408 Transactions. — Zoology, 



Art. LTII. — Arachnids : the Small Pond in the Forest. 

 By Taylor White. 



[Read before the Haivke's Bay Philosophical Institute.'] 



On a certain day, towards the end of the spring of the year 

 1894, I was employed felh'ng a portion of hght bush — that is, 

 in other words, clearing a piece of land overgrown with small- 

 sized trees — and, becoming thirsty, went a short distance to 

 where a small pond or hollow was full of nice clear water, 

 shaded by the overhanging scrub. On kneeling down at the 

 edge of the water I noticed a kind of dust or minute particles 

 floating on the surface. Observing these attentively for a 

 short time, it was seen that the supposed dust was composed 

 of multitudes of almost microscopic creatures. These small 

 objects were so minute that their exact form could not be per- 

 ceived, but from their actions and habits I have little doubt 

 that they were a species of Arachnid, closely allied to the 

 spider kind. Numbers were seen at intervals clustered 

 together, and these clusters of mites were evidently surround- 

 ing the bodies of small flies or insects which had fallen on the 

 surface of the water. No doubt the mites were employed 

 feasting on the bodies of drowned insects, most of which 

 were so small as to be nearly imperceptible to the human 

 eye. These small Arachnids could travel over the surface 

 of the water at great speed — in fact, they lived on the sur- 

 face, and did not enter the water, but travelled over the 

 surface as easily as if the water were solid or compact ice. 

 Single Arachnids would come from the crowd and rush away 

 over the water and join other groups of Arachnids, and by 

 close observation the surface of the water was seen to be 

 teeming with these small creatures, and they were all moving 

 and changing places continually. In a great measure they 

 reminded me of a large assemblage of people at a skating 

 carnival. 



Below the surface of the water were other creatures which 

 came in sight occasionally, and if my memory is not at fault I 

 have seen these, or a closely allied species, in England. As a 

 boy I knew them by the name of " boatmen " — not the water- 

 beetle which is sometimes so named, but quite a different 

 creature. These were of a yellowish-brown colour, the body 

 perhaps -i-in. in length, and much like a bit of stick or a 

 twig. Only two legs were perceptible, and these stood at 

 right angles to the bodv, and resembled oars. These oars 

 were placed " a little for'ard of amidships," as a sailor would 



