CHAPTER IV: THE LIFE OF SPIDERS 



The careful observer of the ways of spiders soon learns that 

 the members of the different families differ greatly in their modes 

 of life; and that even within the limits of a single family striking 

 variations exist. In fact each species, while agreeing with closely 

 allied forms in the more general features of its life history, ex- 

 hibits specific pecularities. 



There is given in later pages of this book, so far as the limits 

 •of space will permit, what is known regarding the characteristic 

 habits of each of the families of North American spiders, and 

 of some of the more common species in each. But in order to 

 avoid repetition those features that are common to all or to many 

 species are discussed here. 



i. — METHODS OF STUDY 



The study of the life of spiders is essentially a field study 

 a few species live in our dwellings, and some others can be kept 

 in confinement, but the great majority of them can be best 

 observed in the open air; and so abundant are these creatures 

 that one need never lack materials for study during the warmer 

 parts of the year. 



Spiders live in a great variety of situations. A few species 

 seem to prefer the angles of buildings; many are usuallv found 

 among shrubbery; some stretch their webs high in trees- others 

 build among the low herbage of meadows and pastures; the mem- 

 bers of several families run over the surface of the ground or lurk 

 beneath stones; and certain kinds dig burrows in the earth The 

 student should therefore pursue his studies in as great a variety 

 of situations as possible. 



A collecting outfit.— For the collection and preservation of 

 spiders only a small equipment of apparatus is necessarv A 

 collecting outfit should include bottles of alcohol for the preserva- 

 tion of specimens, empty bottles for bringing home specimens 

 alive, a pocket lens, a piece of black cloth, preferably velvet, to 



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