American spiders and their spinningworkA natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits . e were sta-tioned upon the small grass-es and weeds, from whichimiumerable cords of spidersilk were streaming, and up-on which similar threadswere twisted and meshed bythe eddies of the wind andthe passing of the spider-lings from point to attitude of most ofthese was one of expecta-tion. Only two were ob-served in actual flight, andone of these I assisted. Thenearness to the ground andthe shelter of surroundingherbage doubtless r
American spiders and their spinningworkA natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits . e were sta-tioned upon the small grass-es and weeds, from whichimiumerable cords of spidersilk were streaming, and up-on which similar threadswere twisted and meshed bythe eddies of the wind andthe passing of the spider-lings from point to attitude of most ofthese was one of expecta-tion. Only two were ob-served in actual flight, andone of these I assisted. Thenearness to the ground andthe shelter of surroundingherbage doubtless retardedthe process. However, thisgreater deliberateness is quitein hannonv with the morephlegmatic Orbweavers, just as the energy of the Lycosids in mounting thefence and their haste to be off are characteristic of that little Orbweavers were hanging upon the lower part of thefloating strings near the point of attachment to the grass. Theirbacks were dowiiM^ard and their heads outward, or toward the freeend of the thread. (Fig. 276.) The first, second, and fourth pairsof legs were stretched along the thread, and the third and shortest pair. Fig. 277. Aeronautic Orbweavers preparing to ascend fromfloating threads. Varia-tions :Orb-weavers, THE AERONAUTIC OK T5ALLOONING HABIT. 267 were held off, curved, the feet apparently united to the main thread bytaut filaments. This jjosition, as far as could be determined, was main-tained after flight. In some cases a series of two or three puffs or pelletsof floss were gathered around the tliread Itetvveen its free end and thespiderling. They were generally cone shaped, the apex being turned towardthe animal. In form they were not unlike the pellets which one used tosee gathering upon the roll of wool as it passed from the fingers of ourmaternal ancestors into the whirling flyers of an old fashioned spin-ning wheel. (Fig. 277.) Perhaps they may have been wrought?D ^f hy a similar process, the twisting of the loose threads through
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectspiders, bookyear1890
