Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 February 1915 — SPIDERS’ WEBS VARY. [ARTICLE]

SPIDERS’ WEBS VARY.

And Some Spiders Do Not Spin Webs at All. “As fine as a spider’s web” has long been a standard of comparison, but it makes a difference as to what sort of spider’s web is meant. All spider’s webs are not alike, nor are all of the threads of which they are made. These may be dry or sticky, fine and regular, or coarse and rough, according to the will of the spider, and the use he wishes to make of it One kind of web is that seen on the grass on dewy mornings. This Is merelly a level floor on which the spider runs and catches his prey. The thread is not sticky, and the web may last if undisturbed, a whole season. Attached to it is a tube of web, in which the spider hides. Another web is in large meshes, but of indefinite shape. Insects get entangled in the mesh, but are not held by any glutinous nature in the thread. Then there are dome webs, In which the spider runs about to catch the insects which get entangled. In addition, there is the familiar geometrical pattern. In making these the insect first places the radiating lines in position, Cfn these are woven the circles of sticky thread, which, however, never reach right to the center. These are the webs which eatch insects by their stickiness. There are, in addition, many varieties of spiders which build no web at all, but catch their prey by running after it