Captain T. Hutton's observations on Galeodes vorax. 85 



colour. Eyes two, and placed on the top of the head between the 

 base of the jaws ; the colour generally is sandy brown, and the 

 body soft and clothed with short mouse-coloured hairs ; the limbs, 

 and especially the palpi, are furnished with long coarse hairs ; be- 

 neath these are ten obtriangular plates springing from the under 

 side of the thigh or coxse of the posterior legs, five on each, the 

 inner one being smallest, the outer one largest; these are of 

 an obtriangular form, and their use appears to be still unknown. 

 I never saw them used to assist progression in any way. 



The true legs are furnished at the end with strong hooks or 

 claws, but the two pairs of pedi-palpi are destitute of them, the 

 anterior pair being the largest and strongest, and furnished at the 

 end with a white retractile sucker ; this, in a state of rest, is with- 

 drawn into the last joint of the palpi, and it appears to be used 

 to assist in climbing up surfaces, or in hanging against gravity, 

 in the same way that liies and lizards use their feet, by the exclu- 

 sion of air. In seizing its prey, one pair of jaws keeps hold, while 

 the other is advanced to cut, and they thus alternately advance 

 and hold till the victim is sawed in two : the only sound they 

 emit is a hissing or rustling, caused by the friction of the two 

 pairs of chelae as they are advanced and withdrawn ; this is only 

 heard when the spider is suddenly disturbed or irritated. 



From the tenor of Mr. W. S. MacLeay^s remarks upon Mygale 

 and the large species of Epeira which he has discovered in the vici- 

 nity of Sydney, it would appear, that although these spiders may 

 occasionally feed upon the juices of warm-blooded animals, w^hich 

 accident may throw in their way, yet that their natm'al food con- 

 sists of insects, and the fact of their killing birds at all must be 

 regarded as a very rare exception to the general rule of their ha- 

 bits ; and from the above remarks on Galeodes it wdll be seen that 

 the habits of this spider in some measure corroborate Mr. Mac- 

 Leay^s opinion ; for although, strictly speaking, the proper food of 

 Galeodes consists of insects, yet, when accident throws a lizard in 

 its way, it will not fail to seize and devour it. With regard how- 

 ever to its preying at all upon warm-blooded animals, we have as 

 yet no testimony whatever, for in the experiments above cited it 

 will be observed, that although the sparrow and musk rats were 

 easily killed by the spider, yet that it fed upon neither of them*. 



* Should this paper meet the eye of Mr. MacLeay, I may add, that I shall 

 be happy to do my best in determining the habits and oeconomy of any spe- 

 cies found in my neighbourhood, if he will kindly point out his wants and 

 wishes, and I shall likewise be happy to assist him with duplicates from my 

 own collection. 



Mussoorree, June 21st, 1842. 



