106 

THE COMITY OF SPIDERS 

Grasses, Heather, Gorse, Holly, Box, Yew, Conifers and Oak. 

This general preference can be accounted for in a number of ways. 

It can be supposed that the chemotactic sense of spiders situated in 

their leg tarsi causes several plants, including Mint, Rosemary and 

Lemon Verbena, to be distasteful to them. Their aversion to mouldy 

vegetation may be accounted for in similar fashion, and the same 

sense, or another, may also cause spiders to be repelled by the 

somewhat sticky stems of Bluebells. 

Another factor is the density of the foliage. Provided a herb grows 

in compact tufts (

cf

.

Marram), or a shrub has dense foliage (

cf

. Gorse), 

a special climate is offered to those which penetrate therein. Here 

extremes will be avoided. There is shelter from wind. A certain degree 

of humidity is maintained even in dry weather (see the section on 

Sandhills). Extremes of temperature will be avoided and protection 

from rapid fluctuations afforded. 

The rigidity of plant stems and branches is of special importance to 

web builders, and shrubs or trees with rigid twigs or leaves, such as 

the Monkey Puzzle, Gorse or Holly, will always be favoured with a 

quantity of snares provided they are growing in a sheltered situation. 

The abundance of insect life living on or coming to different plants 

also affects the number of spiders which can survive there. On the 

other hand, is it possible that some insects have secured a certain 

degree of immunity from spiders, one of their principal enemies, by 

colonizing plants which are repellent to spiders? 

Spiders vary so much in their habits and requirements that it should 

be no cause for surprise if we find that different species favour 

different plants. The extent to which spiders reject or select particular 

plants varies considerably. Some species seem to flourish on almost 

any kind of plant; some favour only a few plants; a small number are 

restricted to one plant, and have become specially adapted for life on 

it. 

Aranea diadema 

Linn. and 

Meta reticulata 

Linn. are