52 SPIDERS [CH. 



set forth in the water to seek their living and set up 

 establishments on their own account. 



There is only one known species of Argyroneta, 

 widely distributed in the temperate regions of 

 Europe and Asia. The female is about half-an-inch 

 long, of no particular beauty out of the water, its 

 colour being reddish-brown, and its body and legs 

 very hairy. There are, however, a few New Zealand 

 spiders rather closely allied to it and of very similar 

 habits. 



CHAPTER VIII 



CRAB-SPIDERS. MIMICRY 



ALL spiders can spin, but by no means all use 

 that power to entrap their prey. Many have no 

 settled abode or resting place except perhaps for a 

 short time when they are rearing their young. Among 

 these roving tribes, there are three groups which may 

 engage our attention for a time the Crab-spiders 

 (Thomisidae), the Wolf-spiders (Lycosidae) and the 

 Jumping spiders (Attidae). 



Crab-spiders are seldom seen by the ordinary 

 observer, for their habits do not bring them pro- 

 minently into notice, and many of them are of 

 small size. They are well named, for there is some- 

 thing exceedingly crab-like in their appearance and 



