194 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



lY. — Miscellaneous Notes in Natural History. By- 

 Mr James Napier. 



Spiders. 



A few years ago I found that at the corner of our veranda a 

 garden spider, Ejfeira diadema, had spread out its net, and was 

 posted in the centre of it earnestly watching for prey. I took a 

 fragment of a leaf and dropped it upon the lower edge of the web, 

 when the insect made a sudden rush to it, but when half-way 

 stopped and fled to a dark corner out of sight. After a few 

 minutes it approached cautiously, and having gone round the leaf 

 several times, carefully lifted it by passing under and getting the 

 leaf on its back, and having travelled, with it to the top, pitched it 

 over. This operation was repeated several times with the same 

 result. I then treated it to a fly, which was killed and consumed 

 on the spot in a few minutes. I next put an ant, to which the 

 spider ran with great force till within an inch, when it suddenly 

 stopped, and then made several circles round ; the ant wriggled 

 round so as to face the spider, with its mandibles open and 

 snapping, but the spider refused to go nearer, and retired to its 

 watch-tower. On examination, I found that the ant was tied to 

 the web by threads thrown over it. A Bluebottle fly was next 

 given, which the spider attacked without fear, and consumed. A 

 wasp was then entangled in the web, on seeing which it set off to 

 its dark corner with great speed, and nearly half-an-hour elapsed 

 before it ventured out, and then cautiously making two or three 

 circuits. I found that the wasp was also tied down. I supplied 

 more flies, which were killed but not eaten. Next morning the 

 web was clean and mended, and the spider in the centre. On 

 examining the den, I found the wasp, ant, and flies carefully 

 bagged and laid up, possibly for future use. 



It appeared, however, that all spiders are not so cautious, for I 

 tried another sometime afterwards with a wasp. The spider 

 rushed at it without a pause, but evidently got a sting, for it fled 

 with great precipitation to its den, then swung itself to tlie ground 

 and disappeared, and the web stood for days without a tenant. 



To show the strength of the thread of tlie spider's web, I may 

 state that one morning in August a spider's thread, made visible 

 by vapour condensed upon it, might have been seen stretching 

 from the corner of Union Street to the corner of Jamaica Street, 



