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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



aerial structures, succeeding one another at short intervals and 

 giving curious effects to the landscape. The great spider may 

 generally be perceived on each of these nets, either motionless or 

 in a state of high excitement, according as it is waiting for game 



Fig. 9.— Net of the Triangle Spider (Hypiiotes 

 Arnericanus), about one lialf the usnal length. 

 The spider 6hovvn of the natural size. 



or struggling with it. At some 

 periods of the year, yellow, 

 golden -like globes may be 

 perceived suspended from the 

 nets. They are the cocoons 

 containing the eggs. In build- 

 ing their nets over streams, 

 the epei'ras are directed by a 

 happy instinct. In the midst 

 of a peculiarly bushy vegeta- 

 tion, they seek out broad, open 

 spaces suitable for their estab- 

 lishments. In such spaces they are safest from their voracious 

 enemies, and are at the same time conveniently situated to capture 

 the insects that are their food. Not only are mammals and insects, 

 lizards and birds fond of spiders, multitudes of people regard the 

 handsome spinners as delicious meat. A large species, very abun- 

 dant in the Polynesian Archipelago, is called the eatable epeira 

 {Epeira edulis), and is much sought for by the islanders. 



The epe'iras of Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands, accord- 

 ing to the descriptions of Captain Duprt^, are among the largest and 

 handsomest of their kind. They build vertical webs which they 

 attach to trees and shrubs by long threads having great power of 

 resistance. The black epeira predominates in the island of Re- 

 union, the gilded epeira in Mauritius — a magnificent animal, 

 whose body, two inches or more in length, bears on the back a 

 large space of bright yellow, relieved by two rows of black dots. 

 The Madagascar species, which the Malagasy eat with relish, is 

 yet more highly distinguished by the gayety of its dress. Its black 

 dorsal buckler is clothed with a silvery pubescence ; on its abdo- 

 men are harmoniously combined the colors of ebony, gold, and 

 silver, and its legs are a fiery red. The disproportion in the size 



