The Life of the Spider 



victim, had I not taken it away before the 

 time. 



Whether she wound or kill, the Epeira bites 

 her captive somewhere or other, no matter 

 where. This is an excellent method on her 

 part, because of the variety of the game that 

 comes her way, I see her accepting with equal 

 readiness whatever chance may send her: 

 Butterflies and Dragon-flies, Flies and Wasps, 

 small Dung-beetles and Locusts. If I offer 

 her a Mantis, a Bumble-bee, an Anoxia — the 

 equivalent of the common Cockchafer — and 

 other dishes probably unknown to her race, 

 she accepts all and any, large and small, thin- 

 skinned and horny-skinned, that which goes 

 afoot and that which takes winged flight. She 

 is omnivorous, she preys on everything, down 

 to her own kind, should the occasion offer. 



Had she to operate according to individual 

 structure, she would need an anatomical dic- 

 tionary; and instinct is essentially unfamiliar 

 with generalities : its knowledge is always con- 

 lined to limited points. The Cerceres know 

 their Weevils and their Buprestis-beetles abso- 

 lutely; the Sphex their Grasshoppers, their 

 Crickets and their Locusts; the Scoliae 1 their 



1 The Scolia is a Digger-wasp, like the Cerceris and 



314 



