n] WHAT IS A SPIDER? 



still lying'. You are certain to see a few and may 

 very likely see countless myriads of sober coloured, 

 rapidly moving "wolf-spiders' (Lycosidae), roaming 

 in quest of food. No stay-at-homes, these, but rovers, 

 trusting to speed and agility, and not to guile, for 

 their food supply. 



All the spiders we have observed so far are in active 

 pursuit of their daily business, but if we turn over 

 stones, or logs, or look under sheets of loose bark, 

 we shall find others, quiescent for the moment, but 

 waiting for nightfall to begin their operations. 



But we have probably seen enough to show that a 

 pretty wide field for investigation lies immediately 

 at hand, and that a detailed study of what we have 

 cursorily glanced at will occupy us so long that we 

 shall have little time for considering the spiders of 

 other lands. In the first place, however, we had 

 better make quite sure of what is meant by a spider. 



CHAPTER II 



WHAT IS A SPIDER? 



NOT many years ago the group Insecta was 

 held even by Zoologists to include numberless small 

 creatures centipedes, spiders, mites, etc. which 

 further study has shown to present essential 

 differences of structure, and in popular language 



