Sometimes, instead of a single thread, several are blown out at once, like a long brush, as in [Fig. 42], which represents, four times enlarged, an unusually large spider just before blowing off a fence.
Fig. 42.
CHAPTER IV.
GROWTH OF SPIDERS.
Persons unfamiliar with spiders find it hard to tell young from old, and male from female. This is caused, in part, by the great differences between different ages and sexes of the same spider, on account of which they are supposed to belong to distinct species.
The adult males and females are easily distinguished from each other, and from the young, by the complete development of organs peculiar to each sex, which will be described further on.
The males are usually smaller than the females, and have, in proportion to their size, smaller abdomens and longer legs. They are usually darker colored, especially on the head and front part of the body; and markings which are distinct in the female run together and become darker in the male. In most species these differences are not great; but in some no one would ever suppose, without other evidence, that the males and females had any relationship to each other. The most extreme cases of this kind are Argiope and Nephila, where the male is about a tenth as large as the female. [Fig. 43] represents male and female of Nephila plumipes described by Wilder.