1 GO PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



Mr. Hogan then read the following paper, by R. H. Meade, Esq., corres- 

 ponding member, on the 



BEST MEANS OF CAPTURING ARACHNIDA. 



As a few hints on the best mode of capturing Araneidea, or spiders, and the chief 

 localities in which they are to be found, may be useful to those naturalists who 

 have not made this department of zoology their study, I will make some short 

 remarks on the plan which I have found most successful in forming a collection of 

 these interesting animals ; and shall be much pleased if I can succeed in inducing 

 any Irish entomologist to take up the study of the Arachnida of their native 

 country. 



In the first place, what is the best mode of capturing spiders ? The collector 

 should be furnished with a small bottle, filled with rectified spirits of wine (one 

 holding about an ounce will generally be large enough), to hold the specimens that he 

 may find, which will be speedily killed by immersion in the spirit. Spiders being 

 covered with a much softer integument than most insects, require great care in 

 handling, for slight pressure will often rupture the abdomen, and their legs are very 

 easily detached ; therefore, though by practice they may be safely secured, and 

 taken up by the fingers without injury, it is generally better to carry a few small 

 tin boxes, about an inch and a half or two inches deep, by an inch in diameter (if 

 a little oval or flattened in shape they are pleasanter to carry in the pocket), with 

 a loose lid. One of these may be held before or under the spider when it is endea- 

 vouring to escape, and, the sides being smooth, it cannot easily escape when 

 taken, and can either be transferred at once to the spirit bottle, which is better for 

 being furnished with rather a wide mouth, or may be shut up, and conveyed home 

 alive for examination in that state. The late Baron Walckenaer recommends the 

 arachnological collector to be provided with a pair of small forceps, for the purpose of 

 capturing spiders when secreted in holes or crevices ; but they must be used very 

 carefully, or they will injure the specimens by breaking their limbs. I may here 

 mention that most spiders have the faculty of suddenly throwing off one or two of 

 their legs ; and thus, if a specimen is held by the extremities, it will frequently 

 escape, by giving a sudden jerk, detaching some of its limbs, and running away 

 on the remainder. 



On arriving at home with his captures, the naturalist had better place his spe- 

 cimens in fresh spirits ; for if a number of recent spiders have been enclosed together, 

 in a small bottle, the spirits of wine becomes weakened by mixing with the fluids 

 contained in the bodies of the specimens, and the latter will not keep their form 

 and colour unless removed. It is also better (if there is time) to look them 

 over, and reject those individuals which appear to be immature, which may easily 

 be ascertained by examination of the sexual organs in both sexes. In the males 

 these organs are seated at the extremity of the palpi. 



With regard to arachnological localities, it may be stated generally, that most 

 spiders will be found where insects are abundant. Thus, the greatest number of 

 species will be met with in woods, in lanes near woods, and in wild, uncultivated 

 places where wild plants abound. Some frequent dry places, and are seen among 

 stones and rocks ; others delight in swampy and wet ground, or even live in the 

 water. Old walls and the corners of old buildings or ruins are also favourite 

 situations. 



For the purpose of giving a few directions regarding the best places for which to 

 look for spiders, it will be necessary to subdivide them briefly into different groups, 

 as each group will be found, in some measure, to affect a particular locality. 

 Thus, following Walckenaer's arrangement, the spiders comprised in his divisions, 

 named the "Venantes" and "Vagantes," which wander about, and run after or 

 leap upon their prey, will be found running on the ground, or hiding in holes and 

 fissures. Some of these enclose themselves in silken tubes or cells, which they 

 often place beneath or between loose stones : thus, I find a favourite situation for 

 several species, and, among others, the handsome " Segestria senoculata," to be 

 the loose coping formed by stones vertically arranged on the top of the dry or 

 uncemented walls by which the fields are commonly subdivided in this neighbour- 

 hood. The Lycosidae, which may be considered as the most typical of the hunting 



