Spiderweb

“ Our own common garden or geometric spider is as good a web-spinner, perhaps, as any that exists, or, if not, it is at least as good as any that I can think of at the moment. Everyone is familiar with the general appearance of the web and the mathematical regularity of its outline, whilst all who have watched its construction must have been astonished at the skill displayed by the spider, both in the weaving and placing of it. ”

“ Astronomers and microscopists make use of the strongest lines of the spider's web to form some of their delicate instruments. The thread is drawn in parallel lines at right angles across the field of the eye-piece at equal distances, so as to make a multitude of fine divisions, scarcely visible to the naked eye, and so thin as to be no obstacle to the view of the object. One means of classifying spiders is by the number of eyes they possess. ”

“ The spider’s web is a compensating contrivance, of a very ingenious character. This creature is made to feed on flies; yet how was it to catch them, for it had no wings? This might seem to be a case of difficulty, but the web is a net, and the spider is not only taught how to weave it, but his body furnishes the thread! How ingenious, how wonderful, how multiplied, are the resources of the God of Nature!
In many species of insects, the eye is fixed, and cannot be turned in its socket. ”

“ If you could have looked at the threads of your spider's web through a microscope, you would have seen that each thread was composed of hundreds of fine strands. Inside the spider's body are bags filled with a gummy substance, out of which these strands are drawn through several knobs, called spinnerets, each of which is full of exceedingly tiny tubes, a thousand of them taking up about as much space as the point of a pin. The spider usually covers its victim, as yours did the fly, with a sticky substance, and if it is not very hungry it hangs it up for future use. ”

“ Why does the spider sometimes make a closely spun web and sit in the very center of its nest, and why does it sometimes come out of its nest and spin a new web?
The spider makes its web according as the weather is at the time, and as it is going to be. By examining its web one can predict what the weather will be; if the spider hides itself away deep down in its nest and does not come out, it means rain. If it emerges from its nest and spins new threads, it means that it will be fine. ”

“ By beginning thus at the outside, the spider is able to cover the whole web with adhesive threads, and, without stepping on it, take her usual place in the centre. She usually is careful enough to spin beforehand a thread from the centre to her nest, and sometimes stays there, with one foot on the thread, so as to feel if any thing is caught in the web. When she feels a shake, she runs down to the centre, feels the rays to see where the insect is, and runs out, and seizes it, or ties it up as described on page 43. We have described the web as consisting of one regular spiral ”

“ The web is the snare in which the insects on which it lives are caught, and from which they have no power to escape, for as soon as the insect is entangled, the spider, in his hiding-place, knows by the shaking of the threads that his prey is secure, pounces upon it, benumbs it by one prick of his poison-fang, binds it fast with silken threads, and carries it off to his "dismal den," as the verse about "the spider and the fly" calls the place where he lies in wait for any winged thing which may "come buzzing by." ”

“ We know in what a strange way the Spider weaves her web and divides the area of the web into a large number of equal parts or sectors, a number which is almost always the same in the work of each species of Spider. The Spider darts here and there when laying her spokes as if she had no plan, and this irresponsible way of working produces a beautiful web like the rose-window in a church, a web which no designer could have drawn better with compasses. ”

“ The spider walks on the nearest sound thread, and gathers in with her front-feet as much old web as she can tear off, and rolls it up with her palpi and mandibles into a ball, and, when it is tight enough not to stick to the web, drops it. As she walks along, gathering up the old web in front, she at the same time spins a new thread behind, and, when she gets to a suitable place, makes it fast as one of the rays of the new web. The common story has it, that the spider eats the old web. ”

“ Even though it should be adhering to the very edge of its web, the insect always runs instantly to the middle, where it can most effectually shake the web, and so successfully entangle its prey. When the web is torn, the spider immediately sets about repairing it, and that so neatly, that nothing like patching can ever be seen. The spider lies in wait even for the young of 248 the lizard, and after enveloping the head of the animal, bites its lips; a sight by no means unworthy of the amphitheatre itself, when it is one’s good fortune to witness it. ”

“ Her web is like that of the other weaving Spiders. Straight threads run out like spokes of a wheel from a central point. Over these runs a continuous spiral thread, forming chords, or cross-bars, from the center to the circumference. It is magnificently large and magnificently symmetrical.
In the lower part of the web, starting from the center, a thick wide ribbon descends zigzag-wise across the spokes. This is the Spider’s trademark, the way she signs her work of art. Also, the strong silk zigzag gives greater firmness to the web. ”

“ Rightly considered, a Spider's web is a most curious as well as a most beautiful thing. When we were children, the majority of us supposed that the Spider's web was pulled out of its mouth, and that the little insect had a large reel of the stuff in his stomach, and that he could almost instantly add feet, yards, or rods to the roll. ”

“ On every sunny morning monster spiders ran out from the holes and angles of the weir-frame, and spun webs across and across the straddling iron legs below the footbridge, right down to the lowered surface of the water, which had so sunk that each spider had at least four feet more of web than he could have reckoned upon before and waxed fat on the produce of the added superficies of enmeshed and immolated flies. ”

“ Everywhere is activity and bustle, and a loud hum comes up out of that vast hole from three or four thousand human beings engaged at work below.
The men themselves look like so many flies as they dig away at the blue soil, and the thousands of wire ropes extending from every claim to the depositing boxes round the edge have the appearance of a huge spider’s web, while the buckets perpetually descending empty and ascending full might well represent the giant spiders. ”

