Dec., '08] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 469 



of this nematode, by which it was shown that the larger por- 

 tion of its life is passed within the body of some insect in a 

 similar manner to the "Guinea worm" and other round worms 

 in man and the lower vertebrates. 



Every spider, and especially the "black spider," was con- 

 sidered as a deadly poisonous creature. The only exception 

 to the rule that I can recollect was the "daddy long legs" 

 or harvest man, which no one seemed to fear, and which the 

 boys used to dismember (young savages that we were) to 

 see the legs kick after they were severed. However, there is 

 no denying the fact that some few species of spiders are 

 capable of inflicting dangerous bites. This was brought out 

 in Insect Life some years ago when an exhaustive dis- 

 cussion of the subject, almost world wide in its scope, was 

 carried on. It was shown beyond cavil that spiders of the 

 genus Lathrodcctes had caused the death of human beings in 

 a number of instances. Especially in New Zealand, where the 

 Katipo, a member of this group, is greatly feared and justly 

 so, because its bite is known to have caused serious results in 

 a number of cases. 



There is a species occurring on the Atlantic sea board as far 

 north as North Carolina, which is reported in a number of ap- 

 parently well authenticated cases, as having produced in- 

 tense suffering and even death, by its bite. We find a good 

 account of this in Insect Life. Vol. I, No. 7, Page 204, where 

 an illustration of the species is supplied. Notwithstanding 

 the fact that the late Dr. Marx of Washington, secured en- 

 tirely negative results from his experiments with the poison 

 of this creature when applied to the bodies of the smaller 

 mammals, it behooves us to observe the utmost circumspec- 

 tion in handling black spiders having red and yellow spots on 

 ihfir abdomens. The members of the genus Lathrodcctes are 

 so marked and regarded with dread by both savage and civil- 

 ized man alike throughout the world, wherever they occur. 

 The same story is told by all. "It bites and its bite is pain- 

 ful and dangerous." 



doing on up the scale of invertebrate life, the next form that 



