Webbing

“ The question thus arises whether this webbing is of the same nature as that shown to be a dominant in Man, and indeed whether the phenomenon in pigeons is really meristic at all. There is some difference perceptible between the two conditions; for in Man there is not so much a development of a special web-like skin uniting the digits as a want of proper division between the digits themselves, and in extreme cases two digits may be represented by a single one. ”

“ When fully extended the hoops are about two feet apart, and the web cylinder thus produced is divided into two chambers by means of web funnels. The first of these has a large mouth while the second is much reduced. Short wings or guides of webbing are extended from the mouth of the trap and the whole affair is held in place in shallow water by long stakes forced into the mud. ”

“ For instance, it is possible that the feet of our water-dogs and of the American dogs which have to travel much over the snow, may have become partially webbed from the stimulus of widely extending their toes; but it is more probable that the webbing, like the membrane between the toes of certain pigeons, spontaneously appeared and was afterwards increased by the best swimmers and the best snow-travellers being preserved during many generations. ”

“ Weft, wool, of medium or coarse diameter, frequently dyed red. A thread of weft crosses twice between every two rows of knots. Pile, of medium length, usually wool, but frequently partly of camel’s hair. Border, of three stripes, often with an outer edging. Sides, a double overcasting in red or purple. Lower end, a web that is occasionally coloured or a narrow braided selvage. Upper end, a web with loose warp fringe and sometimes a braided selvage. The webbing is occasionally turned back and hemmed. Texture, very firm. Weave at back is of coarse grain. ”

“ Not the ordinary single web which we all know, but a broad band which represents the many hundreds of strands usually combined in the single thread, but now permitted to issue singly from the spinnerets. White speaks of the spider "shooting out" the web, and such is the apparent feat, but doubtless the breeze assists in the operation. It is certainly taking good care of this floating banner from the loom of this little spinner upon our finger-tip. Longer and longer it grows. ”

“ If anyone destroys the web, she begins spinning again at the rising or setting of the sun, for it is at this time that her prey usually falls into the web. The female both makes the web and pursues the prey. The male only enjoys it with her.
6. There are two kinds of graceful spiders that spin a thick web, one large and one small. The one with long legs keeps watch suspended above its web, that the creatures which fall into the web may not be frightened when taken, and then it falls upon them from above, for its size prevents [Pg 260] it from being easily concealed. ”

“ Because that is the point where the spokes meet and, therefore, the common centre of vibration. Anything that moves upon the web sets it shaking. All then that is needed is a thread issuing from this central point to convey to a distance the news of a prey struggling in some part or other of the net. The slanting cord, extending outside the plane of the web, is more than a foot-bridge: it is, above all, a signalling-apparatus, a telegraph-wire. ”

“ The web goes only part way to the toe nail. That bird could not swim. No. He was a wading bird.
His long stilt-like legs held his body above the water, [Pg 176] while he watched for his fish food. The webs in his feet served, not to make him a paddle-foot, but just to keep him from sinking in the soft sand or mud. Or you may find the webs changed to broad flaps on each toe.
Now turn to the hen. Is her beak made for digging in mud, under water? No. Her short, strong beak is for picking up grain or insects from the ground. Now see what feet she has to match this beak. She has walking feet. ”

“ The simple nests and tubes that have been described are made by spiders, most of which spin no other webs. The larger and better known cobwebs for catching insects are made by comparatively few species. On damp mornings in summer the grass-fields are seen to be half covered with flat webs, from an inch or two to a foot in diameter, which are considered by the weatherwise as signs of a fair day. These webs remain on the grass all the time, but only become visible from a distance when the dew settles on them. Fig. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ A solid frame to contain the network of the web. The shapeless structure which she has just built fulfils the desired conditions: it marks out a flat, free and perpendicular area. This is all that is necessary.
The whole work, for that matter, is now soon completed; it is done all over again, each evening, from top to bottom, for the incidents of the chase destroy it in a night. The net is as yet too delicate to resist the desperate struggles of the captured prey. On the other hand, the adults' net, which is formed of stouter threads, is adapted to last some time ”

“ Having reached what is to be the border of her web, and thus constructed a firm framework or scaffolding, she begins to retrace her steps, moving more slowly and spinning now in the intervals of the dry loops two or three similar loops, but much nearer together and made of the elastic and viscid silk, till she has again reached her starting-point near the middle of the web, where, on its under side, she takes a position, head downward, hanging by her claws, and thus keeping her body from direct contact with the web. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ On the front side of the femur of the fourth leg there is a fringe of long hairs extending half its length. The males are half as large as the females, with longer and more slender legs and palpi, and the same colors. The webs are nearly horizontal, with a small hole in the center, and under the round web is often a large irregular web. The round web may be a foot in diameter, or it may be so small as hardly to cover the spider. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As the spider’s web is only her snare, she naturally has to have some kind of home, which must be quite near to her place of business. If you look very close and follow one of the strands of the web you will find some little dark cranny where the huntress can hide. If the web is amongst trees it will probably be a leaf she has pulled together with her thread and made into a dark little tunnel out of which she darts when something is caught. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Now when the dome-shaped web is ready to be filled with air the spider rises to the surface, lifts its abdomen above it, and brings it down with a flop, thus imprisoning an extra large air-bubble which it embraces with its hind-legs by way of holding it more securely, and then, swimming rapidly down by means of its other legs to the web it discharges its load of air beneath the downwardly directed mouth of the dome. ”

“ When the course of the galleries is traced from the entrances, a small excavation is reached, across which is stretched, in the form of a spider's web, a net-work of squares about one-quarter inch across, the ends of the web being fastened firmly to the earth of the sides of the cell. In each one of the squares, supported by the web, sits one of the honey-making workers—prisoners, for locomotion is impossible, the distended abdomen which constitutes the honey-bag being at least twenty times as large as the rest of the body. ”

“ A fine large web it was when finished, and with this about it that set it off from all the other webs thereabouts, that it seemed to stand straight up in the air, without anything to show what held it. It takes pretty sharp eyes to make out a single strand of a spider-web, even a very little way off. ”

“ 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. ”

“ James Weir tells of a spider which stretched its web in the division between two parts of a sawmill, where the lower fastenings of the structure were frequently broken by the repeated passing of lumber through. Discovering the situation, the insect gave up the use of guy threads, and, finding a nail, wove it into the lower edge of its web, so that it should operate as a sinker to keep the web stretched. ”

“ Web of Nephila plumipes.
Here she will remain quiet for hours as if asleep; but no sooner does a fly or other insect strike the web, than she darts in the direction whence the vibrations proceed, and usually seizes her prey; but, strangely enough, if the insect have ceased its struggles before she reaches it, she stops, and if she cannot renew them by shaking the web with her claws, will slowly and disconsolately return to the centre of the web, there to await fresh vibrations. ”

“ When the washing is finished, the leg sticks to the spiral of the web! We see now that the Spider varnishes herself with a special sweat so that she can go on any part of her web without difficulty. However, she does not wish to remain on the spiral too long, or the oil might wear away, so most of the time she stays on her safe resting-floor. ”

“ One of the first things to be remarked is that the web is much stronger when pressed in a direction perpendicular to the flat plane of the plume than when rubbed either up or down in the direction of the stem; the reason of this is that the web is composed of numerous flat, thin, and broad laminæ, arranged with their flat sides together, so that, although they easily bend towards each other, they offer great resistance in the direction in which they have to encounter the impulse and pressure of the air ”