity, and
merely spins a few tangled threads,
intended, no doubt, as a position OF
vantage from which to approach HE
lady love. His courtship is, as a rule,
an ignominious affair. He Is bullied,
pushed out of the web and, not in
frequently, trussed up and relegated
to the larder by his physically su.
perior spouse. .
Zilla, a very common dusky colored
spider which %frequents stone walls
and fences, has improved somewhat
upon the orb web of the garden
spider, inasmuch as she leaves seq
ment devoid of the sticky cross
threads to facilitate her passage from
her hiding place to the hub of the
web. Hyptiotes seems, however, to
have reached the highest development
in. the orb spinning art. The a
Is reduced to a mere triangle
stretched upon a firm, elastic thread,
and at the apex sits the obscure little
owner with q coil of thread firmly
held in such a manne that the whole
web Is drawn forward under consid-
cradle tension. No sooner does a fly
attempt to pass than the thread is
released and the web springs forward
like a catapult upon it's luckless VIC
tim.
Closely allied to the orb spinners
are those spiders which spin saucer
shaped snares surmounted by a tangle
of threads into which flies blunder,
falling in their confusion into the
sheets of web beneath. In this group
are the smallest known spiders, some
Of them measuring less than a MILL
metre in total body length. Many Of
them are aeronauts, travelling vast
distances by silken threads emitted
from their spinners. They seem able
to regulate their fight to some extent
by paying out more thread as they de-
sire to rise and rolling it up by means
of their legs when they wish to de-
scend. Often in suitable localities
and under favorable meteorological
conditions immense multitudes of
these tiny creatures simultaneously
embark upon their strange journeys.
Trial threads, false starts and col
;isions are inevitably frequent and the
ac~cumulations Of web descend as
delicate fakes Of gossamer, to the
considerable surprise Of the super
stitious rustic, who as a rule attrib-
ties the phenomenon to the fairies or
occasionally duplicates the Virgin
Mary.
The water spider, which makes a
silken bell beneath the surface OF
ponds, fills it with air and within it
brings up it's family, is we'll known to
al readers Of general works on ma
.ural history. 1t may surprise some,
however, to learn that this species
Is very closely allied to our common
est house spiders. The male OF the
water spider is larger than his mate,
! most unusual thing among spiders.
The vagabond spiders include, be-
sides a number Of little known
groups, three we'll marked sections
which we may broadly refer to as the
crab spiders, the wolf spiders and the
jumping spiders. Some Of Hthe crab
spiders are exceedingly rapid, but
The more typical species move very
deliberately and trust to cunning
rather than to speed for the capture
If their victims. Often these spiders
are speckled and blotched so as to
resemble exactly the ground upon
which they rest, and n well-knoWn
species, Misumena vatia, which is OF
an almost uniform yellow or g%reenish
white tint, hides in the centre OF flow
,rs and seizes insects which approach
10 gather honey. Even bees are not
immune from the attacks OF this Zero
,ious little creature, their stings
being awkwardly placed for use
against a foe who seizes them by the
head and drags them into a blossom.
The wolf spiders are dark crea-
lures, commonly Of some shade OF
brown, which run fearlessly upon
the ground in the open. They often
occur in enormous numbers in suit
able spots, giving one the impression
that they live in packs The eggs
when laid are enclosed in a small
spherical or lenticular sac, which is
carried by the female attached to her
5pinners. This sac she guards with
the greatest care, manifest1ng the
greatest concern and searching dill
gently for it should she be deprived
Of the precious packet. Nevertheless
she will receive the sac Of another fe-
male with every indication OF salts
faction, and, in fact, a piece OF pitn
cut to approximately the same size
as the original sac is, as often as not,
accepted, and tenderly guarded.
A small section of the wolf spiders,
popularity known as the "pirates,'
freouents the heritage upon the sides
of ponds and streams. They chase
their prey upon the surface of the