374 ARACHNIDA ARANEAE CHAP. 



stripes on the abdomen are white, according remarkably with the 

 irregular white markings so frequent on the petals of Nerium." 



The same observer, approaching a bush of the yellow-flowered 

 Senecio pubigera, noticed that two of the numerous butterflies 

 settled upon it did not fly away with their companions. Each 

 of these he found to be in the clutches of a spider, whose remark- 

 able resemblance to the flower lay not only in its colour, but in 

 the attitude it assumed. " Holding on to the flower-stalk by the 

 two hinder pairs of legs, it extended the two long front pairs 

 upward and laterally. In this position it was scarcely possible 

 to believe that it was not a flower seen in profile, the rounded 

 abdomen representing the central mass of florets, and the extended 

 legs the ray florets ; while, to complete the illusion, the femora of 

 the front pair of legs, adpressed to the thorax, have each a longi- 

 tudinal red stripe which represents the ferruginous stripe on the 

 sepals of the flower." 



Cambridge found in Palestine some species of Thomisidae 

 which, when at rest, were indistinguishable from bits of coarse 

 fleecy wool, or the rough seeds of some plant. 



There is perhaps no more curious case of mimicry than that 

 of a spider, Pkrynarachne ( = Ornithoscatoides) decipiens, which 

 Forbes discovered in Java while butterfly-hunting, It appears 

 that butterflies of the Family Hesperidae have a custom of settling, 

 for reasons best known to themselves, upon the excreta of birds, 

 dropped upon a leaf. Forbes noticed one in this position. Creep- 

 ing up, he seized the butterfly, but found it mysteriously glued by 

 the feet. On further investigation the " excreta " proved to be a 

 spider. So accurate was the mimicry that he was again completely 

 deceived by the same species in Sumatra. Its habit is to weave 

 upon a leaf a small white patch of web, of a shape which greatly 

 assists the deception, and in the midst of this it lies on its back, 

 holding on by the spines with which its legs are furnished. It 

 then folds its legs over its thorax, and waits for some insect to 

 settle upon it. 



In rare cases spiders have come to resemble their enemies the 

 Ichneumon flies. A frequent habit of these insects is to deposit 

 their eggs in the newly -formed cocoon of the spider. The 

 Ichneumon eggs are the first to hatch, and the larvae have a 

 convenient food-supply at hand. Sometimes, however, they adopt 

 another method, and insert their eggs into the body of the spider 



