''I MOTHERS AMONG SPIDERS. 



so strongly marked as those wont to be exhibited by a species 

 of spider common under clods of earth, and often seen carry- 

 ing her eggs in a white silken bag fastened to the end of her 

 body. " No miser," says Kirby, " clings to his treasure with 

 more solicitude than this spider to her bag. She carries it with 

 her everywhere. If you deprive her of it, she makes the most 

 strenuous efforts for its recovery. If you restore it, her ac- 

 tions demonstrate her joy. She seizes it, and with the utmost 

 agility runs off with it to a place of security. 



" \Vhen the proper time arrives, she makes an opening in 

 the bag for the young to come forth, when they run in clusters 

 on her back and legs ; she carries them about with her, and 

 feeds them till able to help themselves."* 



Bonnet's relation concerning an individual of the same 

 species affords a striking parallel to those often recorded 

 of cats, tigers, and bears, when robbed of their young. To 

 put her affection to the test, he threw her into the pit of a 

 large ant-lion, in the sand. The fierce creature seized her bag, 

 when she struggled till its fastening gave way. She then re- 

 gained it with her jaws, but by superior strength he pulled it 

 into the sand, into which, rather than forsake her treasure, she 

 suffered herself to be dragged also. Bonnet forced her from 

 it, but, though repeatedly pulled away, she would not leave the 

 spot. Many other species of the spider race have shown 

 themselves scarcely inferior in maternal attachment. 



* '' Introduction to Entomology." 



