58 SPIDERS [OH. 



It is very noteworthy that resemblance in structure 

 is always accompanied by similarity of behaviour- 

 as indeed it is bound to be if any benefit is to accrue 

 to the mimic. Your resemblance to a leaf will 

 deceive no one if you run wildly about, and your 

 imitation of an ant will lack verisimilitude if you 

 adopt a slow and stately method of progression. 

 Ant-like spiders adopt the hurried and apparently 

 undecided gait of their models, and insects which 

 look like sticks, leaves, or inanimate objects all 

 possess the power and the habit of remaining for a 

 long time perfectly motionless. 



CHAPTER IX 



WOLF- SPIDERS 



OF the groups of wandering spiders, which spin 

 no snare but trust to speed and agility for their food, 

 the Lycosidae or wolf-spiders supply the best subjects 

 for study. To begin with, they are very numerous at 

 certain times of the year, some species absolutely 

 swarming in woods during May and June among the 

 leaves which fell in the previous autumn. During 

 the summer months they are still in evidence, but as 

 winter approaches they rapidly disappear. The swift 

 motion and predaceous habits have earned them the 