“ Boys remarked that, on lightly touching with a tuning-fork a point of a spider's web, the insect turned at once to the side of the instrument, and tried the rays of its web with its fore legs to discover what was vibrating; then, coming closer and closer, reached the instrument and tried to seize it as it would have done with a fly. We know that spiders do not enjoy a very delicate sight, and that their sense of smell is not remarkable ”

“ Hence, from each spinner proceeds a compound thread; and these four threads, at the distance of about one-tenth of an inch from the apex of the spinner, again unite, and form the thread we are accustomed to see, which the spider uses in forming its web. Thus, a spider’s web, even spun by the smallest species, and when so fine that it is almost imperceptible to our senses, is not, as we suppose, a straight line, but a rope, composed of at least 400 yarns. ”

“ Those which radiate from the centre to the circumference are strong and smooth, while those which unite them are much slighter, and are covered with tiny globules set at regular intervals. When the web is newly spun, these globules are found to be nearly as tenacious as birdlime, and it is by these means that an insect which falls into the web is arrested,{101} and cannot extricate itself until the spider can seize it. After awhile the globules become dry, refuse to perform their office, and then the spider has to construct another web. ”

“ Insects flying through the web strike the sticky threads and, trying to free themselves, fall against others. The spider at the center of the web feels the movements of the insect and goes toward it by the nearest ray and, drawing out silk from the spinnerets, throws it around the insect until it is tied fast. Adult male Epeiridæ are seldom seen in webs of their own, but some of them do occasionally make webs. ”

“ Spiders must have a great amount of knowledge, and are, no doubt, good barometers, for when a storm is impending they never will build or mend a web. There is a good reason for their not being extravagant in the use of their silk, for, although they can use at their will the secretion from which the thread is made, it requires time to reproduce it; so when you see a spider spinning new webs, it is a sign of fine weather coming. ”

“ The net is now set for use, and she stands holding it till something touches it; then she lets go with her hind-legs, and the net springs forward, bringing more threads into contact with the insect, and sliding the spider along the line toward A. If she thinks it worth while, she draws up another loop, and snaps the web again. When she is satisfied that the insect is [Pg 79] caught, she gathers up part of the web till she comes to him, covers him with silk, and carries him up to her roost.
There are other spiders of this group that make round webs, just like those of the Epeiridæ, Fig. ”

“ These webs are exceedingly elastic, for they have to resist the power of the wind. When the web has been long built, and has become stretched, they will sometimes go and fetch a little piece of wood, which they hang by a thread, and haul it to a spot where they think it will steady their structure.
The threads of spiders are produced from an organ called the "spinneret," which is placed at the extremity of the body. The spinnerets are arranged in pairs, and are four, six, or eight in number. [105]
The spider generally works at its web with its head down, lowering itself by its thread. ”

“ As soon as the inner spiral is found in the way a part of it is cut out, and by the time the outer spiral is finished the inner is reduced to the small and close portion near the center.... The whole making of the web seems to be done entirely by feeling, and is done as well in the dark as in daylight. When the spider is active and the food supply good, a fresh web is made every day, the old one being torn down and thrown away. ”

“ In some parts of the country there are great numbers of a large, beautiful yellow-spotted spider, the webs of which are about a yard in diameter. The lines on which these webs are spun are suspended from one tree to another, and are as thick as coarse thread. The fibres radiate from a central point, where the insect waits for its prey. The webs are placed perpendicularly, and a common occurrence in walking is to get the face enveloped in them as a lady is in a veil. ”

“ There are spiders which feed on vertebrate animals, and there are spiders whose webs catch birds. The large and beautiful Nephila claripes of tropical America weaves strong threads of yellow silk in the paths of the woods, converging to a web quite strong enough to arrest a bird of weak flight. It must have been a species allied to this, but certainly, I think, not the same, of which Dr Walsh speaks in his "Travels in Brazil." "Among the insects is an enormous spider, which I did not observe elsewhere. ”

“ Some species build zigzag white coloured threads in their webs which are visible to birds who avoid flying through the webs and damaging them.
The male spider is smaller than the female, and is thus liable to be eaten by his mate. So, the male uses many tactics to prevent his being devoured by his mate. In some cases the male drums or pulls at the strings of the web in a special code to announce that he is not a prey or an enemy, but a sexual object.
Some spiders offer their mate a gift such as a juicy fly, wrapped in silk. ”

“ Spiders dispose of a few, but it is remarkable that, awkward and blundering as the daddy-long-legs’ flight is, he very seldom intrudes into the meshes spread for him by the spider. He makes no efforts to avoid a human being, and will fly right into his face with the greatest nonchalance; he will settle in his hair, and cling to his clothes, but he will almost always manage to avoid a spider’s web. In the autumn spiders are extremely plentiful, and their webs spread from bush to bush, and from tree to tree, are a perfect nuisance to passers-by. ”

“ As we stop to observe his geometric web, and his bizarre shape, we see on the tree to which several of his main “guys” are fixed a very different spider’s house and a very different spider from our angular friend just mentioned. This creature [163] is a much larger species than the other, with jet-black legs and satiny dark grey abdomen as large as a good-sized nut. He apparently hunts his prey, for he has no net, but hides himself in an inverted cup-shaped house of strong web. ”

“ Many spiders spin webs to capture their prey. However spiders also have other means of capturing their prey. Some spiders spit a sticky web onto their prey. Others live in burrows with trapdoors. Whenever they feel hungry they come out and catch an unsuspecting insect. One species attaches a sticky drop to one end of its silken thread and holds it with its first three pairs of legs. When an insect passes by, the spider waves the thread at the insect and ropes it in, as it were.
Some spiders sit on flowers and catch insects that come to collect nectar. ”