HARDWICKE'S SC lEN CE-GOS S IP. 



271 



too much : is it uot rather that the eight eyes, so 

 curiously arranged, may have as large a field of 

 view as possible ? The food of this species is very 

 various, dipterous insects beiugmost commonly taken. 

 One sometimes sees ladybirds {Coccmella hipimctd), 

 bees, and hornets, iu their webs. Most books on 

 natural history say that, not only will a spider 

 object to make a meal of a hornet, but will even 

 assist the insect in disengaging itself. I was not 

 sceptical of the statement until I saw a garden 

 spider feeding on a hornet, and a bee, placed hors 

 de combat, waiting its turn. A sunny day is the 

 hope of the spider ; a wet one, the forlorn hope. 

 In the former case many a dipterous insect is on 

 the wing, and, incautiously flying over garden beds, 

 and among garden plants, too often falls a victim to 

 the webs of the Geometric spiders. I have known 

 a female of the species under notice catch no less 

 than six large flies and a gnat in the course of a 

 single day. 



Fig. 17s. Diadem Spider {Epeira diadema). 



This species does not wait until the prey is fairly 

 involved, as the house spider is said to do ; on the 

 contrary, they will rush out when a fly merely 

 buzzes close by, and, giving the web a shake tbey 

 dart back, and once more conceal themselves from 

 view. 



We will suppose a large fly is caught : the active 

 spider is upon it in an instant, and, cruelly burying 

 the falces in the body of the struggling fly, waits, 

 with these instruments imbedded, until the insect is 

 dead. This, as we shall see hereafter, takes several 

 minutes. The spider does not ahvays begin in this 

 way; in fact, it is the exception, rather than the 

 rule. Sometimes she envelops her victim im- 

 mediately after the first incision, and while the 

 insect is still struggling; sometimes she envelops 

 it first and bites it afterwards ; and, finally, some- 

 times envelops and leaves the prey suspended with- 

 out attempting to inoculate the poison at all. If 

 the web contain no other capture, she drags the 

 insect to the centre, there to feed upon it at her 

 leisure; but if there are other insects -to dispose 

 of, she leaves it where it was caught. The process 



of envelopment appears to be as follows : — With 

 the front pair of legs the spider, with marvellous 

 dexterity, turns the prey round and round, simul- 

 taneously drawing out a row of threads by means 

 of the fourth pair of legs ; with the latter she 

 rapidly sweeps them, as it were, over and over the 

 body of the revolving animal; in this^way the whole 

 body is very soon surrounded by a sort of cocoon. 

 After wrapping the threads round for some time, 

 the arachnid pauses in her work, sometimes to 

 inflict a bite, and, should she perceive any part not 

 sufficiently covered, and the animal still struggling, 

 to heap on more threads. When the victim is too 

 bulky to be revolved conveniently with the fore- 

 feet, the spider runs round and round, previously, 

 of course, having taken the precaution to press the 

 spinnerets against her web. 



Should the fly be small, the spider seldom 

 troubles to spin threads round it, but, having 

 seized, carries it off by means of the falces, or the 

 mouth, to the spot where she wishes to devour it. 



We will suppose", this operation, which usually 

 occupies a few seconds only, over. The spider now 

 breaks the threads surrounding the temporary 

 cocoon, reserving a single firm one, however, to 

 draw it to her salle a manger. But it is obvious 

 that progressive motion would pull the thread from 

 the spinnerets so that the prey would be left behind. 

 To prevent such an occurrence, the spider places 

 one of the feet either on the single thread or on the 

 body of the victim. In the case of a fly, I have seen 

 a spider go through some unaccountable actions ; 

 for instance, after dragging the insect some way 

 along the web, she left it dangling iu the air^ 

 proceeded a little alone, turned round, walked up 

 to her prize, rolled it over and over, and once more 

 took it iu tow ; these performances were repeated 

 several times. 



The captive is occasionally very troublesome and 

 tenacious of life. I once threw a well-known 

 myriapod {Geoplalus longicornis) on the web of a 

 Diadem Spider. The latter, notwithstanding the 

 long and narrow body, and innumerable lively legs 

 of the mould-dweller, succeeded in encompassing it 

 with threads, but the centipede soon freed its head 

 and waved it aloft as if in defiance. The spider was 

 not to be daunted, but made futile attempts to 

 thoroughly incarcerate the awkward animal, for no 

 sooner was one part bound down than another 

 became free. The same species of Geophilus was 

 put on the web of another individual ; this time the 

 spider did not attempt to carry off the centipede, 

 but, having wrapped it round many times, took up 

 her position in the centre of the web, but the ever- 

 moving antenna; and legs soon called her forth to 

 fresh exertions. The spider stood over the anima 

 for upwards of an hour, every now and then givii.'g 

 it a sharp bite ; it was a long time before the centi- 

 pede was dead. On another occasion a repulsive 



